Low-income residents who have legal problems -- possibly with a fraudulent mortgage lender or an ex-spouse who will not pay child support -- are often denied access to the justice system because legal aid resources are stretched thin.

Mark K. Sales, the 97th president of the Dallas Bar Association, will emphasize the responsibility of all lawyers to serve pro bono publico, for the public good. He will also direct his efforts at educating the public regarding the importance of lawyers and the legal system.

More than 829,000 Texas families live in poverty, and a recent State Bar of Texas survey found that 45 percent of low-income households had at least one legal problem. Overall, for approximately 70 percent of the legal needs identified, no advice or assistance was available.

“As federal and state funds dedicated to legal services for the poor continue to dwindle, the need for a private commitment to pro bono service is critical,” Mr. Sales said. Among the programs planned in 2006 to encourage members of the bar to commit to pro bono work is Law-Lapalooza, the DBA’s first ever battle of lawyer bands, aimed at raising funds and driving awareness to pro bono work.

Mr. Sales believes that serious projects can become even more appealing to likely volunteers and contributors when an element of “fun” is added.

Mark Sales will also work with local lawyers to educate the public about the importance of the legal profession in a democratic society. The incoming president points out that, in a poll commissioned recently by the ABA, only 55 percent of Americans can correctly identify the three branches of government.

“This indicates a great lack of awareness of the role lawyers and the judiciary play in a system geared toward protecting our rights and liberties,” Mr. Sales said. To educate the public further about the legal system, the DBA plans to bring appellate court proceedings to schools in the Dallas area. In conjunction with Chief Justice Linda Thomas, Mark Sales will sponsor live arguments of the Dallas Court of Appeals for high school government and civics classes -- so they can witness the system at work firsthand.

Mr. Sales comes from a family of lawyers with a tradition of service to the bar and the community. He was born on June 1, 1957, in Weimar -- a central Texas farming and ranching town. He is the son of James and Buena Sales of Houston. 

His father, James B. Sales, is a former president of the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Bar Association, and serves currently as the chair of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Commission. The elder Mr. Sales serves as Of Counsel to the law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, where he practiced for almost 50 years.

DBA’s new president also has a brother, Travis Sales, who is a partner at Baker Botts in Houston, and a sister, Debbie Sales Elmore, who practices with the firm Cruz, Scott & Henderson in Houston.

A 1975 graduate of Houston Strafford High School, Mark Sales attended Texas A&M University in College Station, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Building Construction in 1979. Following graduation, Mr. Sales married Nancy Nichols of Woodville, Texas, who is also a 1979 graduate of Texas A&M University.

Prior to law school, he worked for the international construction firm of Brown & Root for three years.

Mr. Sales returned to school to earn his Juris Doctorate degree from Baylor University School of Law, where he graduated with high honors in 1985. While at Baylor University, he served as editor in chief of the Baylor Law Review, and was a member of the Baylor Order of Barristers. He was subsequently elected president of Baylor’s Law Review Alumni Association.

Following graduation from law school, Mr. Sales joined the law firm of Hughes & Luce, LLP, where he has practiced in the trial section for the past 20 years. His practice is focused on probate and trust, tax, and commercial litigation, and he is also the firm’s resident plaintiffs lawyer. He became a partner at Hughes & Luce in 1992, has served as its hiring partner, and currently is a member of the firm’s executive committee.

Mr. Sales began his service to the bar as a member of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. After serving on several DAYL committees, he was elected to the DAYL Board of Directors and to the positions of treasurer, vice president and president-elect. Then, in 1994, Mr. Sales was elected and served as president of the DAYL.

He is also active in the State Bar of Texas where he has served on the Administration of Rules of Evidence Committee since 1986. He chaired that committee for eight years and was later appointed to the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee from 1999 to 2002.

He has served on numerous DBA committees, including as chair of the DBA’s Finance Committee from 1998 to 2003. He was elected to the DBA’s Board of Directors in 1996, and has served as vice chair, chair, vice president (activities) and vice president (administrative) of the board.

Additionally, he was president and chair of the Community Service Fund Board of Directors in 2004.

Mr. Sales is a fellow in the Dallas Bar Foundation, the Texas Bar Foundation and the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Foundation, where he served as director from 1999 to 2004. He is a former barrister in the Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Count, and has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Law & Politics Magazine and Texas Lawyer in 2004.

Outside the legal community, Mr. Sales is a member of the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization of Catholic men committed to the exemplification of charity, unity, fraternity and service to the community. His main interest outside of his family and career is music -- Mark plays lead guitar in the Cat Daddies classic rock ’n’ roll band, which has performed at many DBA events, including the DVAP Pro Bono Awards celebration and the Bench Bar Conference.

Mr. Sales and his wife Nancy have three children: daughter Alex, age 19, a freshman at Hill College in Hillsboro; and sons, Marshall, age 15, a sophomore at Lake Highlands High School, and Harry, age 14, an 8th-grader at Lake Highlands Jr. High.

He and his family live in the Lake Highlands area and his children attend Lake Highlands schools, where Mrs. Sales remains very involved in the PTA.

The inaugural of Mark K. Sales as 2006 DBA president is a culmination of nearly 20 years of service to the bar and 10 years of work on the DBA Board of Directors. During his tenure, he will continue to build on the DBA’s great legacy of service to its members and the community.