All about legal service
by Suzi Morales, J.D.
Leadership and service are woven into the fabric of St. Mary’s University, so it’s no surprise that two alumni have recently helmed the state’s top organization of attorneys.
In Spring 2024, Santos Vargas, J.D. (B.A. ’99), began a three-year term at the State Bar of Texas in which he will serve as president-elect, president and immediate past president. Vargas followed in the footsteps of El Paso-based Sylvia Borunda Firth, J.D. (B.B.A. ’81), who served in the same roles from 2020 to 2023 and was the first Hispanic female president of the association.
The State Bar of Texas assists the Texas Supreme Court oversee all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas.
“St. Mary’s has made an imprint on state bar leadership all over the place,” Borunda Firth said. “St. Mary’s is all about service.”
As another example, St. Mary’s University Trustee and alumna Sara E. Dysart (B.A. ’74, J.D. ’81) serves as 2024-2025 Fellows Chair of the Texas Bar Foundation, which provides funding to support legal assistance to the underserved and other initiatives.
Empowerment and opening doors
As an undergraduate, Borunda Firth knew she wanted to attend law school. When it came time to apply, she said the excellent reputation of St. Mary’s University opened doors for her, and the thoughtful counseling she received helped her make the decision to attend the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. She had such a good experience at St. Mary’s that her sister followed in her footsteps to St. Mary’s four years later.
Borunda Firth has had a varied career, working for law firms, as general counsel for a large industrial laundry company and as the city attorney for El Paso. She said her background was an asset when running for Texas Bar president.
Unlike many other bar associations, membership in the State Bar of Texas is mandatory for all lawyers admitted to practice in the state. The Texas Bar plays the role of regulating the practice of law in the state. As such, Borunda Firth emphasized representation in the leadership of attorneys from a variety of backgrounds.
While it was a “big deal” to have more women in leadership, she noted that it also was important for her to lead as a government attorney from the far western part of the state, both of which were underrepresented in state bar leadership when she first became involved.
However, the mandatory nature of the Texas Bar also presented a challenge in the form of a lawsuit by members filed against the organization before she took office, challenging the use of required bar dues for certain diversity and social justice initiatives. The lawsuit eventually resulted in some limitations on the initiatives funded by dues.
For Borunda Firth, it also drove home the need for lawyers to serve in an organization through which they — rather than the Legislature or other outside organization — regulate their profession.
“You have an obligation to service,” Borunda Firth said. “At St. Mary’s, it’s like, what do you give back? What do you do for the community? And so that was part of why I feel the need to be of service to my profession and to the community at large.”
The St. Mary’s Influence
Vargas, a shareholder at San Antonio-based law firm Davis & Santos, grew up in Southeast Texas. As a Political Science major at St. Mary’s University, he took several classes with President Emeritus Charles Cotrell, Ph.D. He was enthralled by Cotrell’s stories about advocating for the rights of Mexican Americans in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Growing up in Port Arthur, the Mexican American community that I grew up in was all very recent immigrants, including both of my parents,” Vargas said. “I didn’t really see many Hispanics in positions of power, if any, in that part of the state. Hearing about the rights that Dr. Cotrell helped fight for and others who he spoke about really felt empowering.”
After graduation, Vargas attended Syracuse University College of Law and returned to Texas to practice law at Cox Smith (now Dykema).
A senior associate at the firm encouraged him to get involved in the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association (SAYLA), where he later became president. Through his work with SAYLA and the San Antonio Bar Association, he also became involved in the Texas Bar.
In his year as president-elect, Vargas’ main role will be supporting the current president. Vargas is still defining what his agenda will be when he takes office as the Texas Bar president in 2025, but he said one initiative will be to encourage lawyer retention and address the issue of lawyers from underrepresented backgrounds leaving firms before they reach firm partnership.
He and his spouse, Patty Vargas (J.D. ’02), president of the San Antonio Bar Association, provided welcome remarks at St. Mary’s Law’s 72nd Red Mass in October in San Fernando Cathedral.
“The Marianist values that are promoted at St. Mary’s are something that you don’t get at every school,” Santos Vargas said. “The Marianist values help bring perspective as to what life is about. It’s not just all about monetary success. It’s about giving back to your community.”
