Frank Costilla, Jr. will receive the Mexicano Trailblazers of Brownwood award. He is the first Mexicano attorney from Brownwood, the first Fulbright Scholar from Brownwood, and the first and only attorney from Brownwood named five times to the list of Super Lawyers of Texas.
The award will be presented at a private dinner sponsored by SALSA, a local non-profit community base organization, at 5pm, Saturday, October 15. The dinner is open only to SALSA members, their families, and invited guests.
Costilla, a 1965 graduate of Brownwood High School, attended Texas Tech University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree with honors, Phi Kappa Phi, and on the Dean’s List.
As a Fulbright Scholar, he enrolled at Universidad Catolica Autonoma Nacional del Ecuador. Upon his return, Coastilla enlisted in the U.S. Army, served in the Far East, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Specialist 5th class.
Following his military service, he enrolled in a Master’s program at the University of Iowa until he was accepted into the College of Law at Iowa State. After earning his Juris Doctor Degree, he began his legal career at Legal Aid and then went into private practice in Brownsville, Texas where he remained his entire career.
He is licensed to practice law before the Iowa Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the United States District Court – Southern District of Texas, and Guardian Ad Litem Certification – State Bar of Texas.
Costilla is a member of the Texas State Bar Association, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. He is a former member of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas, of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar of Texas where he served as President, and former President of the Cameron County Bar Association.
Costilla served six years on the Texas Commission on Lawyer Discipline and four years on the Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals. He served on numerous Cameron County Bar Committees and received the first award for Professionalism and Ethics. He was twice elected Cameron County Democratic Party Chairman.
He taught trial topics and techniques in a number of litigation colleges nationally for the American Trial Lawyers Association and various State Trial Lawyer Organizations and a noted speaker statewide, nationally and internationally on topics of civil trial law.