ABA YLD

New ABA YLD District 25 Representative and Disaster Legal Services Update
By: Victor A. Flores

For those who may not know me, I am an assistant city attorney for the City of McAllen – City Attorney’s Office providing general counsel and defending McAllen against civil liability claims. In addition to serving TYLA as the new American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division representative for District 25, I serve on several state and local boards, including the Texas Bar Journal Board of Editors, State Bar of Texas Government Law Section, and Hidalgo County Bar Association. Prior to practicing law, I served as a staff sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. I have been married to my wife, Kristal, for eight years and we have an amazing seven-month-old baby boy. 

I’m excited to be joining Rusty O’Kane, ABA YLD representative for District 26, as your voice to the ABA YLD.

For those who may be unfamiliar with the breakdown of the Texas districts, District 26 encompasses the northern and western portion of the state, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Tyler, Texarkana, Waco, Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, Amarillo, and El Paso. Meanwhile, District 25 covers the southern and central portion of the state, including Houston, San Antonio, Beaumont, Bryan/College Station, Austin, Laredo, and McAllen/Brownsville. If you are unsure which district representative represents you and your area, you can find additional information here.

As ABA YLD district representatives, among other duties, we partner with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, ABA YLD, and other supporting legal aid organizations to implement disaster legal services in our districts.

Since January 2016, in addition to a declaration issued in late November 2015, three new disaster declarations were issued for Texas that impacted Austin, Bastrop, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell, Comal, Cameron, Eastland, Erath, Fayette, Fort Bend, Galveston, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hays, Hidalgo, Hood, Jasper, Kleberg, Lee, Liberty, Marion, Montgomery, Navarro, Newton, Orange, Parker, Palo Pinto, San Jacinto, Stephens, Travis, Tyler, Waller, Washington, Willacy, and Wilson counties.

Through these partnerships, we facilitated federal and state disaster assistance for thousands of qualifying individuals who sustained property damage as a result of various severe storms.  In addition, low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration were made available to eligible applicants for repairs and rebuilding efforts and to cover the cost of replacing lost or damaged personal property.

As this new bar year rolls out, remember that it’s an exciting time to be a young lawyer, and you should expect to see great things from TYLA and the ABA YLD in 2016-2017. As the year unfolds, please stay tuned to eNews for the latest updates on the ABA YLD meetings, benefits, and upcoming projects.