Dallas Hispanic Bar Association
ABOUT DALLAS HISPANIC BAR ASSOCIATION (“DHBA”)
The Dallas Hispanic Bar Association provides a forum through which Hispanic attorneys in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (“DFW Metroplex”) can come together to exchange ideas and to pursue common goals.
MISSION
The DHBA’s mission is to promote the social, economic, educational, and civic advancement of the DFW Metroplex Hispanic community by making the legal system more accessible to the Hispanic community and more responsive to its needs.
The DHBA has 6 committees dedicated to accomplish its mission. Those committees are:
- Annual Event Committee
- Communications Committee
- Law Student Committee
- Membership and Social Committee
- Public Service/Pro Bono Committee; and
- Historical Commission
DHBA’S SIGNATURE ACHIEVEMENTS
The selected items listed below offer a sampling of the DHBA’s efforts to meet the needs of the Hispanic community it supports:
- Diversity Task Force: Now in its seventh year, the Diversity Task Force was formed at the request of the DHBA, and comprises members of the DHBA and its sister bars in Dallas. Each year, the Task Force sends out a survey to the 20 largest law firms in Dallas County seeking information regarding the hiring, retention, and promotion of minority attorneys. The information is compiled into an annual report presenting a snapshot of the racial and ethnic diversity of lawyers practicing at those firms, which is then released to the public and media at an annual luncheon co-sponsored by the DHBA. The report provides the community with important information about developments in diversity efforts in the legal community.
- DHBA Newsletter: The DHBA will continue to revitalize its newsletter to provide substantive information of use to the Hispanic legal community. While the newsletter had traditionally focused primarily on the activities of the DHBA, the revised newsletter expands to include local and national news of interest.
- Building Relationships with Sister Bar Organizations: DHBA aims to build relationships between the various minority-bar organizations and the Dallas Bar Association. For example, last year, DHBA members participated at the DFW Dragon Boat, Kite, and Lantern Festival, which celebrates Asian cultures and traditions.
- Habitat for Humanity: The DHBA participates annually in construction of affordable housing in the community through the Habitat for Humanity program.
- Legal Lines: Legal Lines is a Dallas Bar Association program in which the general community can call for free legal advice. The DHBA engages its membership by staffing Legal Lines with Spanish-speaking attorneys.
- Financial Contributions to Community: The DHBA also provides financial support for causes that promote the social, economic, educational, and civic advancement of the DFW Metroplex Hispanic community.
- “Lighting the Path to the Legal Profession ”: This is DHBA’s Annual Event, which is a fundraiser and awards dinner. In November 2011, the DHBA raised money for scholarships to increase diversity in the legal community and honored those individuals responsible for bringing the first ever public law school to downtown Dallas.