AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Law Fellowships announced today that University of Texas law student Frances Valdez has received the 2003 Fulbright & Jaworski Texas Law Fellowship this summer. This is the second year that Fulbright & Jaworski - one of the largest law firms in Texas and the nation - has funded this fellowship with a $4,300 stipend that will allow Valdez to spend her summer working in the public sector.
"We are grateful to Fulbright & Jaworski for this generous contribution. Fulbright and Jaworski is a long-time supporter of Texas Law Fellowships, and this is yet another example of their commitment to the field of public interest law and UT Law," said TLF president and Law School student Regina Buono. "We also congratulate Ms. Valdez for being selected for the fellowship and for her steadfast commitment to public interest law," Buono said.
Valdez, a 2002 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin who just completed her first year at UT Law, will divide her summer working for Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA) in Houston and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) in San Antonio. TALA provides free accounting and legal services to arts nonprofits and artists who are unable to afford professional services. Valdez is currently working on an article for TALA's Arts and Accounting Reporter. MALDEF works to protect and promote the civil rights of Latinos living in the United States, primarily in the areas of employment, education, immigrants' rights, political access and public resource equity.
Texas Law Fellowships (TLF) is a student-run, non-profit corporation that raises money to fund fellowships for UT Law students working for public interest organizations during the summer. Students applying for fellowships describe their summer internships in proposals that are then voted on by donors during an annual spring Pledge Drive. The number of fellowships given each summer is determined by the success of that year's fundraising efforts. This year TLF was able to award 26 summer fellowships. The majority of TLF's financial support comes from donations by law firms and the students, faculty and staff of UT Law.
Valdez is the only recipient of the Fulbright & Jaworski Texas Law Fellowship, which was awarded to the proposal receiving the most votes in this year's Pledge Drive. The fellowship is for $4,300 and is $500 more than a regular Texas Law Fellowship. Valdez, a Houston native, has demonstrated her interest in public interest for several years. At UT Law, she served as the undergraduate mentor committee chair for the Chicano-Hispanic Law Students' Association and as a first-year representative on the Public Interest Law Association. She also received the MALDEF Scholarship for the 2002-2003 academic year. As a member of the Austin community, Valdez has volunteered at the Political Asylum Project of Austin and worked as the coordinator for the Austin Chapter of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project.
People interested in learning more about TLF's work or making donations should contact TLF at the Law School at (512) 232-1099, or tlf@mail.law.utexas.edu.
Related Link:
Texas Law Fellowships (TLF) http://www.utexas.edu/law/orgs/tlf/
Fulbright & Jaworski www.fulbright.com