About Us

President-Elect

Adriana Leal was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas El Paso, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Sociology. She was a recipient of the El Paso Federal Bar Association scholarship, awarded to students pursuing a career in law for their dedication. Since coming to El Paso in 2002, she fell in love with the city’s rich culture and beautiful mountain views. Ms. Leal knew El Paso would be the best place to raise her family and has called El Paso home since then.

Ms. Leal obtained her law degree from St. Mary’s University, School of Law, in 2016. As a law student, she obtained invaluable experience through legal internships. Ms. Leal had the opportunity to work with attorneys specializing in immigration, probate, criminal defense, family, corporate, and employment law. She interned at the Executive Office of Immigration Review and various civil and criminal law firms throughout law school.

A first generation American, Ms. Leal is fluent in Spanish. In addition to her work through legal internships, Ms. Leal sought volunteer opportunities where her skills would be most useful. She volunteered with organizations such as The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) helping monolingual Spanish-speaking persons prepare U.S. Citizenship applications. She volunteered with private firms offering pro bono legal services to immigrant detainees at the Karnes County Detention facility. Ms. Leal also helped clients with immigration matters at the St. Mary’s Center for Legal & Social Justice as part of her law school curriculum. Ms. Leal obtained the Pro Bono and Public Service Certificate for her pro bono work as a law student.

As an attorney, Ms. Leal practiced law at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) from 2016 through 2018. TRLA is one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the nation and offers free legal services to qualified individuals across sixty-eight Texas counties. At TRLA, Ms. Leal was assigned to the Pro Bono team and was a Staff Attorney on the Family team, practicing family law.

Since becoming an attorney, Ms. Leal has always strived to remain involved with the legal community. Ms. Leal is a member of the American Bar Association, American Inn of Courts, State Bar of Texas, the El Paso Bar Association, and the El Paso Women’s Bar Association. Ms. Leal is also a committee member for the Local Bar Leaders section of the State Bar of Texas. Ms. Leal was the EPWBA's President from 2020-2021 and now returns as President-Elect of the El Paso Women’s Bar Association for the 2022-2023 bar year. Ms. Leal also co-directs the Mentors in Law and Equality Program of the EPWBA.

Ms. Leal joined The Law Office of Diana Macias Valdez as an Associate Attorney in 2018.Since joining the firm, she has practiced exclusively labor and employment law, catering to businesses of all sizes and industries in the El Paso/ Chihuahua area. Ms. Leal consults in English and Spanish on all employment related matters.

In her free time, Ms. Leal enjoys spending time with her family and traveling. She enjoys taking road trips with her husband and two sons. Ms. Leal’s favorite place to visit is Mexico, and she maintains close ties with her family there. Having grown up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, Ms. Leal has experienced the life and culture of two border cities. Her experience as a Mexican American and border resident gives her a unique perspective on the legal needs of border communities.

Secretary

Ms. Alarcon joined Delgado, Acosta, Spencer, Linebarger & Perez, LLP., in 2019 as a delinquent tax attorney and handles delinquent property tax litigation and foreclosures for clients served by the firm’s El Paso office. She prepares cases for litigation, reviews all documents prior to filing suit, and attends court to obtain speedy judgments and protect our clients’ interests. Ms. Alarcon also manages all aspects of the property tax foreclosure process, including tax sales. While her clients’ interests are paramount, she makes every effort to work with delinquent taxpayers, affording them every opportunity to work out payment arrangements acceptable to her clients.
Ms. Alarcon attended the University of Texas at El Paso, receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science in December 2012. She pursued her law degree at Texas Tech University School of Law, graduating in 2016 with a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. During her second year of law school she worked as a qualified Texas mediator at the Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic in Lubbock, handling various contract and domestic disputes. She also worked as a law clerk At Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxon & Galatzan in El Paso, drafting memos on a wide variety of consumer law, damages for a wrongful conviction, and worker’s compensation cases.
In her final year at law school, she was a full-time extern working in Houston for a non-profit, Kids in Need of Defense (KIND). She conducted intake meetings with unaccompanied minors in need of representation at immigration and family court.

Prior to joining Linebarger, she was an attorney at Reyes & Reyes, PLLC, handling Social Security Disability cases. Ms. Alarcon read medical records for each case presented before Administrative Law Judges, cross-examined medical experts, and organized the litigation caseload from intake through to disposition. She made regular court appearances to represent her clients’ claims, researched case law and regulations, and wrote on average six appeals each month. She also supervised a full-time extern from the University of Arizona E. Rogers College of Law.

Immediate Past President

Priscilla de Mata was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. A first-generation American, Ms. Mata is fully bilingual. She is a 2005 graduate of Americas High School. In 2009, Ms. Mata earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where she was a member of the Chicano/a Pre-Law Society. Ms. Mata also received from UTEP a Master's in Leadership Studies with a concentration in border and international administration.

Prior to law school, Ms. Mata worked with Del Pueblo Press, Inc., in El Paso's Segundo Barrio and served as the founding editor of its bilingual immigration resource guide and publication.

Ms. Mata graduated with a Juris Doctor from the University of Idaho College of Law where she was elected as the first Mexican-American to lead the critical legal studies journal as its editor-in-chief. Ms. Mata was a member of the Latino Law Caucus and the Native American Law Student Association. During her summers she facilitated legal representation for at-risk communities during a 2012 internship with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid. Ms. Mata also interned with the U.S. Attorney's Office in El Paso.

As a law student, Ms. Mata was the recipient of the 2013-2014 Judge Faye C. Kennedy Scholarship and received the "Pro Bono Service with Distinction" recognition as a result of contributing more than 250 hours of legal service in Texas and Idaho.

Prior to graduating from law school, Ms. Mata served as the 2013 Patricia and Paul Yetter Summer Clerk to the Honorable David C. Guaderrama as part of UTEP's Law School Preparation Institute (LSPI). That same summer she served as a case law instructor for LSPI's High School Law Camp for which she taught both criminal law and torts to a cohort of about 43 area high school students.

During her third year of law school, Ms. Mata worked with the College of Law's immigration legal aid clinic and served as a student attorney on a political asylum appeal while she worked part-time at a law office in the practice areas of family law and criminal defense.

In August 2014, Ms. Mata joined the Firm where she practices labor, employment, and school law in the Labor and Employment Practice Group at the Firm.

Priscilla’s happy place is with her husband Reyes and kids Julia Elisa (21), Rey (17) and Luna Estela (2).