The Merianne Gaston Award for Excellence in Legal Support

This award recognizes a legal support professional whose conduct, commitment, and actions demonstrate extraordinary dedication to the legal profession. The award is named in honor of Merianne Gaston, who worked for over 30 years at the State Bar of Texas. She served the Texas Bar College from 2009 until her retirement in 2018, first as Managing Director and then as Executive Director. Merianne dedicated her entire career to promoting the importance of continuing legal education and improving the quality and content of the programing.

2023 Recipient – Samantha Doring

Samantha Doring, of Houston, Texas, has worked in the legal field for three decades in various capacities. She is the office manager and senior paralegal of the boutique law firm of Sponsel Miller Greenberg PLLC. Having spent many years overseeing large, federal class action case dockets such as the Enron case, she now enjoys assisting junior paralegals in developing their legal skills.

Samantha has served as the Administrator of the Garland R. Walker American Inn of Court since 2011. The Garland R. Walker Inn, an organization dedicated to fostering ethics, civility and profession in the practice of law, is one of the largest of the American Inns of Court in the country.

Samantha graduated summa cum laude from Stephen F. Austin State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1990.

Past Recipients