Press Release
Contact:
Maggie Martin
Director, Marketing and Communications
O: 346-471-3428
maggiem@hba.org
HBA Honors Excellence in Diversity Efforts and Law Day Contests at 2025 DEI Summer Associate Luncheon
The Houston Bar Foundation (HBF) also announced the launch of its new grants program
(HOUSTON – JUNE 17, 2025) The Houston Bar Association held its 27th Annual Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summer Associate Luncheon on June 13 in downtown Houston. Produced by the HBA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee (now the Advancing Belonging & Cultures Committee), the luncheon celebrates the 1L summer associates and employers who are participating in this year’s Summer Clerkship program, as well as all local summer associates and their employers. The 1L clerk program not only provides job opportunities and hands-on legal experience for law students, but also gives students interview practice and readiness, resume review, a meet and greet with potential employers, exposure to the various fields of law through a Boot Camp, and one-on-one mentorship.
“I’m proud to say that during the past 27 years, our 1L Summer Clerkship Program has provided opportunities to 938 Houston law students – most of whom are now employed in the legal profession across the country,” said HBA President Daniella Landers. “By working together to educate and mentor the next generation of attorneys, we can ensure the future success of a profession that represents all of Houston’s rich and diverse cultures.”
The HBA also presented a law student scholarship and recognized the winners of the 2025 HBA Diversity Awards and 2025 Law Day contests.
University of Houston Law Center student Aiman Patoli, who is working for Hon. Rabeea Sultan Collier, 113th District Court this summer, received the 2025 Law Student Scholarship. The Law Student Scholarship program’s purpose is to fund students who accepted unpaid public interest or governmental opportunities through the HBA 1L Summer Clerkship Program.
The HBA Diversity Awards, created in 2019 by HBA President Benny Agosto, Jr. (2019-2020), are given to outstanding law firms and individuals in recognition of their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the legal profession. This year’s recipients are:
The luncheon also honored the Houston-area students who took first place in the 2025 HBA Law Day Contest, which invites Houston-area students in elementary through high school to express their creativity and engage with important legal and civic themes through art, photography, and editorial writing.
The Law Day contests are sponsored by the Houston Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the HBA.
This year’s winners were:
Essay Contest
“Harmony in Law”
Aryan Singh, DeBakey High School for Health Professions (Houston ISD)
Teacher: Qian Zhang
Photography Contest (Grades 9-12)
“Working with the Constituents”
Stephen Castro, Blanson Career and Technical Education High School (Aldine ISD)
Teacher: William Brink
(Second place in the statewide contest)
K-2nd Grade Poster Contest
“We the People”
Wren Schumacher, Jeanette Hayes Elementary (Katy ISD)
Teacher: Jazmin Hebert
(Third place in the statewide contest)
6th-8th Grade Poster Contest
"Rule of Law Fosters Unity and Diversity"
Jonah Wan, Mandarin Immersion Magnet School (Houston ISD)
Teacher: Thomas Sampson
(Second place in the statewide contest)
Special Needs Poster Contest (Grades 9-12)
"Going to Court"
Carlos Rosas, Bellaire High School (Houston ISD)
Teacher: Tracey Norris
In addition to continuing its support of the contests, the Houston Bar Foundation announced the launch of a new Community Grants Program on July 1. Through this program, the Foundation may award up to $100,000 in grants to support initiatives that align with its mission of serving the Houston community. Learn more about the Foundation and its new Community Grants Program by visiting hba.org/foundation.
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The Houston Bar Association is a nonprofit professional organization for attorneys that provides education and service programs for the legal profession and the community. With over 10,000 members, the HBA is one of the largest metropolitan bar associations in the nation.
The Houston Bar Foundation’s mission, as the charitable arm of the Houston Bar Association, is to make a positive impact on our community by: supporting legal representation for those in need; promoting understanding of our legal system, and fostering the administration of justice. Through the generosity of its contributors, and significantly its Fellows, Life Fellows, Sustaining Life Fellows, and Champion Fellows, the Foundation has been able to make a difference in the greater Houston community.
