Federal Bar Association - Southern District of Texas Chapter

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Federal Bar Association - Southern District of Texas Chapter

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The S.D. Tex. Chapter is dedicated to serving the needs of both the bar and bench in the District. Baker, III, and Professor Alan Dershowitz.

The Southern District of Texas Chapter of the Federal Bar Association is dedicated to serving the needs of both the bar and bench in the Southern District of Texas. Established in 1959, the Southern District of Texas Chapter is the largest Federal Bar Chapter in geographic size, spanning the entire Southern District of Texas and encompassing all seven of its divisions. Our Chapter has become the second largest chapter of the FBA in Texas, with a membership of more than 260. Our Chapter members come from private practice, government agencies, military branches, local law schools, and the judiciary. The Chapter is committed to improving federal practice throughout the Southern District of Texas. Our Chapter holds regular CLE luncheons with speakers ranging from federal judges, U.S. Attorneys, heads of federal agencies, and lawyers involved in prominent federal cases. In addition to our monthly CLE luncheons in Houston, the Chapter sponsors various CLE events in other cities throughout the District. The Chapter also awards Blask Fellowships each year to law students interning with federal courts or agencies located within the Southern District. The Blask Fellowships honor the memory of Magistrate Judge Ronnie Blask, a former Chapter President. Recent Fellowship recipients have interned for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, United States District, Magistrate and Bankruptcy Judges, as well as federal agencies such as the U.S. Attorney’s Office, NASA, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Each year the Chapter also supports the Michael Taylor Shelby Award for professionalism in federal service. This award recognizes an attorney in federal service working within the Southern District who has exhibited outstanding dedication, ethics, and professionalism. The Chapter also hosts a gala dinner honoring all of the federal judges of the Southern District. Recent Annual Dinner speakers include United States Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, Judge Diane Wood of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Secretary James A. We invite you to join us at any of our many events. If you have not already done so, we also invite you to join the Federal Bar Association and the Southern District of Texas Chapter. A Young Lawyers Division has been formed for those who are age 36 or younger or have practiced less than three years. Please contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in participating.

10/27/2026

The fall issue of the SDTX Bench Brief is now available! You can check out the full version on our website, fbasdtx.org, or read the photos here. Thanks to EIC Lee Whitesell and all the contributors for this issue.

10/26/2026

We are looking forward to celebrating and giving thanks with our friends in other local bar associations on November 22. Thanks to HYLA for putting this event together. All FBA members are welcome, but please sign up to attend and bring a dish on HYLA’s website (noted on the flyer).

10/22/2026

Today the Laredo Division hosted a law panel for students for the Texas A&M International University’s Pre-Law Society and Student Government Association. Thanks to all the panelists and especially to our Chapter’s Laredo Division Representative, Melissa Lopez, and Laredo judicial liaison Hon. John Kazen, for their efforts in planning this event.

10/21/2026

Thanks to Judge Brown, Judge Rondon, Professor Brem, and Christine Lu for their interesting presentation on recent changes to the Federal Rules of Evidence.

10/09/2026

We are looking forward to honoring the federal judiciary and public servants at our Annual Dinner on November 2, which is the night before the SDTX Bench Bar Conference. We are thankful to our underwriters, premier sponsors, and regular sponsors, whose support of this event funds our Blask Fellowship program. This program provides scholarships to law students who have a demonstrated interest in federal public service and are interning in a federal court or agency in the district.

09/25/2026

Join us for an engaging discussion about the impact of recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence. Register on our EventBrite site.

09/24/2026

The Chapter hosted a Welcome Happy Hour for all the federal law clerks in the Southern District, who were in Houston for a two-day district-wide law clerk training. Thanks to Chapter Board Member Trevor Deason and Chapter Clerk Liaison Meredith Clark for their work coordinating this event and to event sponsors Jones Day and Yetter Coleman.

09/21/2026

The University of Houston Law Center Student Chapter of the FBA is official! This is the first law student chapter in the Southern District of Texas. Many thanks to the Hon. Jeff Brown, Hon. Peter Bray, their clerks, and Judge Ho’s clerk, for helping make the initial student chapter event particularly meaningful for the students. Thanks also to the inaugural student Chapter President, Jack Hayes, and faculty sponsor, Professor Emily Berman.

We can’t wait to see the student chapter growing and providing fantastic programming so that its members learn more about federal practice.

The posed photo includes Dean Baynes, Jack, Judge Brown, Judge Bray, and the clerks who spoke at today’s event.

09/20/2026

📢 Have you heard the news? Registration for the 2026 SDTX Bench Bar Conference is now open! We are thankful for the opportunity to partner with the Court, the Houston Bar Association, and HYLA to help coordinate the conference and bring the federal bench and bar in the SDTX together for an incredible day of learning. For links to view the conference website and speaker bios, visit our website at fbasdtx.org. Registration is through the HBA website. Many thanks to all who have agreed to speak and to our planning committee members.

09/16/2026

Many thanks to Michael Mazzone and Harry Phillips, our September CLE presenters, for a very helpful and informative presentation about practical ways to use AI throughout the lifecycle of a case.

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Houston, TX

Website

https://www.fedbar.org/southern-district-of-texas-chapter/southern-district-of-texas-chapter/message-from-the-president/

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