Joseph Struble, the 2012 recipient from the University of Houston Law Center, was very pleased to report that he has accepted an associate position in the Houston office of Liskow & Lewis in the firm’s transactional section. He and his wife, Nicole, are very excited to be able to stay in Houston where Nicole works as a counselor for MHMR of Harris County. In his final semester, Joe is looking forward to being involved with the consumer law clinic and having the opportunity to help others in need. He plans to use the experience gained in the clinic in his work with pro bono cases in the future.

Myles Garza, the 2012 recipient from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, is also completing his last semester of law school. He is currently the President of the Hispanic Law Student’s Association, Of Counsel for the Board of Advocates and is starting an internship with the Innocence Project. In the Fall semester, he was on the ABA Labor & Employment Mock Trial Team which made it to the final round in the regional qualifier. After graduation, Myles plans on moving back home to Brownsville, Texas, where he would like to combine his biomedical science degree from Texas A & M with his law degree to advocate for those in need of adequate, affordable health care.

Lori Yount was the 2012 recipient from South Texas College of Law. She is now in her final semester at South Texas, where she is an Articles Editor on Law Review. Lori also is enjoying her work as a law clerk for the litigation firm Ramey, Chandler, Quinn & Zito. During the summer of 2012, Lori served as an intern at the Harris County Attorney’s Office as well as clerking for the law firm. She has recently become engaged and hopes to practice law in Houston after she graduates.

Marcella Burke was the University of Houston Law Center 2011 recipient of the Scholarship. After passing the bar in 2012, and being sworn in to the Bar by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, she is now a litigator at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Marcella has been invited to join the Inns of Court, the 2012-2013 Houston Young Lawyers Association Leadership Academy and is currently helping to edit a constitutional law textbook with a professor from the Law Center. She and her husband, Steve, enjoy watching the Texans and recently trained for the Houston Half Marathon. The HBAA is so pleased to count her as one of our members; she is currently serving on the scholarship committee.

Benjamin Gray is a graduate of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and a 2011 recipient. He passed the bar in November of 2012 and began working at Crown Castle in January 2013. He has also been associated with Collier Legal Search. Ben plans to stay in Houston if possible.

Elise Maraist Jones, a summa cum laude graduate of South Texas College of Law, was a 2011 recipient of the Scholarship. Since graduation, she has begun her career as a tax litigation attorney for Exxon Mobil Corporation in Houston, Texas. She specifically wanted us to pass along her sincere thanks to all of the supporters of the HBAA Charitable Fund Scholarship, as it allowed her to focus on law school rather than finances, and achieve the goals she set for herself. Elise reported that she recently married “the most kind, loving man in the world” and feels she has been truly blessed in her life.

Brent Shultz was the 2010 recipient from the University of Houston Law Center. Brent is an associate at Haynes and Boone in their finance section. Brent was married two months ago, and he and his beautiful bride honeymooned in Italy. Brent is an active participant in the Young Professionals for Children organization, which raises money for children who have been abused or neglected and are in the foster care system. He also volunteers with the Women’s Home, which supports homeless and battered women, the Young Professionals in Energy, Young Professionals in Finance, the Partnership for Baylor College of Medicine, the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, and Phi Delta Theta Houston Club.

Summer Norwood was the 2010 recipient from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate Summer for our update, but we do know that she passed the bar in 2011 and is licensed in the State of Texas. Having gotten to know Summer a bit, we know she was very interested in women’s rights and making the world a better place in which to live—we are sure this is what she is actively involved in doing.

Lindsey Moorhead, the 2010 recipient from South Texas College of Law, is now a second year associate at Jackson Walker‛s Houston office. She practices both environmental law and civil litigation. Her environmental practice has involved participating in several site cleanup and remediation projects. In her free time, she enjoys saltwater fishing and recently caught a mahi mahi that nearly placed in the Texas STAR tournament. The HBAA is also very proud to call her a member, where she serves on the Habitat House committee and the Charitable Fund Scholarship Committee.

Ryan Hargrave was the 2009 recipient from the University of Houston Law Center. Since her graduation and passing the bar, she has been practicing patent litigation at McKool Smith in Dallas, Texas. She has had the opportunity to work on some very interesting cases and gain fantastic experience. Ryan writes that “I am still so incredibly thankful to have been the recipient of the HBAA Charitable Fund Scholarship…..what you guys do for the Houston community is fantastic.” Ryan and her husband are expecting their first baby in April 2013.

Billy Murphy was our second recipient of the Scholarship. At that time, his wife, Margaret, was within weeks of giving birth to their first child, Will.  After law school at South Texas College of Law, Billy went to work for Bracewell & Giuliani LLP in their energy transactions group focusing primarily on upstream oil and gas transactions. In May 2011, Billy left Bracewell to work for King Ranch, Inc., the parent company of the famed King Ranch, where he now manages the land and minerals division. Billy is very active at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, has been a committeeman for the Houston Rodeo for 13 years, and does pro bono work for HVLP.

