Community Service

As a lawyer, Jeff views it as his responsibility to serve the community and to provide legal services to the poorest among us.  In 2005, Jeff was selected by the State Bar of Texas to serve as a Commissioner on the Texas Access to Justice Commission, Texas’ leading organization for ensuring that indigent Texans recieve access to legal services.  Among other things, Jeff spearheaded the delivery of $800,000 worth of computer equipment to legal services organizations, regularly testified at the Texas Legislature concerning bills that would impact legal services like ensuring that individuals could access courts to obtain food stamp benefits, and helped lobby the legislature to address budgetary shortfalls.

Jeff has also been involved with Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas since he became a lawyer and has served on its board since 2001.  He served as its President in 2007 and remains active on its development committee.  In the spring of 2010, Jeff and his wife, Allison, hosted sixty of VLS’ top donors at their home to hear Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht discuss the importance of pro bono legal services and the Supreme Court’s commitment to such organizations.

Jeff is also a Past President of the Austin Young Lawyer’s Association where he worked with former University of Texas Professor, Sara Buel, to create a pro bono domestic violence program where young lawyers worked with top family lawyers to represent victims of spousal abuse.  The program not only received accolades from the American Bar Association and the Texas Bar Association, it helped numerous domestic violence victims avoid ongoing abuse.

But perhaps Jeff’s favorite act of community service was donning a red suit and a white beard and transforming himself into Santa Claus for several years to hand out gifts to disadvantaged foster children in the Austin and Dripping Springs communities.

Jeff and his wife also donate to Colin’s Hope, the Texas Civil Rights Project, their alma maters and their children’s schools.