Vinson & Elkins Pro Bono Counsel Parker Cragg was featured in the October 2026 issue of the Texas Bar Journal’s Pro Bono Spotlight, discussing his path from education to law and his work supporting pro bono efforts across the firm.
Cragg explained to the Texas Bar Journal that he encourages attorneys to consider pro bono representations even when they involve issues outside of the lawyers’ core practice areas. “The comparison that matters is not between you and a specialist; it’s usually between a prepared, good-faith advocate and no advocate at all,” he said.
The firm’s pro bono program is built on a decades-long commitment from lawyers across the firm’s practices, offices, and levels of seniority. On average, Vinson & Elkins lawyers contribute roughly 20,000 hours of pro bono legal service each year, including helping veterans secure the benefits they have earned, helping immigrants obtain citizenship, and protecting people from wrongful eviction.
Looking ahead, Cragg said closing the justice gap will take a multifront effort. “Far too many legal needs go unmet, and no single approach is going to solve the problem,” he said. “We’ll always need to recruit new volunteers into the work, but we also need to get more capacity out of the lawyers already committed to it. At V&E, we are carefully using AI tools to increase our productivity in a wide range of pro bono matters.”
Read more here.
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