STATE BAR DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT February 2022
Rebekah Steely Brooker
Interview by Eric Quitugua
Photo courtesy of Rebekah Steely Brooker
Hometown: Phelps
Position: Partner in Scheef & Stone in Dallas
Board Member: District 6, Place 5 since 2019
I am not from a family of lawyers.
I grew up in Phelps, Texas, a small community in Walker County between
Huntsville and New Waverly. My father and his family have been in the
timber business for more than a century, and my mother grew up on the
island of Trinidad in the British West Indies. I didn’t have a single
lawyer in my family. My knowledge of what a lawyer did for work came
from watching Night Court and Matlock. But it seemed
like a lawyer was always involved in helping better my local community.
From involvement in education to local parks, it seemed like one of the
local lawyers always played a part. I decided that a legal education was
something that would be an asset to have. I wasn’t sure how I would use
it, but I knew I wanted one.
My practice is focused in the area of estate planning, probate, and
guardianship. The practice area was never really on my radar during law
school.
In law school, I thought that I would be a litigator. Upon graduation
I took a job at an established law firm in Dallas, and due to the size,
I was fortunate enough to receive assignments in all different practice
areas. But the majority of my work was in the litigation section.
However, a year or so into my practice, my grandfather passed away. And
shortly thereafter, my grandmother called and asked if I would come back
home to help her probate my grandfather’s estate. She admitted to me
that she did not really know what she needed to do, and she was nervous.
Of course, I told her I would help and then hung up the phone and
sprinted down the hall to ask a partner, Greg Sampson, for assistance.
I’ll never forget how he assured me I could do it, and he walked me
through the probate process. After proving up the will, I returned to
Dallas with a new clarity on what I wanted to do. I had not been
practicing law for very long but assisting my grandmother through the
probate process was the first time in my short legal career that I felt
like I was helping someone. And as cliché as it sounds, I went to law
school to help people. Fortunately for me, Greg needed help, and he
started giving me more probate matters to work on and then estate
planning and guardianship. There has been no looking back.
Keep an open mind. I never would have predicted that I would have (and
love) an estate planning and probate practice.
I was involved in moot courts and mock trials in law school. I was going
to be a litigator. In school, I thought estate planning and probate was
rather depressing—having clients who are sick or families who are
mourning the loss of a loved one. But my practice is centered around
people and families. Every day is different, and I find my field to be
so incredibly rewarding.
As a young lawyer, I got involved in the Dallas Association of Young
Lawyers, or DAYL. My involvement in DAYL was the springboard to my
involvement in the Texas Young Lawyers Association, or TYLA. I was
fortunate enough to serve on the TYLA Board of Directors and had the
honor of serving as TYLA’s president in 2014-2015. TYLA is the public
service arm of the State Bar of Texas, and through TYLA, I was able to
create and participate in projects that have greatly impacted Texas
lawyers as well as Texas residents. As TYLA president, I also was able
to serve on the board of the State Bar of Texas. It was eye-opening to
see how much the State Bar Board of Directors does for its members and
our profession.
After I rolled off the Texas Young Lawyers Association Board, I knew
my bar service was not over.
I continued local bar service, and when the opportunity presented
itself to run for a State Bar board position, I happily threw my name in
the hat! TBJ
