(Houston, TX) July 9, 2004 — Denise Scofield, an associate with Vinson & Elkins, has been named one of the Five Outstanding Young Houstonians of 2004 by the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce. The award is given annually to five individuals for their outstanding accomplishments and contributions to their community. The recipients will be honored at a banquet on July 16. Past winners of the award include former President George H.W. Bush, Dr. Denton Cooley, former Lt. Gov. William P. Hobby, Jr., astronauts Gus Grissom and Ed White, CBS anchorman Dan Rather and Houston Astro Craig Biggio. "Denise balances a heavy professional workload, community service and motherhood with ease and is a role model for young professionals — female and male alike," said Joe Dilg, Managing Partner of Vinson & Elkins. "Her accomplishments have been commended by her peers and she is worthy of this prestigious honor from the community." Scofield's principal area of practice is civil trial work, which involves complex commercial disputes, oil and gas litigation, environmental and toxic tort litigation, class action cases, and personal injury litigation in both federal and state courts. She was the recipient of the 2003 Outstanding Young Lawyer of Texas award, which is given by the State Bar of Texas to an attorney who best exemplifies professional proficiency, service to the profession and service to the community.
Scofield also has served as president of the Houston Young Lawyers Association, chair of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation and as a director of the Houston Bar Association. Through her leadership and dedication, Scofield has worked to improve the lives of underprivileged Houstonians for more than a decade. Her involvement with the Houston Young Lawyers Association's Adopt an Angel program, for example, has helped provide holiday gifts to thousands of impoverished elementary school children. Scofield has either served as chair or committee member for Adopt an Angel for more than 10 years, and the program has benefited children at Grimes Elementary, The House of Tiny Treasures and the Center for the Retarded, among others. Scofield also has been instrumental in recruiting other young lawyers throughout Houston to provide pro bono representation to the underprivileged and to volunteer their time for the community. In June 2001, when Tropical Storm Allison devastated communities throughout Houston, she served on the Houston Bar Association's disaster relief committee and worked to coordinate relief efforts among the local senior and junior bar associations. Scofield recruited volunteers to provide legal advice to those affected by the storm while assisting those individuals herself. She also led a group of young lawyers in an effort to help elderly and impoverished victims clean up in the aftermath of the storm. As chair of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program, Scofield continues to help the underprivileged gain access to pro bono legal services. One of the group's primary goals is to increase the number of lawyers who take pro bono cases. "Denise has committed significant time and energy to pro bono and civic activities for the betterment of her profession and the Houston community," Dilg said. "Her work on behalf of the indigent and working poor has demonstrated her commitment to ensure access to the justice system to Houstonians of all income levels."
For more information, you may reach Denise Scofield at (713) 758-3360 or via email at dscofield@velaw.com, or contact Darrin Schlegel, Media Relations, at (713) 758-2171 or via email at dschlegel@velaw.com. | 
