FEDERAL JUDGES AND LEGAL COMMUNITY MEET IN HOUSTON IN SEPTEMBER PURSUING A MORE PERFECT UNION — 13TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE
By Francis Page Jr.
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September 9, 2026 (Houston Style Magazine) — For four consequential days this September, Houston will trade a little courtroom procedure for some serious national conversation as federal judges, attorneys, law students, educators, corporate counsel and emerging legal leaders gather for the 13th National Conference of Just the Beginning – A Pipeline Organization (JTB-APO).
The conference, “Pursuing a More Perfect Union,” runs September 17–20, 2026, with major programming centered at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston. JTB’s conference agenda combines continuing legal education, mentoring, student programming, networking and discussions touching some of the most consequential questions facing American law and democracy.
And the timing could hardly be more appropriate.
With voting rights, immigration law, elections, judicial independence and constitutional authority continuing to command national attention, the Houston gathering offers lawyers and future lawyers something increasingly valuable: an opportunity to examine difficult questions through the discipline of law rather than merely the volume of political debate.
Among the conference’s educational offerings is a screening of BK Fulton’s “Dying to Vote” on September 19, examining the history of voting rights. CLE programming also includes discussions involving immigration and education law, ethics surrounding artificial intelligence, corporate legal leadership and other developments reshaping the profession.
Remembering a Texas Judicial Trailblazer History will have its own seat at the table.
The conference will honor Judge Reynaldo Guerra Garza, the Brownsville-born jurist who became the first Mexican American federal judge. President John F. Kennedy nominated Garza to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas on March 24, 1961; the Senate confirmed him on April 13. He later served as the district’s chief judge before President Jimmy Carter appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1979.
JTB will celebrate that legacy during the Judge Reynaldo G. Garza Legacy Luncheon on September 18 at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston. His career represents the kind of historical breakthrough JTB seeks to transform from exception into opportunity.
photo Judge Reynaldo G. Garza
That mission extends beyond one weekend. For more than 30 years, JTB has introduced young people from backgrounds historically underrepresented in law to legal careers through mentoring, hands-on education, leadership development and connections with judges and attorneys. Its student programs are offered free of charge.
Co-chairing the Houston conference are Hon. Vanessa D. Gilmore, U.S. District Judge (Ret.), who served on the Southern District of Texas bench from 1994 to 2022, and Hon. Alfred H. Bennett, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas.
The gathering will also celebrate law-student scholarship recipients during the JTB Awards Gala, scheduled for September 19 at the Hilton Americas Ballroom.
photo
“More perfect” has never meant perfect already. The phrase embedded in America’s constitutional tradition describes an ongoing responsibility — one generation handing democracy, law and public service to the next.
This September in Houston, some of those next-generation lawyers and judges will already be in the room.
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