TBJ JULY/AUGUST 2023
‘My Life Is Very Full, and I Wouldn’t Want It Any Other Way’
Lubbock attorney Laura Pratt uses her Texas Young Lawyers Association presidency to equip students for adulthood.
Written by Eric Quitugua
Above: “I have a lot of things I enjoy doing,
but I am pretty sure I enjoy doing them because of the people I am
with,” Laura Pratt told the Texas Bar Journal. Photo
courtesy of Laura Pratt.
Born Laura Ann Wilson, it may seem on a superficial level that Laura Pratt was destined to become a lawyer. But it wasn’t in the cards at first. “I spent considerable time in undergrad explaining that while my initials were L.A.W., I had no intention of going to law school,” she joked. Instead, Pratt was intent on becoming a medical doctor. One summer, she was working with her dad on an environmental permitting issue, she explained, when she was struck by an offhand comment he made about the need for “lawyers who could speak the scientific language.”
Fast forward to 2023, and Pratt, doctor of jurisprudence, is officially in her year as president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. Her involvement with TYLA began more than a decade ago under the leadership of then-President C.E. Rhodes and a recommendation from then-director Wendy-Adele Humphrey. The project dealt with a subject she was passionate about: Slavery Out of the Shadows: Spotlight on Human Trafficking. The experience of working with the committee putting the project together persuaded her to continue service to TYLA. This year, Pratt introduces another project she is passionate about: Adulting. The project will continue the association’s comprehensive and multimedia approach to educate young people on the rights and responsibilities of adulthood, while pointing to relevant TYLA and State Bar resources.
Pratt, who was sworn in as president of TYLA on June 23, 2023, spoke with the Texas Bar Journal about Adulting, continuing the TYLA legacy of service to the bar and community, and one day starting a band with her family.
HOW DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME INVOLVED
IN TYLA?
My involvement with TYLA stemmed from my
passion to
combat human trafficking. In 2012, under the
leadership of C.E.
Rhodes, TYLA developed and produced the
Slavery Out of the
Shadows: Spotlight on Human Trafficking
project. My TYLA district
director at that time was Wendy-Adele
Humphrey, and knowing
my passion for the topic, she reached out to
me to ask me to be
involved in the project development. After a
year of working with
the committee to develop the project, I was
hooked. Wendy-Adele
was rolling off the board, and she encouraged
me to continue my
TYLA service as a director. Fun fact, I was
sworn in as president of
TYLA almost 10 years to the day of receiving
an award of merit
from President Rhodes for my work on Slavery
Out of the Shadows.
SINCE HELPING ESTABLISH ONEVOICEHOME,
A SAFE HOME FOR
GIRLS AGED 12 TO 23 WHO ARE SURVIVORS OF SEX
TRAFFICKING,
WHAT OBSERVATIONS DO YOU HAVE IN THE WAY LEGAL
RESOURCES
ARE MADE AVAILABLE FOR VICTIMS OF SEXUAL
EXPLOITATION AND
HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
In general, there’s always more we can do to help survivors of
sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
Most of the time,
survivors don’t even know what resources are
available to them,
so sometimes the best thing the legal
community can do is
simply communicate with victim services
organizations and help
educate staff and survivors on their rights.
Coincidentally, this
open channel of communication can also help
the legal
community understand where the gaps are in
resources. One of
my projects this year involving identity theft
is a direct result of a conversation I had with OneVoiceHome staff about
this need for
survivors. We can’t all do the same thing to
help survivors, but we
can all do something.
HOW DID YOU DECIDE YOU WANTED TO LEAD
TYLA?
“To whom much is given, much will be
required.” If you have
heard that line of wisdom, you know it means we
are held
responsible for what we have. I have been
extremely blessed, and
I hold myself to the standard that I use those
blessings to benefit
others. TYLA has a rich history of doing great
things to help our
bar and our communities, and I want to use what
I have to lead
and be a part of that legacy of
service.
Above: Laura Pratt giving a lecture. Photo
courtesy of Laura Pratt.
WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST TAKEAWAY FROM
SOMEONE YOU’VE
WORKED WITH IN THE PAST ON TYLA?
One of the benefits of having been connected
to TYLA for
over a decade is that I have had the opportunity
to work with so
many different people. From others, I have
learned wisdom for
difficult decisions, patience for difficult
situations, and kindness
for difficult people. If you spend a lot of time
with people that
both challenge and inspire you, it will change
your life. While I
can’t point to a single “someone” (there are too
many to name
who have helped me along the way), I can say my
relationships
from serving with TYLA have absolutely changed
my life for the
better.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR
SIGNATURE PROJECT?
WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM?
Adulting, a project generously funded
by the Texas Bar
Foundation, will help to educate, inform, and
equip young adults
to better manage the challenges of adulthood.
This project will
include (1) a brief overview of the general
rights and
responsibilities of becoming an adult; (2)
topic-specific pages
with informational videos, relevant content, and
links to other
relevant TYLA and State Bar of Texas projects,
guides, and
videos; (3) handouts, discussion guides,
presentation outlines,
and slideshows to facilitate classroom
discussions; and (4)
resource links to other helpful information.
In my first year of practice, I was invited by the Lubbock Area Bar Association to participate in its Now You’re 18 law-related education program. In coordination with one of the local school districts, every fall and every spring, lawyer volunteers would speak to high school students about the most common legal rights and responsibilities associated with adulthood. I absolutely love the program. However, we never seemed to have enough time to make it through the whole outline of material.
Over the past few years, I found myself wishing we had a comprehensive website that would fill in the gaps in our presentations. In doing the research for the Adulting project, I found a deep database of other State Bar and TYLA projects that could supplement the website content. Hopefully, this project can create additional accessibility and visibility for the wealth of free legal resources already available through the State Bar and TYLA.
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT TO
WORK ON?
Both installments of Slavery Out of the
Shadows have been my
favorites. It is like coming full circle for me.
Over 10 years ago, I
worked with TYLA to shed light on the harsh
reality of modern
slavery and build awareness on the global issue
of human
trafficking. Two years ago, together with law
enforcement, service
providers, survivors, and advocates, TYLA
reaffirmed its
commitment to fight for the freedom and
restoration for every
survivor of human trafficking. It is such a
powerful thing to see
that commitment play out in real time for over a decade.
Above: Laura Pratt and her family visit pyramids
in Egypt. Photo courtesy of Laura Pratt.
OUTSIDE OF BEING A LAWYER, HOW DO YOU
SPEND YOUR TIME?
My life is very full, and I wouldn’t want it
any other way.
With my husband, Joshua, an assistant high
school principal,
and our three kids, there seems to be homework,
practices,
games, or meetings every night of the week. I
have a lot of
things I enjoy doing, but I am pretty sure I
enjoy doing them
because of the people I am with. We are also a
very musical
family. I am pretty sure when the kids get
older, we could totally
start a band, and now, with me learning the
fiddle, I think that
means we can even “play in Texas.” Lastly, when
we carve out
time for vacations, our family loves
adventuring. We spent two
years living abroad, and we love taking family
trips to new places
and experiencing the wide world
together TBJ
