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 has established a disaster legal hotline – 800.504.7030 – to assist people with basic legal questions following the devastating plant explosion in West, Texas.

The hotline – answered in English and Spanish by Lone Star Legal Aid – is intended to help low-income persons affected by the disaster with such issues as replacing lost documents, insurance questions, landlord-tenant issues, and consumer protection issues such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process. Residents can call and leave a message any time. People who qualify for assistance will be matched with Texas lawyers who have volunteered to provide free, limited legal help. 

A partnership between the State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, Lone Star Legal Aid, local bar associations, and other legal services providers throughout Texas is making a range of assistance available.

Additional resources are available at www.texasbar.com/disasterresponse and www.texaslawhelp.org.

The State Bar of Texas reminds the public that solicitation of a potential legal case is a crime unless the lawyer has a family relationship with you or you have been a client of the lawyer in the past or are currently a client. Solicitation of you is also a crime if perpetrated by a non-lawyer employee or representative of the lawyer, unless the previous conditions exist. Please report any prohibited contacts by lawyers or their representatives, whether in person, telephone or otherwise, to your local law enforcement authority or the State Bar of Texas at 877.953.5535.

Attorneys who want to volunteer to help may visit our Disaster Relief and Attorney Resources page.

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Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) will conduct two free clinics to help veterans and active military apply for RetroActive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP) before the current deadline of April 8, 2011. Service members who believe they are eligible for RSLSP are encouraged to attend LSLA free help clinics on April 4 and April 5 in Killeen, Texas. Both clinics will take place at the Killeen Community Center from 9 am – 4 pm located at 2201 East Veterans Memorial Boulevard, in Killeen. LSLA attorneys and staff will be there to assist the eligible service members with the application process.

Service members, veterans, (and their beneficiaries) whose service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss, a forced extension of active duty military service, between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 30, 2009 may be eligible for RSLSP. Congress has extended the deadline several times to allow eligible persons extra time to apply for the pay and recently extended the deadline through April 8 under the Continuing Resolution the federal government is operating under.

The RSLSP additional payment of $500 for each month of involuntary service, results in average payments to service members of $3,700, an amount that could make a difference for a service member and their family now. This money could be especially important for families who qualify for free legal services. The average veteran or service member who qualifies for free legal services with Lone Star Legal Aid is living under the Federal poverty guidelines; this money could absolutely change their lives. 

Service members who plan to attend the April 4 or April 5 free clinics should bring all required forms to the clinics. For a complete list of the required forms visit your branch of military’s website or http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2010/0710_stoploss/.

For more information please contact Rebekah Mason, Staff Attorney, at (713) 652-0077 or at rmason@lonestarlegal.org.
 

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The next Texas Access to Justice Legislative Hero Award will be awarded to Texas Senator Steve Ogden during a special ceremony on Friday, September 24, at 1 p.m. at the Lone Star Legal Aid office in Bryan, Texas.

The Texas Access to Justice Commission and Texas Access to Justice Foundation Legislative Hero Award recognizes legislators who have significantly advanced access to justice in Texas by assisting with the appropriation of funds and/or other substantive activities related to the provision of legal aid in the state.

Steve Ogden is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives before he was elected Senator for District 5.

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