Grievance Oversight Committee seeks input on attorney disciplinary system at September 16 meeting

By Staff on August 11, 2022

The Grievance Oversight Committee is seeking public feedback regarding the Texas attorney disciplinary system.

The committee will meet on September 16 in Austin. If you have suggestions, observations, or other input regarding the attorney grievance system and are interested in scheduling a time to meet with the committee during its September 16 meeting, please email info@txgoc.com.

The Texas Supreme Court has charged the committee with reviewing the Texas attorney disciplinary system and reporting its observations and recommendations to the court. The committee is not a part of the attorney disciplinary process and cannot accept, consider, resolve, or interfere with any grievances or individual complaints involving attorney-client issues.

To learn more about the committee, visit www.txgoc.com.

Posted inCourts News Texas Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby honored with Judicial Civic Education Award

By Will Korn on July 29, 2022

The American Lawyers Alliance, or ALA, has named Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby the 2022 recipient of its Judicial Civic Education Award. The ALA is an American Bar Association affiliate that supports law-related education, and the Judicial Civic Education Award honors judges for their work promoting civic education in their communities or states.

Busby, known for his contributions to access-to-justice initiatives, helped found the Teach Texas program, a judicial civics and court history project that teaches seventh graders about the judicial system. Teach Texas, a partnership between the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society and the Houston Bar Association, uses lesson plans based on the Taming Texas book series. Taming Texas was sponsored by the historical society and created with the help of the State Bar of Texas Law-Related Education Department. Tamingtexas.org provides access to the books Taming Texas: How Law and Order Came to the Lone Star State, Taming Texas: Law and the Texas Frontier, Taming Texas: The Chief Justices of Texas, and associated curriculum guides.

Posted inNews

Houston Bar Association presents 2022 Diversity Awards

By Will Korn on July 23, 2022

The Houston Bar Association presented its Diversity Awards to recognize outstanding law firms and individuals for their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts within the legal profession and greater Houston community, during the HBA’s 24^th Annual Summer Associate Luncheon on July 21 in Houston. The recipients of the 2022 HBA Diversity Awards are Frost Brown Todd; Greenberg Traurig; Roland Garcia, shareholder in Greenberg Traurig; and Marcus Esther, of the Law Office of Marcus Esther.

“We are truly honored to be recognized by the HBA for Frost Brown Todd’s commitment and actions to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Chris Johnson, chief diversity officer of Frost Brown Todd, in a press release. “This award helps to affirm our progress on this long journey and serves as a reminder that there is always more work to do.”

As a firm, Greenberg Traurig said it has implemented several DEI initiatives, including its Diverse Law Student Recruitment Pilot Initiative in 2018 to develop meaningful and long-term relationships with diverse talent. “It’s a great honor for our office to be recognized by the Houston Bar Association and we are immensely proud of Roland Garcia for his individual recognition. Roland’s work to advance diversity in all aspects of his life is both admirable and inspirational,” said Shari L. Heyen, managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig Houston, in a press release.

Posted inGuest Blog State Bar Texas Lawyers' Assistance Program TLAP

Stories of Recovery: Just keep walking your path

By Guest Blogger on July 21, 2022

Editor’s note: This post is part of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program’s Stories of Recovery blog series. TLAP offers confidential assistance for lawyers, law students, and judges with substance use or mental health issues. Call or text TLAP at 1-800-343-8527 (TLAP) and find more information at tlaphelps.org.

It is amazing how much damage can occur to your life in a few short years, and it literally takes decades to rebuild it.

Tragedy changes lives. For me it was a wonderful beginning—I was the best, the brightest, and well-liked. Around 18 I started using drugs and alcohol, then I started getting in trouble, then I nearly lost it all. The truth is that the void of substance abuse hollows you out like a years-long hangover. You can quickly become part of a subculture of people who are all dancing to the tune of moral depravity. As a result, the police become your nemesis and cease to be protectors, your “good” friends become people you can’t trust anymore, your family becomes people who harass you every day with their social norms. You are low hanging fruit for predators too. When you run out of money, you might even steal cigarettes from a car and get arrested for burglary. Every moment is a mental outrage. Every day a flawed plan that fails. That cycle persists until something happens. Then something did happen. I stopped using. That wasn’t the end.
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Posted inSponsored Content

Anne-Marie Rábago and Joe Lawson among 2022 Fastcase 50 winners

By Eric Quitugua on July 19, 2022

This year’s Fastcase 50 award winners include two from the Texas legal world. Attorney Anne-Marie Rábago and law library director Joe Lawson are among those honored as “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries, [and] leaders.” Continue Reading

Posted inGuest Blog

Latinx still making firsts

By Judge Orlinda Naranjo and Judge Victor Villarreal on July 14, 2022

Now in the third decade of the new century, persons of color continue to break barriers. Although Texas has the second highest Latinx population in the United States, prior to 2021, it did not have a Latinx judge organization like those found in California, New York, and Illinois. That barrier was broken on May 5, 2021, through the creation of Texas Latinx Judges, or TLJ. One of the first associations of its kind in Texas, TLJ is a nonpartisan, nonprofit association focused on empowering current and future Latinx judges. It fosters a pipeline for future Latinx judges with the goal of enhancing diversity, inclusion, and excellence in the judiciary so that equal justice is provided to all.
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Posted inSponsored Content

Texas Bar College to honor five attorneys at summer school course

By Will Korn on July 8, 2022

The Texas Bar College will honor five distinguished lawyers at the Texas Bar College Summer School Course on July 21 at Moody Gardens in Galveston.

Jerry D. Bullard, of Grapevine, will be presented with the Franklin Jones Best CLE Article Award for his article, Looking over the 87th Lege: An Overview of Selected Bills That Passed and Those That Didn’t (But You Ought to Know About Anyway). He is certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and specializes in handling civil appeals and assisting trial counsel with legal and strategic issues in complex civil litigation.

Collin “Jay” Spring, of Dallas, is the recipient of the Steven G. Condos Award for Outstanding New Member to the College. He is a litigation associate in the Dallas office of Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett & Moser, where his practice focuses on commercial litigation, insurance coverage, and professional malpractice matters.

Posted inState Bar Texas Supreme Court

Grievance Oversight Committee seeks public input on attorney disciplinary system at July 23 meeting

By Lowell Brown on July 7, 2022

The Grievance Oversight Committee is seeking public feedback regarding the Texas attorney disciplinary system.

The committee will meet on July 23 in Houston. If you have suggestions, observations, or other input regarding the attorney grievance system and are interested in scheduling a time to meet with the committee during its July 23 meeting, please email info@txgoc.com.

To learn more about the committee, go to www.txgoc.com.