The Juanita Harris Scholarship

In 2026, JLTLA Foundation Is Proud to Announce a New Scholarship in Juanita Harris’ Name

The 2026 Juanita Harris Scholarship will be awarded to a female law student, that is:  a) from (born and/or raised) in the DFW Metroplex; b) the mother of at least one child;  c) will be in their (2L) year of law school in the Fall of 2026; and d) plans to take the Texas Bar and practice in Texas after completion of law school.  The scholarship will be in the amount of $50,000.00 and will be distributed to the student over a two-year period. The winner will receive $20,000 in their 2L year, another $20,000 in their 3L year, and then a $10,000 stipend to help them while studying for the Texas Bar Exam after graduation from law school. 

The scholarship will be a financial-need based scholarship. Our need-based scholarships focus on financial need and are not primarily academic scholarships. In selecting financial-need scholarship winners, we will consider an applicant's need, disadvantaged circumstances, community involvement, and other factors, in addition to merely academic standing.   

Juanita Harris recently retired in 2026 from her position as Assistant Vice President and Senior Legal Counsel to Human Resources at DIRECTV, after practicing law for over 30 years.  Prior to joining the DIRECTV leadership team, Juanita served in various leadership roles in the AT&T, Inc. legal department. During her tenure at AT&T she was the lead attorney on various regulatory matters at the FCC, and subsequently used her negotiation skills to close a $1B commercial contract deal.  She started her legal career in the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division Honors Attorney Program where she was the recipient of the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award. 

 Juanita founded the Three Degrees of Separation (TDS) professional networking, career enhancement, and business development group for Black senior leaders in in-house counsel roles.  Juanita’s mentoring spirit has been exemplified throughout her career. She has been a mentor to high school students participating in the INROADs program, and developed an AT&T Legal Department mentoring program with the University of Texas at Arlington Pre-Law Center where she spearheaded a program that introduced a “Lawyers in The Classroom” program in partnership with Street Law, Inc.  Under her leadership, AT&T attorneys mentored hundreds of economically disadvantaged high school students in Texas, Georgia, California, and Washington DC.   

 Juanita was engaged in various professional and civic organizations, including the Center for Women in the Law; National Bar Association; the American Bar Association where she served three terms as a Commissioner on the Commission on Women in the Profession, and previously served as a Commissioner on the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession where she chaired the ABA Resolution 113 Model Diversity Survey committee.  Juanita is the recipient of numerous  recognitions and awards, including the NBA Corporate Counsel of the Year Award, the 2023 State Bar of Texas Minority Counsel Lifetime Achievement Award, Who’s Who in Black Dallas, Women of Power and Influence in the Law Award, and the 2024 Viola’s House Advocacy Award. She is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Corporate Counsel Women of Color, the JL Turner Legal Association, and the Dallas Bar Association. 

Juanita is a FINRA neutral arbitrator and holds a J.D. (cum laude) from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University where she served on the TMSL Review,  and a BBA in Accounting (Finance minor) from University of North Texas. She was an accountant and auditor prior to becoming an attorney. 

Juanita was the mother of a teenage son while attending law school, so she experienced first-hand, how difficult it can be to navigate law school while also being a mother.  While in law school Juanita was the recipient of a JLTLA Foundation scholarship; and she has always been grateful for that financial assistance that she received. Now, she is in a position to proudly pay that blessing forward, by providing financial assistance through this JLTLA Foundation scholarship to help another mother that is currently striving to make her way through law school, just as Juanita was so many years ago.