Historical website of Roland Garcia

Roland Garcia - Bar Leadership

"One of HBA’s greatest strengths is the diversity of its members -- attorney’s from all backgrounds, specialties and levels of experience. My active and strong relationships with other bar and community leaders has given me a keen understanding of the concerns of all segments of our membership."

Roland believes deeply in the Bar’s mission of service to the members, serving those in need, and bringing credit to our profession. He has served the HBA in various leadership roles including Board Secretary, Director, Executive Committee member, and President of the Dispute Resolution Center. He also served as Committee Chair of the Membership, Adopt-a-School, Law Internship Approval, and ADR Committees. Additionally, he served on the Audit, Finance, Executive, Historical, Elder Law, Minority Opportunities, AIDS Outreach, and Civil Justice Center Committees.

In order to fully address the diverse needs of all HBA members, and to handle the tough issues facing the Bar, the President should not only have a working knowledge of HBA operations, but also have a keen understanding of the concerns of all segments of the membership, and have direct experience and strong relationships with other bar and community organizations. Roland has a long record of successful bar initiatives and a proven history of leadership in other bar associations.

He served as a Director of the State Bar of Texas, Trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation, President of the Hispanic Bar Association, and Corresponding Secretary of the Mexican American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the Houston Bar Foundation, Houston Young Lawyers Foundation, Texas Bar Foundation, and the American Bar Foundation. The young lawyers of Texas elected him as the President of their 22,000 member statewide association. As TYLA President, Roland oversaw a full time staff, formulated a budget, formed 47 committees, worked with 26 young lawyer affiliate bars, including the Houston Young Lawyers Association, and propelled the TYLA to new levels of leadership in the American Bar Association/Young Lawyers Division. During Roland’s year as President, the TYLA received the first place award in the nation for its bar programs and projects.

Roland has designed programs to promote economic and leadership opportunities for attorneys of all levels of experience and has pioneered bar service programs in the areas of education, literacy and hunger relief. As president of various organizations, he handled finance, budget and long-range planning issues. Roland also has worked closely with national, state, local, women’s, young lawyers and minority bar associations for collaborative problem solving. Equal access to the administration of justice is critical to the integrity of our profession, and Roland worked on state and national pro bono initiatives.

When tough issues have faced the Bar, the Bar has turned to Roland.

• He was tapped by the State Bar of Texas to be a member of the Pro Bono Task Force, which traveled to thirteen cities, collected public testimony, and drafted the Bar’s Pro Bono policies.
• He was appointed to lead the State Bar’s Task Force on Thurgood Marshall School of Law, to bring employment opportunities for law students.
• He was appointed to serve as one of the Bar’s key contacts with the Texas Legislature during the Sunset Review of the Texas Bar Act, which successfully maintained the independence of the Bar.
• When Hurricane Andrew left thousands of families homeless, the Bar called upon Roland to lead its relief efforts.

Roland’s bar leadership experience is summarized below. For a more detailed list, please click on Resume.

Houston Bar Association

• Board Secretary
• Director
• President, Dispute Resolution Center
• Board Liaison, AIDS Outreach, Speakers Bureau Committees
• Committee Chair, Membership, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Adopt-a-School, Law Internship Approval Committees
• Committee Member, Executive, Audit, Finance, Historical, Elder Law, Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession, Civil Justice Center Committees
• Key Attorney, Dinner with the Judiciary

Houston Bar Foundation

• Fellow

Houston Young Lawyers Association

• Committee Member, Aspiring Youth Program, Hunger Relief Committees
• Speaker, B.C. Elmore Middle School

Houston Young Lawyers Foundation

• Fellow

American Bar Association

• Litigation Section, Member
• Speaker, ABA Convention, Miami

American Bar Foundation

• Fellow

ABA/Young Lawyers Division

• Vice Chair, Minorities in the Profession Committee, Texas Delegate
• Committee Member, Award of Achievement

State Bar of Texas

• Director
• Executive Committee Member
• Committee Chair, Thurgood Marshall School of Law Task Force
• Subcommittee Chair, Civility Committee
• Committee Member, Federal Judiciary Relations, ABA Delegates, Disaster Relief, MCLE, Planning Retreat, Legal Services to Low Income Texans, Annual Meeting, Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession, Liaison with Mexico Legal Profession Committees
• Testified Before Senate Education Committee
• Keynote Speaker, "We the People...The Citizen and the Constitution."

Texas Bar Foundation

• Trustee, Fellow, Life Fellow

Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas

• Member

Texas Young Lawyers Association

• President
• Vice President
• Executive Committee Advisor, Assistance to U.S. Immigrants, Juvenile Justice/Criminal Law, Employment Assistance/Job Fair, Women in the Profession, ABA/YLD Liaison, Law School Liaison, Disaster Emergency Legal Assistance, Aspiring Youth Program, Judicial Selection Forum, Texas Bar Journal, People’s Law School Committees
• Committee Chair, Disaster Relief, Liberty Ball, Nominations, Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas, Award of Achievement, Minority Involvement, Annual Meeting, Legal Services to Low Income Texans Committees
• Liaison, ABA/Young Lawyers Division, Texas Law Schools, Law Students
• Keynote Speaker, New Lawyers Induction Ceremony

Hispanic Bar Association

• President, Vice President, Secretary, Director
• Committee Chair, Executive, Banquet, Scholarship Committees
• Liaison to State Bar of Texas, TYLA
• Testified before Senate Jurisprudence Committee
• Speaker, Latino Law Student Mentorship Program

Mexican American Bar Association

• Corresponding Secretary
• Speaker, Annual Convention

Texas Women Lawyers Association

• Charter Member

Texas Association of Defense Counsel

• Member

South Texas College of Law

• Vice President, Director, Alumni Association
• Committee Member, National Leadership, Annual Fund Class Agent, Alumni of the Year, Planning, Scholarship Committees

University of Houston

• Major Gifts Committee
• Advisory Board, Public Interest Law Program
• Speaker, Litigation and Trial Tactics
• Speaker, Advanced Evidence and Discovery Institute