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Incoming Austin Bar Association President Maitreya Tomlinson didn’t start in Texas or in the legal profession, but found both as he navigated life. He shares some of his journey, as well as his goals Austin Bar Association goals for the coming year.
What is your background (where you grew up, went to school, law school, etc.)?
I’m a seventh generation Vermonter descended from a Revolutionary War veteran who abandoned his well-to-do Connecticut family to become a farmer in northern Vermont. I primarily grew up living in Vermont and on the Connecticut coast.
I left my (sometimes) rural roots to attend college at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., majoring in English, minoring in Psychology, and informally minoring in becoming an adult.
Trying to outrun winter, I moved to Austin, Texas, when it was a much smaller town. I eventually attended The SMU Deadman School of Law in a much larger town and served as the editor-in-chief of the SMU Law Review. While also serving as a research assistant to multiple professors, I was additionally lucky enough to intern/extern for the Honorable Chief Judge A. Joe Fish of the Northern District of Texas and the Honorable Justice Elizabeth Lang-Miers of the Fifth Court of Appeals.
What do you want to share about your family?
I have wonderful family that largely lives in Austin. My wife is from North Carolina and we share (at the time of publication) a newly minted teenaged daughter. I have also been fortunate that my remaining parents, brothers, and some cousins have moved to Austin over the years (which I attribute to being geographically desirable).
Tell us about your career path.
I originally ran a national testing program of over 100 sites for a non-profit professional organization. After moving to Austin, I became a mortgage originator, who sold residential mortgages on the secondary market. I later became a banker at JPMorgan Chase and continued to work there throughout most of law school. Following graduation, I moved back to Austin to clerk for the Honorable Justice David M. Medina at the Supreme Court of Texas.
While lucky and unlucky that the Austin legal market (at that time) made staying in Austin challenging, I was able to find appellate work locally after my clerkship and argue in two intermediate appellate court appeals in my first year of private practice. I eventually joined a boutique appellate firm headed by a past Austin Bar Association President where I continued learning about practicing law from excellent appellate attorneys.
After becoming board-certified in civil appellate law, I started my own appellate firm over six years ago and have not regretted a minute of it.
What prompted you to leave the world of banking and pursue law?
The financial aspects of lending, the entrepreneurial nature of my customers, and markets fascinated me. I also enjoyed the relationships that I formed as a banker. But I always felt that my personal skill set was more well-aligned with being a lawyer and considered attending law school since graduating college. When the opportunity presented itself, I transitioned into the law (which was not without its challenges for someone who hadn’t written anything substantial in years).
Tell us about your involvement with the Austin Bar.
I initially became involved with the Bar by serving on the Bench Bar Committee and joining the Civil Appellate, Litigation, and Solo/Small Firm sections. I later became a member of the Civil Appellate section’s council and eventually chaired the section. I also co-chaired the Bench Bar Committee for two consecutive terms and was elected to the Austin Bar’s board of directors. Since then, I have served as treasurer, secretary, and president-elect of the bar. I have also served as co-chair of the History and Traditions Committee and of the Mentorship Committee.
Why would you encourage someone to get involved?
I would encourage participation for the following reasons that spurred my personal involvement: (1) the psychic benefit of serving the local legal community and the community at large; (2) the opportunity to have a voice in guiding the organization; (3) the opportunity to utilize and foster your leadership skills; and (4) the unparalleled local opportunity to network amongst a broad variety of legal professionals.
The last reason may have provided me with the most tangible benefits. I have benefited greatly from (1) meeting other members who practice in different areas (who I can call on to ask questions in foreign areas of the law); (2) developing personal relationships with talented individuals (who teach me about running organizations and serving the community); (3) developing mentorship relationships in my own practice area; (4) receiving referrals that help drive my practice; and (5) (as a solo-practitioner) the opportunity to interact face-to-face with colleagues.
Tell us about your theme for your presidency.
My theme is “Remembering the Past and Moving Into the Future.” I’ve chosen a relatively broad theme to implement my ideas to help improve our association over our next term and to promote growth moving forward. Among other things, I’m connecting with those who helped build our association (and legal community), recognizing them, and using their wisdom to help us move forward.
I’m also creating new committees and subcommittees like the Membership Committee and a subgroup that will operate like a think tank to collect data to determine how the association will serve our less-experienced members and what the association will look like over the next decade or so. Additionally, we will be collecting other data to determine how to best serve all of our members. And we will continue to improve on our pro bono and fundraising efforts. While my theme is broad, the bar association has a dedicated group of members who are ready to bring the theme to life and ensure that others can continue to benefit from the bar’s existence.
What is a little-known fact about yourself that you’d like to share?
I am half-British and learned to speak with a Cockney accent in London as child. I also learned how to walk shortly before that in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our members?
You are the reason that we exist and are able to provide the services that we do. I encourage you to attend events, join and participate in the bar’s various committees, take advantage of section membership, and respond to our efforts to collect information so that we can use that information to improve the association. We cannot move forward without your help.