State Bar of Texas Blog : State Bar of Texas Blog : News & Features on Lawyers & Attorneys & Legal Professionals in Austin, Dallas, Houston & TX

The State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, and the Texas Access to Justice Commission invite you to the 2010 Bar Leaders Conference at the Westin Galleria in Houston, July 23-34.

Join other local bar leaders for a two-day training program that addresses common concerns for volunteer leaders. In addition, meet the State Bar of Texas and TYLA elected leaders as you learn about resources provided by the State Bar. Walk away from the conference with knowledge on how to improve your local bar and your law practice!

The registration deadline is July 7, 2010. Click here for the Bar Leaders Conference Brochure.

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The summer edition of News for the Bar, the newsletter of the State Bar Litigation Section, includes trial tips from and an interview with legendary Houston lawyer Harry Reasoner. The longtime Vinson & Elkins partner recently took over as chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission. Among Reasoner's kernels of wisdom:

I think it's very important to learn from the lawyers with whom you work. But never miss an opportunity to learn from your opponents — to think about what you would have done if you were in their place.

For more information about the Litigation Section, click here. For more information about the Access to Justice Commission, click here.

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Thanks to all who entered our first-ever Twitter novel contest. We asked attorneys to write a novel in 140 characters or less, and received 189 valid entries. We even received coverage on the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.

The winning entrant was Casey Burgess of Dallas, with this tweet:

"Swirling death, the dark cloud descends. As he runs for his cellar, the farmer learns that sometimes pigs can fly."

Casey won our grand prize, an Apple iPad.

In second place was Mark I. Unger of San Antonio (@miunger), with: 

"SheWalkedIn iFell @Love #WeDid RT@PookieBorn Birthdays MortgAge WorkLate GirlsTrip BikerDude FaceBookPics iFiled SheWalkedOut"

And our third-place winner was Ron Uselton of Sherman, with: 

"Wanted: wife's killer. Apply in person."

We were happy to have all three finalists at our awards ceremony during the Adaptable Lawyer track at the 2010 State Bar Annual Meeting.

Big thanks to Michael P. Maslanka for giving us the idea and for serving as a judge, and to our other judges, Chad Baruch, Michelle Cheng, Amanda Ellis, Thane Rosenbaum, Dom Sagolla, and Christine Son.

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Dallas lawyer Danny Tobey always wanted to be a writer, and with the publication of his debut thriller, The Faculty Club, he's more than achieved that goal. In fact, his publisher, Simon & Schuster, already has him lined up for two more books, the next being a medical thriller. The medical angle should be a natural fit for Tobey, a Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P. associate whose practice focuses on commercial litigation, including representing the health care community and pharmaceutical companies (he also attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center). Tobey is featured in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article about his debut novel, The Faculty Club, which he wrote while still in school. The book takes place at a prestigious Ivy League law school (not coincidentally, Tobey graduated from Yale Law School) and draws the reader into an elite and mysterious club that promises its members success and fame but also holds dark and ancient secrets (read an excerpt). 

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For Random Profiles, we randomly pick one of our 80,000-plus attorneys, call them, and do a Q&A. We've found that every Texas lawyer has an interesting story. Will yours be next?

Family: Son, Travis and daughter, Chelsea.

Areas of practice: criminal, juvenile, misdemeanor, criminal.

Best thing about being a lawyer: The opportunity to help people.

Bet you didn't know: I help my daughter raise goats for show!

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