A well-timed gift helped propel Ashlie Alaman ’09 toward her successful legal career. Now, she’s doing the same for others by generously providing both funding and time to support Texas Law’s Pipeline Program.
While an undergraduate transit student at Southern Methodist University, Alaman was enrolled in evening classes to complete her coursework while also working 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the front desk of a downtown Dallas hotel. Which happened to be across from the courthouse. Among the hotel’s guests, she struck up conversations with Mark Mueller, a lawyer from Austin who was in town to argue a case.
One day, Mueller asked another hotel employee about Alaman—why she was working there and what her life goals were. The employee shared that Alaman was finishing college. “And then—I don’t even know where this came from—they said, ‘She wants to be a lawyer.’ I’d never said that to anyone,” Alaman says. Still, others had previously noted her potential. “Growing up, my mom always said I was either going to be a lawyer or a teacher, because I kind of managed my older brother.”
Following the conclusion of his lawsuit, Mueller left Dallas. But about a month later a FedEx envelope addressed to Alaman arrived at the hotel. The contents? “Thirteen $100 bills and a note that said, ‘Go take an LSAT prep course.’ And I did,” Alaman says. That course led to her getting accepted and enrolling at Texas Law, graduating, and then launching a career that’s included roles at Bracewell LLP, Vistra Energy, CyrusOne, Marathon Digital Holdings, CleanArc, and as of January 2025 as managing counsel for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
“It changed the whole trajectory of my life,” Alaman says of the gift from Mueller. “I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t met him.”
She’s now changing the lives of other future lawyers. Alaman has gifted $100,000 over four years, creating a full-tuition scholarship for Texas Law students who participated in the school’s Pipeline Program, which helps low-income or first-generation students who aspire to enroll in law school. She’ll also mentor Pipeline students.
I value so much the education I got from Texas Law—attending the school was the best decision I ever made—and I just want other people to have the benefit of that.
“I value so much the education I got from Texas Law—attending the school was the best decision I ever made—and I just want other people to have the benefit of that,” she says. “The last thing they need to be worried about is tuition.”
Additionally, Alaman will mentor students who are unsure how to navigate their law school path. “That’s the impetus for wanting to be a mentor,” she says. “To help someone who thinks, ‘I don’t have any lawyers in my family, but I can call Ashlie.’”
Her support for the Pipeline Program is the latest example of a career marked by help for others, including her ongoing pro bono work. “I’m in a space that not many people like me get to be in, or probably ever even dreamed to be in,” Aleman says. “So, it just feels incumbent to help other people by giving back and creating opportunities.”
That drive to connect and support others has led to a strong network. She’s in contact with Texas Law classmates weekly “to bounce ideas off of them, ask for advice, or just to check in,” Alaman says. “You don’t have to be in Austin to retain the connection to the law school and the relationships you make there.”
If you’re interested in supporting the Pipeline Program or other important ways to support the Texas Law, please contact Elizabeth Hundt at elizabeth.hundt@law.utexas.edu.