In the next episode of the Council of Firsts, Austin Bar Association President, Amanda Arriaga, first Latina President of the Austin Bar talks to Betty Balli Torres. Betty is the current Executive Director of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the first Latina to lead a statewide IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) program and the first Latina to receive the Distinguished Lawyer Award from the Austin Bar Foundation. Learn more about the Texas Access to Justice Foundation at www.teajf.org.
The Austin Bar Association was established in 1893 as the Travis County Bar Association. Since that time, there have only been 14 female presidents and 8 minorities. 3 of the females are also minorities. The podcast seeks to discuss the need for diversity in these and other legal leadership positions.