(February 13, 1948 - )

RICHARD PENA
State Bar President, 1998-1999

Richard Pena is president and CEO of the Law Offices of Richard Pena in Austin. He was elected by his peers to serve as president of the State Bar of Texas from 1998 to 1999. Pena served as president of the American Bar Foundation and was on the American Bar Association Board of Governors. He is also a past president of the Austin Bar Association, former chair of the Texas Bar Foundation, and former chair of the fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Pena was a State Bar of Texas director and a state delegate to the American Bar Association. He has received three Presidential Citations from the State Bar of Texas for his meritorious service to the profession, has been selected as a member of the prestigious American Inns of Court, and received the 2007 Distinguished Lawyer Award from the Austin Bar Association. The Texas Bar Journal recognized Pena as one of 20 “trailblazers” in the February 2014 issue. In October 2023, the American Bar Association recognized him as a trailblazer and among the most influential Hispanics in law. Pena also received the 2010 Difference Makers Award presented by the ABA General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division. In 2020, he received the American Bar Association Spirit of Excellence Award for his excellence in the legal profession and for promoting diversity in the profession. The ABA National Conference of Bar Presidents honored Pena with its 2024 NCBP Fellows Award.

He served on the Executive Committee of the ABA National Conference of Bar Presidents from 2000 to 2003. Pena has led delegations of Texas and U.S. lawyers to numerous countries, including Turkey, South Africa, China, Tibet, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, and Brazil. He was chair of a U.S.-Russia joint conference on the rule of law in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 2006, Pena received the Eisenhower Achievement Award for being an outstanding leader. His trip to Egypt was featured in an article in the Austin American-Statesman as well as in the Austin Business Journal. Pena continues to lead delegations abroad and has taken numerous trips with delegates to various parts of the world.

He graduated with a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, where the law school faculty awarded him an honorary membership in the Order of the Coif. Pena is licensed to practice law in Texas, Illinois, and Colorado.

He is active in the ABA and has served as chair of the Commission on Immigration and as chair of the Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities. Pena is currently a member of the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Responsibilities and has been an officer of its Rights of Immigrants Committee and is active in planning and moderating webinars of critical importance.

Pena is a Vietnam War veteran and left on the last day of American military involvement in that country in March 1973. He is co-author of the book Last Plane Out of Saigon, which he wrote with award-winning scholar John Hagan.