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TYLA Serves the Rio Grande Valley
By:  Rebekah Steely Brooker, Passman & Jones

The TYLA Board of Directors held its first meeting of the 2012-2013 year in McAllen. President C.E. Rhodes took advantage of the great location and scheduled multiple service projects in the Rio Grande Valley.

On Thursday, September 6, TYLA directors Alfonso Cabañas, Celina Lopez, Victor Villarreal, Rebekah Brooker, and C.E. Rhodes participated in a panel discussion at the University of Texas–Pan American entitled “What Do Lawyers Do?” Director Sam Houston moderated the panel. The panel answered the UTPA Pre-Law Society’s questions about law school and life after law school.

TYLA next partnered with Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association and headed to McAllen Memorial High School to present “Vote America!” TYLA presented a video that it created which chronicles the development and importance of the right to vote. An auditorium of high-school seniors enjoyed the video and an additional presentation from the Advocacy Alliance Center of Texas, a non-profit organization created to increase voter turnout in the Rio Grande Valley. After the presentation, several seniors completed and submitted their voter registration cards. TYLA repeated the program the next day at Nikki Rowe High School. Special thanks to TYLA Director Shivali Sharma for leading this project.

TYLA also had the opportunity to present “¡Protejase! Luche Contra el Fraude” (Protect Yourself! Fight Against Fraud) to La Union Del Pueblo. Originally developed by the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, ¡Protejase! aims to educate the Spanish-speaking community about various consumer fraud issues, including debt and credit repair scams and notario fraud among others, – LUPE. This entire presentation was conducted in Spanish. TYLA Directors Soraya Yanar Hanshew, Alfonso Cabañas, Amanda Navarette, Brandy Wingate, and Judge Amanda Torres were instrumental in rolling out this project.

TYLA would not have been able to complete these projects without the assistance of the Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association. Their hospitality made the weekend not only successful, but a whole lot of fun!

TYLA has created multiple projects like the ones presented in McAllen. If you would like a TYLA project presented in your area, please contact your local TYLA director, who can be found at tyla.org, or the TYLA office at tyla@texasbar.com.