Fight Them on the Beaches 12 Mar 2025, 9:27 pm

President’s Article by Elizabeth “BB” Sanford June 4, 1940. Germany has overtaken France. The Belgium Army – surrendered. A brand-new prime minister has just led an extraordinary evacuation at Dunkirk. But wars aren’t won on evacuations. Germany’s invasion of Britain is imminent. What is this prime minister to do? How does he rally his weary [...]

An Ode to the Young Lawyer Who Doesn’t Have It All Figured Out 5 Feb 2025, 8:57 pm

by Elizabeth “BB” Sanford 2025 DAYL President January has officially come and gone. I’ve lost track of how many times I heard that this was the longest month of the year, and the year has just started. Or read memes like “we are 5 months into 2025 and it’s still January.” I get it. Many [...]

The Room Where it Happens 21 Jan 2025, 10:28 pm

DAYL President’s Article by Elizabeth “BB” Sanford I want to be in the room where it happens. I have an innate pull inside me that wants to be where the action is. I want to surround myself with visionaries, leaders, do-gooders, people with things to say, people who practice what they preach, the list goes [...]

Texas Business Court: Essentials, Strategies, and Advocacy – Part II 27 Aug 2024, 7:28 pm

by Mitch Garrett and D. Hunter Polvi This is a follow up to the in-person presentation by Mitch Garrett and Hunter Polvi presented on July 24, 2024 answering several hot-button questions raised after the presentation.  A copy of the powerpoint from that presentation is located here. Does the prohibition on legal and medical malpractice extend [...]

DAYL Announces Jenae Ward as the 2024 DAYL Young Lawyer Pro Bono Award Recipient 31 Jul 2024, 5:23 pm

Jenae Ward is an associate in Weil’s Complex Commercial Litigation practice. She focuses on a broad range of disputes in state and federal courts, in matters involving breach of contract, employment issues, and bankruptcy-related litigation, as well as internal investigations. She received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School in 2019. Prior to attending law [...]

Make it Please the Court: Tips for Successful Petitions for Review 31 Jul 2024, 3:24 pm

by J. Collin Spring When handling their first Supreme Court of Texas appeals, attorneys young and old may find themselves dealing with a new, different type of legal brief—the Petition for Review. A Petition for Review is a short document that aims to convince the Court your case is important to the state of the [...]

Data-driven Decision Making Comes to the Texas Courts HB 1182 and HB 2384: Effective 9/1/2023 20 Jun 2024, 10:09 pm

by Samantha Best In the most recent legislative session, two bills were passed that are already starting to send ripples in courthouses across the state. These two bills require counties to report more detailed information to the Office of Court Administration (OCA) than previously required. Bill HB 1182 will require counties with larger populations to [...]

Equity Grants for Service Providers in LLCs Doesn’t have to be Complicated 21 May 2024, 10:15 pm

by Candace Groth Limited liability companies (“LLCs”) are a popular entity choice for many business owners. Unlike c-corporations with their familiar Equity Incentive Plans (a/k/a “stock options”) many attorneys and business owners alike do not understand the different options for issuing equity in LLCs, and the additional compliance and reporting obligations that could result. Come [...]

11 Insurance and Crisis Management Lessons, 11 Years After the Boston Marathon Bombing 15 Apr 2024, 2:42 pm

by Alexander Clark The Boston Marathon boasts a rich history dating back to its inaugural race in 1897. Its qualification system, introduced with a four-hour cutoff in 1970, has made the Boston Marathon an aspirational goal for many amateur and professional runners alike, symbolizing achievement in the running community. Its history is also marred by [...]

Are You the Court Reporter? 28 Mar 2024, 6:52 pm

DAYL President’s Message A perspective on the challenges of being a female attorney in 2024 and some ways you can be her ally.  by Haleigh Jones March 2024 An attorney’s first deposition is not something she forgets. When she walks into the deposition, she has spent days preparing and reviewing documents to understand the witness’s [...]

Arm Yourself To Fight Non-Paying Insurers! 21 Feb 2024, 7:38 pm

Do you ever feel like you are being given the run around, or worse, getting completely screwed by your insurance company?  You probably are… And in a time when we are seeing an uptick in litigation and natural disasters alike, insurers are poised to deny your claim to stay afloat! This snippet will offer some [...]

Three Tips for Young Lawyers from In-House Counsel 16 Jan 2024, 7:32 pm

The corporate legal environment differs in keen ways from the law firm practice. If you find yourself newly working in a corporate legal department or work closely with your corporate counterparts, then it is useful understanding the unique challenges you will face in the corporate environment. To help young lawyers understand the dynamics of the [...]

Why DAYL? A Value Proposition 3 Jan 2024, 7:10 pm

DAYL President’s Message by Haleigh Jones January 2024 At the risk of generalizing too broadly, most young lawyers, including myself, exist in a culture that glamorizes busyness. An insurmountable number of emails, demanding supervisors, young children, new spouses and partners, uncharted legal tasks, and the relentless slog of the billable hour are just a few [...]