Ben James was also a 2009 recipient of the HBAA Charitable Fund Scholarship. Upon graduation from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, he clerked for the Honorable Mark A. Jeansonne and the Honorable Wm. J. Bennett, State District Judges in Louisiana. Ben is now living in Marksville, Louisiana, with his wife and 16 month old daughter. Ben works in the Law Office of Cory P. Roy, where he primarily practices personal injury and domestic law.

Arnold Colunga was the 2009 recipient from South Texas College of Law. Upon graduation, he began work as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Houston in the Contracts Section. He deals with interlocal agreements between the City and other governments and local contractors, as well as analyzing legislation, and implementing affirmative action plans. He and his wife have two beautiful daughters, and the entire family enjoys travelling together across Texas, to Colorado and Canada. Arnold and his wife have also begun running marathons and half-marathons. Arnold, as you can see by his shirt, is still actively involved in education related activities and serving his community.

Alexander Morningstar (“Zan”) was the 2008 recipient from the University of Houston Law Center. After passing the bar, Alexander left for JAG basic training in Charlottesville, VA, and he was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, GA. He is currently deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan where he serves as the Chief of Operational Law for the Combined Joint Task Force and Regional Command South. He advises the command group, including the Division’s Commanding General, on the Rules of Engagement and International Law. Upon his return, he and his wife, Billi Jo, a fellow UH Law Center graduate, will be based in Hawaii where he will take a prosecution job with the 8th Theater Sustainment Command. I know you will join me in sending our thanks and prayers for his safe return.

Bianca Castillo was the 2008 recipient from Thurgood Marshall Scholl of Law. She is now married to USMC Captain Robert L. Bailey II, and they are currently stationed in Yuma, Arizona. Since graduation, Bianca has been practicing immigration law in Houston, and for the past two and one-half years, she has been the lead staff attorney for “CRECEN,” which is a community organization offering Immigration and Family Law services at nominal fees. Travelling back and forth between Houston and Yuma, she has begun building an immigration practice in Yuma. Her daughter, Bella, is now 6 years old, and she and her husband are expecting a baby boy in mid-February.

Stephanie Lindsey was the 2008 recipient from South Texas School of Law. She began her employment in the litigation department at Porter & Hedges upon her graduation, where she continues to enjoy working on some very interesting cases. She is also an adjunct moot court coach for South Texas College of Law. South Texas teams won two (2) national championships this past year—First Amendment National Moot Court Competition and National Criminal Procedure Moot Court Competition. She is married to Randy Holcomb, who is currently a student at South Texas College of Law. They have a beautiful daughter, Madison (“Maddie”).

Ivy Grey was the 2007 recipient from the University of Houston Law Center. Upon graduation in the top 20% of her class, she accepted a position with Davis Wright Tremaine in Portland, Oregon in the bankruptcy group. After 3 years of practice, she moved to New York City to pursue her LLM in corporate bankruptcy at St. John’s University. She completed her course work in May 2012, and she began working at Togut Segal & Segal a bankruptcy boutique in New York City. She is also very actively involved in dance and started a dance festival which, in its 6th year, had over 700 attendees, furthering her goal to create a community through social dance.

Payal Jethva graduated with honors from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2008. She clerked with the First Court of Appeals and the 133rd Harris County Civil Court while in law school. After graduation, Payal opened the Jethva Law Firm in 2008 at the age of 22, and she has also served as of-counsel for several law firms in Houston. She is experienced in criminal defense, business transactions, family law, bankruptcies, personal injury and general civil litigation. She has also mediated civil and family cases. In May 2011, Payal received a LLM in International Law from the University of Houston Law Center. She lives in Katy, Texas.

Jennifer Engdale is a graduate of South Texas College of Law and one of our 2007 recipients. She practices school law at Powell & Leon, LLP, in San Antonio, Texas. The majority of her practice deals with special education and disability issues in addition to employment law. She also participates in Olympic Distance Triathlons for organizations such as “Go Mitch Go,” which raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She has participated in triathlons in Texas, Washington, D. C., and plans to participate in the Maui Triathlon fundraising for cancer research and patient support.

Lilia Rhode Marek of the University of Houston Law Center was the 2006 recipient of the Scholarship. Lilia now lives in New Braunfels, Texas, with her husband, Paul, and their 19 month old daughter, Liana. She is expecting her second daughter in February. Lilia is a senior associate at Rougeux & Associates PLLC, a labor and employment boutique. They defend business owners and corporations in a wide variety of employment and commercial litigation, partner with clients to develop strategic responses to their employment law needs and provide management with the tools needed to achieve sustained economic growth.

In 2004, Brittany Perez of the University of Houston Law Center was the first recipient of the HBAA Charitable Fund, Inc., Scholarship. She is now married and living in Dallas, Texas, but she visits family in Houston as often as she can. After graduation, Brittany was a corporate M & A associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in Dallas for four years. Since 2009, she has been Associate General Counsel at Match.Com, which operates the online personals division of public internet conglomerate IAC/ Interactivecorp (IACI on NASDAQ),