by Alexis Swanzy
March, 2021

Alexandria “Alex” Risinger, a litigation associate at Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP, is a passionate force that is changing the Dallas legal and philanthropic landscapes. Born to be a lawyer, Alex’s passion to advocate began in her primary education years where her high-school debate coach recommended she attend the University of Portland in Oregon because of the debate program. The skills she formed in high school and college propelled her to be a Regional Mock Trial Finalist her 3L year at Baylor University School of Law.

Alex has tried over ten civil jury trials to verdict and received numerous honors such as the Million Dollar Advocate and the Multimillion Dollar Advocate. Former colleagues of Alex have described her as person who, despite having her own demanding caseload, always went out of her way to help her colleagues talk through an issue or refine an argument.

In addition to being a team player in her career, Alex has been imperative to the various civil organizations and programs she dedicates her time to. Inspired by the young minors in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA), she is a Pro Bono Attorney for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES). A frequent volunteer of the Dallas Urban Debate League and American Moot Court Association, Alex enjoys judging up-and-coming advocates in their respective competitions.

She is also an invaluable member of the DAYL. Alex is the Vice Chair for the Trial Skills Boot Camp Committee since 2018 and played an integral part in completely changing the format for the in-person Trial Skills Boot Camp interactive presentation and competition to a completely virtual program within weeks of the first stay-at-home orders during the early stages of the pandemic.  Most recently, she is part of the first completely virtual DAYL Leadership Class. A current member of the 2020 DAYL Leadership Class describes her as follows:

“Alex brings tireless energy and determination to every project, while still managing to bring fun and enjoyment to whatever she is working on.  In DAYL’s first-ever virtual leadership class, Alex demonstrated tremendous leadership by serving on the Steering Committee and going above and beyond in her duties to execute the virtual tenant eviction project.  As part of the DAYL leadership class project, Alex has worked closely with non-profit groups assisting tenants, and in her free time, she has scanned countless legal forms relating to tenant evictions so that DAYL could make revisions and update the legal forms for non-profit use. She is always the first one to volunteer for a challenging task and she will execute it perfectly. Alex is an all-star and is an asset to any team she joins.”

One of her other passions, traveling, led her to a Semester-at-Sea and teaching English in Seoul, South Korea for a year. Between managing a flourishing legal career and devoting a significant amount of time to volunteering, Alex spends her free time quenching her itch to travel and spending quality time with her husband, Damo, and Australian Shepard Mix, Loki. DAYL is honored to have Alex as a member and she is this month’s “One to Watch.” Congratulations, Alex!