by CJ Donald
April, 2020

Patrick Arnold has quickly established himself as an invaluable member of DAYL.  His diligence and passion for helping others is evident in his work and community involvement.

Patrick is a second-year commercial litigation associate at Alston & Bird and a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.  While in law school, Patrick served as the Article Submissions Editor of the Texas Hispanic Journal of Law and Policy and won his first trial as a student attorney representing a family of Mexican asylum seekers in immigration court.

As a young lawyer, Patrick has continued to be involved in pro bono and community-oriented initiatives through DAYL.  In his first year of practice, Patrick joined DAYL’s Equal Access to Justice Committee (“EAJ”) and was critical in helping plan and fundraise for EAJ’s annual Wine Tasting event benefitting the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program.  Patrick also spearheaded EAJ’s efforts to organize a new fall service event in November 2019 to assist indigent North Texans in getting their driver’s licenses reinstated.  In the process of organizing that clinic, Patrick coordinated with the Texas Fair Defense Project and facilitated EAJ’s sponsorship of a CLE discussing the community impact of fine-related license suspensions in the Dallas area.

As a result of his contributions, Patrick was accepted into DAYL’s 2019 Leadership Class and became an EAJ co-chair in 2020.  He has started this year off strong by helping EAJ with key preparations for its 2020 Wine Tasting event, and DAYL is grateful to him for his initiative, creativity, and commitment to service.  For all of these reasons, Patrick is DAYL’s April One to Watch.