How the Workplace Can Make Space for Mental Health 19 Dec 2023, 4:44 pm

As we remember 2023 and look forward to a shiny new year, let’s take inventory of what young lawyers and employers should keep in mind regarding mental health accommodations in the workplace. This article is inspired partly by our 2024 DAYL President Haleigh Jones’ vision to improve the lives and wellness of young lawyers in [...]

STEER Seeks Committee Members in 2024 17 Nov 2023, 9:28 pm

by Jessica Riley Are you interested in getting more involved in DAYL? Do you believe in the power of mentorship and creating community in the Dallas legal community? Have you been licensed for at least 3 years? If the answer is YES then you should consider joining the STEER committee! The STEER program is a [...]

DAYL Announces 2024 Board of Directors Election Results 17 Nov 2023, 9:05 pm

DAYL members have elected the following people to the 2024 Board of Directors: Rob Banowsky, Helen Emerson, Cali Franks, Kathleen Klein, Adrianne Mandes, Ashley Miller, Ha-Vi Nguyen, Ian Ross Phillips, Jessica Riley, and Jenny Smiley. Haleigh Jones will serve as DAYL President in 2024. BB Sanford will serve as President-Elect. Stephen Huschka will serve as Vice President. Alexis Swanzy will serve as Treasurer [...]

Jury Selection in Litigation: Preparing for Voir Dire, Identifying Bias, and Leveraging Strikes 29 Sep 2023, 7:13 pm

Picking the right jury is not an exact science. Success in jury selection relies on your interpersonal skills—your ability to stand in front of a group of people and make them like you, trust you, and share personal information with you. So, relish the fact that jury selection, especially with a 15-minute time limit, is [...]

ChatGPT: Can You Help Me With This Article? 18 Jul 2023, 9:45 pm

by H.H. Originally, my plan for this article was to have it written primarily by artificial intelligence (“AI”), about AI, and reveal to you – the reader – only at the very end that it was in large part written by AI. I thought to myself, “how clever,” I get to learn about and experiment [...]

Jessica Mannon Recognized as DAYL’s Young Lawyer Pro Bono Award Recipient 27 Jun 2023, 9:35 pm

During the 2023 DAYL Wine Tasting Benefiting the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, the DAYL recognized Jessica Mannon with the Young Lawyer Pro Bono Service Award. The award was created in 2011 and recognizes the public service or legal aid performed by an individual who in the preceding year has provided outstanding contributions and access to [...]

NLRB Flips Standards on Disciplining Employees Over Outbursts at Work and Online 27 Jun 2023, 5:45 pm

by Jenny Smiley Employers and young lawyers alike should be aware of the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision in Lion Elastomers, LLC II in which the NLRB reverted its rule regarding “abusive conduct” in the workplace back to pre-2020 standards. On May 1, 2023, the NLRB published its decision in Lion Elastomers LLC II [...]

Potential Ethical Violations by Elle Woods, Gemini Vegetarian 19 May 2023, 4:24 pm

Elle Woods continues to reign as the legal icon of a generation. With her pink suit, impeccable work ethic, and ever-increasing grace, there is a lot for lawyers to admire within the hour and thirty-six minutes that we get to know her. However, Elle Woods isn’t perfect. In fact, if the events of the movie [...]

Dallas Constable Michael Orozco Selected as the DAYL 2023 Liberty Bell Award Recipient 12 May 2023, 6:30 pm

Dallas Constable Michael Orozco has been selected as the recipient of the DAYL Liberty Bell Award for 2023. Constable Orozco is the Constable for Precinct 5 in Dallas County.  The DAYL Liberty Bell Award criteria states that it recognizes a non-lawyer who “has made selfless contributions to our community to strengthen the American system of [...]

Janet Landry Smith Selected as the DAYL 2023 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award Recipient 12 May 2023, 6:28 pm

  DAYL is excited to announce Janet Landry Smith has been named the recipient of the DAYL Outstanding Young Lawyer Award for this year. Janet is in-house counsel at Southwest Airlines, and is Board Certified by the State Bar of Texas in labor and employment law. Janet’s bar service began as a law student where [...]

Bill Richmond Selected as the DAYL 2023 Outstanding Mentor Award Recipient 12 May 2023, 6:26 pm

DAYL is excited to announce that Bill Richmond has been named the recipient of the DAYL Outstanding Mentor Award for this year.  Bill is a founding partner at Platt Cheema Richmond PLLC and has previously served as Managing Partner and head of the firm’s litigation section. Bill’s focuses his practice on representing entrepreneurs and companies [...]

Teacher Pay in Texas: Who Decides How Much They Make? 21 Apr 2023, 8:37 pm

Teacher pay has been a recent source of communal outrage all over the news and social media. The general consensus is that we should be paying teachers more, but who in Texas actually decides what the average K-12 teacher makes? Full-time Texas teachers, speech pathologists, librarians, nurses, and counselors are paid based upon their years [...]