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![handle is hein.barjournals/hdba0044 and id is 1 raw text is:
Dallas Bar Association
Laura Benitez Geisler: DBA's l1l0th
and First Hispanic President
Bill Holston to Receive
2019 MLK Justice Award
When Laura Benitez Geisler is sworn in as
the 110th President of the Dallas Bar Association
(DBA) on January 12, 2019, she will be the first
Hispanic member to
assume the role. Ms.
Geisler, of the Geisler
Law Firm, will lead the
DBA after more than
a decade of service
to the organization,
both on its Board of
Directors and in other
capacities.
Through the 20
years of watching and
working with Laura,
I can tell you that no
one cares more about
our profession, its
leadership, and suc-
cess. And no one has
been more prepared to
assume the DBA presi-
dency, said immediate
past President Michael
Hurst, partner at Lynn
Pinker Cox & Hurst,
LLP. Laura's natural Laura Benitez Geler
and practiced lead-
ership qualities include her charisma, passion,
heart, energy, and experience.
Ms. Geisler was raised in Corpus Christi.
Recounting her childhood, she said I always tried
to renegotiate every rule that I found arbitrary-
like bedtime-which frequently led to the com-
ment that I would 'make a good lawyer.' I really
took it to heart. After majoring in Criminal Jus-
tice at the University of Texas at San Antonio,
she came to Dallas to pursue her J.D. at SMU
Dedman School of Law, serving on the SMU Law
Review and interning for Judge Jorge Solis and
at the Texas Supreme Court with Justice Craig
Enoch.
Ms. Geisler knew she wanted to spend her
legal career in the courtroom and, after an uncon-
ventional interview with Ralph Red Dog Jones
in which she attended a meeting with an expert
witness and a client (all the while being evaluated
on her interactions), she was invited to join the
firm-thus began her career as a personal injury
attorney. Ms. Geisler took on meaningful roles in
significant cases from the very start. And Red Dog
turned into a great mentor (and later partner) to
Ms. Geisler-it was he who convinced her to par-
ticipate in the first Dallas Association of Young
Lawyers (DAYL) Leadership Class in 1997.
From there Ms. Geisler was hooked on active
involvement with the bar. I really enjoyed par-
ticipating in bar association programs and activi-
ties, meeting new people and fellow practitio-
ners, strengthening my practice and skills, and,
most importantly, forming lifelong friendships,
said Geisler. She served as President of the Dallas
Women Lawyers Association (DWLA) in 2003
and DAYL President in 2007. She was elected
to the DBA Board in 2008 while assisting Jus-
tice Douglas Lang of the Fifth Court of Appeals
with the Transition to Law program to help first
year lawyers make the
leap from student to
practicing attorney.
Indeed, one of Ms.
Geisler's passions is
helping mentor young
lawyers to become suc-
cessful practitioners.
This year she is work-
ing on the develop-
ment of a legal incu-
bator program for
new attorneys to take
on modest means rep-
resentations while
learning practical skills
about how to run a
business as a lawyer.
Having started her
own firm, Ms. Geisler
has a first-hand under-
standing of the chal-
lenges of balancing
one's practice and cli-
ent demands with run-
ning a business and
everyday life-a balance she appears to have mas-
tered herself: she has been named in numerous
Best Lawyer lists in the field of personal injury
including Best Lawyers in America, Best Attor-
neys in Texas, and Best Lawyers in Dallas and
Texas Super Lawyers among other accolades.
In addition to her DBA Board service, Ms.
Geisler was also Co-Chair for the 2014-2015
Equal Access to Justice Campaign benefitting the
Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, in which she
helped raise over $1.1 million to provide pro bono
legal services to low income Dallas County resi-
dents.
I believe the Dallas Bar Association is truly
unique and among the strongest and most active
bar associations in the country, she said. I intend
to continue the tradition of preserving the DBA's
unparalleled assets and resources.
