Texas Young Lawyers Association receives Texas Bar Foundation grant; Will create Texas Future Lawyers Alliance to aid aspiring first-generation lawyers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2026

Media Contact: Rebecca Johnson
Public Affairs Director, State Bar of Texas
512-427-1714, [email protected]

Texas Young Lawyers Association receives Texas Bar Foundation grant; Will create Texas Future Lawyers Alliance to aid aspiring first-generation lawyers

AUSTIN-The Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) is proud to announce it has received a $43,440 grant from the Texas Bar Foundation to create the Texas Future Lawyers Alliance (TFLA). The group will comprise 20 undergraduate aspiring lawyers attending Texas colleges and universities who will receive a year of legal training, legal networking, career guidance, and law school admissions support.

"As it stands today, financial and institutional barriers leave so many talented aspiring lawyers behind before they even have a chance to step into a law school classroom," said TYLA President-elect Armin Salek, the project's architect. Salek will take office as TYLA president in June and will lead the implementation of the project during his tenure.

"Many of these aspiring lawyers come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and rural backgrounds," he said. "These communities also represent the individuals who are the most likely to be impacted by the access to justice gap. TYLA can fight to ensure that the legal profession is equipped with the lived experiences to represent and serve all communities by investing earlier in the pathway to the legal profession."

The 20 TFLA members will be selected based on applications they submit and their descriptions of why the legal profession needs their voices and how they will use their future law degrees in service of Texas and Texans.

In addition to remote programming that will train them with the skills to succeed in the law school admissions process, law school, and legal careers, TFLA members will travel to an in-person, legal education experience, selected from options like the State Moot Court Competition, the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, and the National Trial Competition. This will allow them to network with TYLA members and to connect with other top law students and trial advocacy competitors. All costs of their travel, lodging, meals, and activities will be covered.

Once this project is successfully implemented, TYLA will use the experience to create guidance for local young lawyer associations around Texas as they look to train the aspiring lawyers in their own communities.

This project would not be possible without help from the Texas Bar Foundation. TYLA is proud to continue to partner with the foundation to serve Texans and Texas attorneys. Since its inception in 1965, the Texas Bar Foundation has awarded more than $30 million in grants to law-related programs. Supported by members of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Foundation is the nation's largest charitably funded bar foundation.