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Students encouraged to join bi-national organization, study cross-border issues
AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas-Mexico Bar Association (TMBA), a unique, bi-national organization made up of attorneys from both sides of the border, has relocated its permanent office to the UT School of Law. The move creates significant opportunities for both UT and the association, known in Mexico as the Barra de Abogados de Mexico y Texas.
"More and more legal issues are having an impact on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border," said UT Law Professor Patricia Hansen, the organization's sponsor. "The Law School's association with the TMBA will make it easier for faculty and students to interact with lawyers who are involved in cross-border issues, and to identify areas of common interest," she said.
Established in San Antonio, Texas, in 1994, the TMBA goals include promoting an understanding of the legal systems and practices of the United States and Mexico, and exchanging professional information on legal issues of mutual concern. Currently, the association has 310 members and membership is open to attorneys and law students from Mexico and the United States.
"I hope that TMBA's presence at the Law School will help us develop stronger ties to lawyers and faculty in Mexico. We are delighted TMBA is here," said UT Law dean Bill Powers.
The association, initially housed at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, is led by 16 directors from Texas and Mexico. One of the most important activities of the TMBA is an annual conference that alternates each year between a location in Mexico and Texas. This year, the conference will be held in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on Oct. 3-5.
"The association has been recognized as one of the leaders in cross cultural and bi-national legal matters not only within Texas and Mexico but nationally and internationally," said Wayne Fagan, 1969 UT Law graduate, the co-founder and first co-chair of the TMBA and a partner at Soules & Wallace in San Antonio.
"For UT Law students, especially those interested in international law and transactions, joining the TMBA and attending the conference is a great opportunity to interact with attorneys from both countries involved in the field, and to understand the problems and legal issues they face in their daily practice" said attorney Barbara Segovia, the Mexican co-chair for the Bar who received a master's degree from UT Law in 1985. "For us, it is a great opportunity to have this relationship with one of the best law schools in the United States," she said.
"We encourage UT students to join the TMBA and volunteer their time to one or more committees," said Elizabeth Vann, a sole practitioner in El Paso, Texas, who is the immediate past Texas Chair of the TMBA and a past Chair of the International Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. The TMBA is currently developing a quarterly newsletter for its members that will include legal articles and announcements on U.S. and Mexican legal issues, she said. "We invite UT students and professors to work with us on this project by submitting articles for publication or by serving on our newsletter editorial board," Vann said.
To join or learn more about the TMBA, go to http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/international/tmba.html or contact Consuelo Akin, administrative assistant to the TMBA at UT Law, at
512-232-2791 or TMBA@mail.law.utexas.edu.