Judge Martin L. Hoffman, of the 68th Dis-
trict Court, said of Ms. Geisler Laura has been a
hard working visionary leader in the Dallas legal
community for a long time. Her role in starting
the DAYL Judicial Intern program has helped
thousands of law students learn more about our
Dallas judicial system. Laura's program on the
Independence of the Judiciary will highlight
this important issue. Laura's dedication and lead-
ership makes her well suited for the herculean
task of President of the Dallas Bar.
Rob Crain, a partner at Crain, Lewis, Brogdon,
LLP and past DBA President said Serving others
is Laura's passion; whether directed professionally,
continued on page 10
This January, the Dallas Bar
Association will honor Bill
Holston, Executive Director of
the Human Rights Initiative of
North Texas, Inc. (HRI), with the
2019 Martin Luther King, Jr. Jus-
tice Award, which recognizes area
leaders whose service to the com-
munity embodies
the example of Dr.
King. One cannot
help but notice
the plight of the
immigrant and ref-
ugee communities
in today's news.
Among their many
other concerns and
daily needs, these
immigrants and
refugees find them-
selves attempting
to navigate a com-
plex legal system.
Bill Holston and Bill Holston
HRI provide guid-
ance and aid to help smooth that
path. HRI is a nonprofit organiza-
tion that provides legal assistance
to refugees and immigrants in the
North Texas area who are the vic-
tims of human rights abuses. It
was founded in 1999 by attorney
Elizabeth Betsy Healy and social
worker Serena Simmons Connelly.
An Alabama native sporting
a bow-tie, Bill Holston graduated
high school in Texas, where he
also attended undergrad (UT Dal-
las) and law school (SMU). Before
joining HRI in 2012, his career
had been focused on commercial
trial work as a partner of Sullivan
and Holston Law Firm. While he
found commercial litigation to be
intellectually stimulating, his pro
bono immigration work provided a
more meaningful reward. Working
in immigration gives Holston the
opportunity to change the lives of
his clients, as well as those whose
lives his clients touch. Holston
is inspired by the asylum seekers'
stories and their strength to per-
severe through their tribulations.
Holston has described the work as
the most fulfilling part of [his] life
outside [his] family.
Our clients come to America
with nothing but the clothes on
their backs. They are prohibited
from working and not entitled
to government benefits but have
taken huge risks so they have a
chance at freedom and safety in
our country, said Holston. Our
new challenges include providing
social services to clients through
our pro bono lawyers, doctors,
and other volunteers. We need to
provide increasing social services
especially given the huge backlog
of cases in Immigration Court.
Along with other members of
the DBA, Holston
volunteered his
services at DFW
Airport when the
travel ban was
instituted. He trav-
eled to Paris, Texas,
along with many
other legal volun-
teers and legal ser-
vice organizations,
to help immigrants
affected by one
of the largest ICE
raids in recent his-
tory. With his tal-
ented team at HRI,
he has been work-
ing to help the children separated
from their immigrant parents at
the border. Holston also promotes
collaboration with other area
groups providing related services
through a collaborative program
called the Force for Immigrant
Rights & Empowerment (FIRE)
Coalition to help share resources
and spread information through
the community.
Since the mid-1980s, Holston
has been providing pro bono ser-
vices for political and religious
asylum applicants from 21 coun-
tries, helping clients navigate the
legal system, and learning about
human rights efforts in other coun-
tries. Through his work with HRI,
Holston has tried multiple asy-
lum trials. In 2005, HRI awarded
Holston with the Angel of Free-
dom Award. In 1997, he received
the Outstanding Political Asy-
lum Lawyer Award from the Dal-
las Bar Association, and in 2002,
he received an award for Distin-
guished Pro Bono Service Award
from the Dallas Volunteer Attor-
ney Program. In 2015 Mr. Holston
was recognized as a Distinguished
Alumni for Public Service by the
SMU Dedman School of Law.
Additionally, he has authored
commentaries and editorial on
human rights issues for KERA 90.1
continued on page 16
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