Ripple Effect

When she opened the FedEx envelope bearing her name she was stunned. Inside, 13 crisp $100 bills flashed back at her. Ashlie Alaman ’09, at the time a front desk clerk working the 6am–3pm shift at a LaQuinta in downtown Dallas, was enrolled in evening classes finishing her undergraduate degree. The mysterious $1,300 came with an unmistakable message: “Go take the LSAT.”

Alaman hadn’t seriously considered being a lawyer until a trial team staying at the hotel invited her to watch their medical malpractice trial. Alaman was captivated. When the lead lawyer sent the money and note a short time later, the trajectory of Alaman’s life changed forever.

Giving back comes naturally to Alaman, partly because it’s just who she is.

Twenty years later, the Texas Law graduate is managing counsel at Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and one of this state’s most committed pro bono advocates. Over the course of her career, Alaman has poured herself into serving others, working on behalf of immigrants experiencing violence, helping federal inmates reduce their sentences based on changes in the law, assist­ing with low-income, pro se divorces, providing both legal services and volunteer leadership with the Human Rights Initiative of North Dallas, and serving refugee families with her church community.

Giving back comes naturally to Alaman, partly because it’s just who she is. But also because that first gift of $1,300 set a precedent—emblazoned in her mind an example—of what success means. “Having someone give me the money and believe in me made me realize that I needed to give back,” she says.

The ripple effect of giving back is changing lives at Texas Law as Alaman mentors and provides scholarship support for incoming law students who, like her, may be first-generation lawyers. “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.” Ripple on.