Every spring semester, the National Jurist magazine invites law schools to each nominate one student for possible selection as a Law Student of the Year.
“After careful review, National Jurist editors selected five standout students,” the magazine writes. Among them, is Texas Law’s own 3L Emma Jane Hopper, a 2023-24 Mithoff Pro Bono Scholar who was recognized at the fall 2024 State Bar Induction Ceremony with the Texas Access to Justice Commission Law Student Pro Bono Award.
Driven to make an impact, Hopper created new pro bono clinics and student programs—transforming gaps she identified into lasting opportunities for service.
Below, we are republishing the section of the National Jurist story on Hopper’s award.
Hopper, the child of a probate lawyer, knew that she wanted to pursue a career in trust and estate law.
She chose University of Texas School of Law in Austin but was disappointed as a 1L to learn the law school did not offer pro bono opportunities in her planned practice area: estate, trust and fiduciary litigation.
Hopper approached the Mithoff Pro Bono Program at Texas Law in the spring of her first year with a plan for establishing will-writing clinics in Austin. During her project’s first year, five wills clinics were held at public libraries in the area.
While interning at the Travis County Probate Court during the summer of 2023, Hopper learned of the need for court-appointed visitors to do annual visits with people living under guardianship and write reports on their conditions and care. She partnered with the Court Visitor Office in the fall of 2023 to launch a pro bono project for law students to complete five court visitor reports per semester.
Hopper also assumed responsibility for a project that expands alternatives to guardianship and offers medical powers of attorney, statutory durable powers of attorney, psychiatric advance directives, and guardian designations. As part of the project, she hosted presentations about alternatives to guardianship at local transition fairs.
Hopper also founded the student organization PGLETS (Probate, Guardianship Law, Estates, Trusts Society). In the fall of her 2L year, she organized two panels on probate and estate planning and a mixer with the school’s estate planning Continuing Legal Education program.
“My advice for law students is to focus on learning the materials and not so much on the competitiveness of law school,” Hopper says. “I’m a collaborative learner, which helps me focus on understanding the law.”
After graduation, Hopper plans to stay connected with the Mithoff Program and its pro bono work to help move the clinics forward.
She has also become interested in national security law.
“What I find interesting in national security law are issues related to cybersecurity and covert financial transactions,” she says. “On the litigation side, I want to know how the world fits together and how humans interact with one another.”