David T Lopez:  

Upon completing my 50th year as a lawyer, I was one of five in Texas to receive an Outstanding 50-Year Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation in June 2022, complementing the 2007 Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, which is bestowed annually on one of the 90,000 licensed lawyers in the state. I was interviewed, and my responses were published in a pamphlet that I understand will be made available at law schools and other libraries. I have consistently given due credit to my growing up in Laredo, to Martin High School, and to the public library that used to be on the second floor of the City Hall. I am giving up courtroom trials and limiting my practice from now on to resolving disputes as an arbitrator or mediator. An arbitrator is chosen as a sort of private judge by individuals who want to avoid having to resolve a dispute by a lawsuit. A mediator assists individuals in getting to an agreement to resolve a dispute in a way that is acceptable to all concerned. I am accredited to serve as an arbitrator or mediator in both the United States and internationally. My spouse of 56 years, Romelia, manages my practice. She was graduated as valedictorian from Miller High School in Corpus Christi. Our daughter, Vianei Lopez Braun, was graduated from Princeton at age 19, and at the time, and maybe still, was the youngest female graduate. She received a law degree from The University of Texas, is a partner at the Decker Jones firm in Fort Worth, and recently was appointed to the Board of Directors of First Financial Bank, which operates throughout Texas. My having been named by Ms. Doss as editor of the MHS newspaper led me to work as a reporter at the South Texas Citizen and the Laredo Times, later covering education and politics for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. My undergraduate degree was in Journalism from The University of Texas, and I was the first Latino to serve as Managing Editor of The Daily Texan, selecting and appointing editors and re...Expand for more