Armin Salek Elected TYLA President-Elect

Armin Salek has been elected president-elect of the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA).

He will serve as TYLA president from June 2026 to June 2027. Salek received 52.6 percent of the 4,053 votes cast.

Salek is a prominent member of both the Austin Bar and AYLA. In addition to serving on the Austin Young Lawyers Association Board of Directors as an at-large director, Salek has also co-chaired the Austin Bar’s Law-Related Education Committee since 2022 and the Austin Young Lawyers Association Community Service Committee since 2024. The Law-Related Education Committee plans and implements various educational programs aimed at school-aged children, including support for the Akins Early College High School law pathway, which Salek previously led. The Law-Related Education Committee also organizes the Austin Bar’s Law Day contests. Submissions to this program are then submitted to the State Bar of Texas for its statewide Law Day contests. (See page 24 to see the Austin Bar’s winning entries for Law Day 2025.)

Since 2022, Salek has also served on the State Bar’s Law-Focused Education Committee and on the TYLA Executive Committee as a board member and treasurer.

Salek pursued this campaign to bring a sense of urgency to addressing the justice gap. As he highlighted frequently across the state, an individual in Texas would need to make less than $19,562.50 to qualify for legal aid. Even if they qualified, they would only have a one-in-five chance of receiving the legal support they need.

Salek has seen the impact of these gaps in support when he attempts to connect his students and their families to legal support. Too often, they cannot afford paid counsel, do not qualify for legal aid or cannot access legal support if they do, and even self-help pamphlets are difficult to navigate. Salek hopes to open the floor to difficult conversations about the legal profession’s shortcomings in serving all Texans, and to bring a sense of urgency to addressing this justice gap.

Consistent with this mission, Salek’s plans for TYLA include a focus on partnering with legal service organizations to deliver pro bono services to Texans struggling with the legal system.

Salek is a 2016 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center. While there, Salek volunteered as a law instructor in Houston ISD. Unfortunately, the high school students’ description of lawyers involved firms they could not afford, legal aid they did not qualify for, and language barriers between their parents and effective counsel. Motivated by this experience, Salek returned to Austin and launched the first high school legal aid clinic, allowing him to both teach and provide free legal support. For that work, he was named the Austin ISD High School Teacher of the Year and the Texas Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year.

That early program was the Akins Future Lawyers of America, later known as Legal Eagles.

In 2019, State Rep. Donna Howard passed a resolution recognizing the Akins Future Lawyers of America as a leading program in legal education and the first high school legal aid program in the country.

This program allowed students to gain experience with real legal clients, performing intake and preparing legal documents. Legal advice provided to the clients came from Salek, but program participants took part in the process and worked under his license.

In 2020, Salek received the Rather Prize, a $10,000 cash prize given to a student, teacher, or administrator in Texas who provides the best idea to improve Texas education, for Legal Eagles. The Rather Prize initiative was developed in 2016 by Rice University student Martin Rather and his grandfather, journalist Dan Rather.

Shortly after this, Salek attended Harvard University to earn his Master of Education Policy and Management. When he returned to Austin, he relaunched his student legal-training program, which is now known as Youth Justice Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that seeks to democratize the law.

Common obstacles college students face when considering law school are:

Unpaid internships

“Most college students cannot afford unpaid internships,” YJA’s website reads. “They are working to pay for tuition, rent, food, clothes, and more. Unpaid means inaccessible.”

Lack of mentors

“Most college students cannot afford unpaid internships. They are working to pay for tuition, rent, food, clothes, and more. Unpaid means inaccessible.”

Lack of legal knowledge

“Confidence is critical, especially for students who may doubt if they belong in law school,” YJA’s website reads. “Without proper training, that doubt is difficult to overcome.”

Pricey LSAT courses

“Even before the cost of the actual exam, many students give up on law school because of the hefty price tag of LSAT courses, which average around $1,200!”

YJA addresses these obstacles by providing program participants with four years of paid legal experience, from high school graduation to law school matriculation.

YJA fellowships take place during the summer.

In Summer 1, YJA fellows participate in the YJA Summer Institute, where they earn $500 during a weeklong residential legal training featuring guest lecturers and recreational programming.

In Summer 2, YJA fellows participate in judicial internships, earning up to $18 an hour for up to 50 hours observing criminal, civil, and juvenile court proceedings.

In Summer 3, YJA fellows take part in internships at legal service nonprofits, where they earn up to $20 an hour for 80 hours.

In Summer 4, YJA fellows receive $1,500 stipends to cover the cost of their LSAT courses or to cover living expenses during exam preparation.

YJA has received grants from the likes of the Austin Bar Foundation, Education Leaders of Color’s Boulder Fund, and the Roddenberry Foundation. His work with YJA has been featured in the American Bar Association Journal, and in 2025 he gave a presentation on evolving legal leadership at South by Southwest.

Since its establishment in 2022, YJA has provided paid fellowships to 74 aspiring lawyers across four states, more than 30 schools, dozens of school districts, and with countless passions for creating a more just legal system. Unfortunately, far more overqualified applicants were turned away by the Youth Justice Alliance due to their financial limits. If you, someone you know, or an organization is interested in helping the Youth Justice Alliance say yes to aspiring lawyers looking to do good in the world, please contact Armin Salek at armin@youthjusticealliance.org for more information.

In addition to serving on the TYLA and AYLA boards of directors, Salek has served on the Houston Young Lawyers Association DEI Committee and the American Bar Association Commission on Youth at Risk. He also co-chairs the Barbara Jordan Inn of Court’s community service program, and previously represented Texas in the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division assembly.

From everyone at the Austin Bar and AYLA, congratulations, Armin!