On November 18th, SALSA made a special presentation to the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) Board of Directors on pro bono services and SALSA’s work on the “Don’t Bully Me” Project. Since 2021, SALSA has partnered with the David’s Legacy Foundation to help enforce the promise of “David’s Law” through recruiting and training pro bono attorney volunteers to represent victims of bullying and cyberbullying.
TYLA is known as the “public service arm of the State Bar of Texas,” and its Board of Directors is comprised of attorney delegates from every corner of the State. Many of these directors also serve on the boards of their local young-lawyer affiliate programs and other bar associations in their hometowns, big and small, making this outreach particularly effective in spreading the word about opportunities to take on anti-bullying pro bono cases all across Texas. SALSA’s Managing Attorney Ryan V. Cox spoke at the event, emphasizing the need for attorneys in the private bar, in-house counsel, government attorneys, and law firms of all sizes to participate in closing the justice gap.
“Our board members learned not only about pro bono service opportunities with SALSA, but how to make a real impact on the lives of students who are being cyberbullied,” said Michel Ritter of San Antonio, the current TYLA President. Thanks to the invitation from Mr. Ritter and Chair of the TYLA Board Hon. Lauren Sepulveda of McAllen, SALSA was able to recruit numerous new volunteers in localities across the State, answer volunteer questions, and begin to organize additional educational events for future-volunteer attorneys from El Paso to Houston and everywhere in between.
If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer attorney for this program or if you’d like more information about it, please visit our DBM Project Resource Page to about how attorneys are making a difference in the lives of families in crisis.