With a long history of serving communities throughout Texas, Lesley Briones is committed to helping Arnold & Itkin better connect with our clients and co-counsel. A graduate of both Harvard and Yale, she brings a passion for community involvement and nonprofit support to Arnold & Itkin.
Lesley Briones joined Arnold & Itkin LLP in April 2022. Her primary focus is to help the firm better serve clients, co-counsel, and the communities of Texas. Lesley is particularly interested in helping raise awareness about the firm in Houston and South Texas, where she was born and raised.
After graduating with honors from Harvard University, Lesley returned to her hometown of Laredo to teach 8th and 10th grade. Lesley then attended Yale Law School, where she led the Latino Law Students’ public service initiatives and was involved with the Temporary Restraining Order Project and the Criminal Defense Clinic.
Upon graduating from Yale Law School, Lesley practiced at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Houston, Texas, where she specialized in litigation and tax law. Lesley then joined the Laura & John Arnold Foundation, a national nonprofit organization, where she served as General Counsel, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Talent Officer, and Executive Vice President for almost 8 years. During her tenure, the Foundation granted over $1 billion to nonprofits across the country, and she helped scale the organization from a small Houston startup to one of the leading philanthropic organizations in the nation.
Lesley next served as the judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law No. 4 and was one of the highest-ranked civil judges in Harris County. During her time on the bench, she presided over 14,000 cases and 1,000 bench and jury trials and made her court one of the few in Harris County without a backlog.
Lesley is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, the president and a co-founder of Texas Latinx Judges, a co-chair of the National Association of Women Judges for the Houston area, a certified executive coach, a member of the American Leadership Forum Class 56 and the Texas Lyceum, and an active member of the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston and the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston. Lesley hopes to serve as our next Harris County Commissioner for Precinct 4.
Lesley and her husband, Adán, have three young daughters.
