In this episode of the State Bar of Texas Podcast, host Rocky Dhir welcomes attorney Scott C. Skelton to discuss the ethical handling of mistakes in legal practice. If you think you’ve committed malpractice, what should you do? Skelton shares experiences from his own career and explains how honesty, transparency, and graciousness in legal practice can help attorneys move forward from mistakes with integrity.
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Out-of-state lawyers can temporarily register with the North Carolina State Bar to provide pro bono legal services to victims of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene, following an order by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
The court approved the North Carolina State Bar’s temporary rule amendment on October 1. The temporary rule, expiring in January 2025, allows lawyers licensed in other states but not in North Carolina to register with the North Carolina State Bar and begin immediately providing pro bono legal services through a legal services organization to indigent residents of North Carolina who are victims of Helene without first obtaining approval from the State Bar Council.
Lawyers interested in providing pro bono services under the order can fill out this registration form and return it to the North Carolina State Bar using the instructions provided.
Hurricane Helene made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast as a Category 4 storm on September 26 and caused significant impacts across a large portion of the southeastern United States, particularly the southern Appalachians, according to the National Weather Service.
As the Supreme Court of Texas prepares to finalize rules that would allow licensed legal paraprofessionals and court-access assistants to provide limited legal services for low-income individuals, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors has approved a series of comments on the preliminary rules for the court’s consideration.
Meeting in Lubbock for their quarterly meeting, State Bar directors voted on September 27 to approve comments prepared by the board’s Administration Committee that seek to amend the court’s preliminary rules issued in August. Under the court’s preliminary rules, the State Bar of Texas would be responsible for regulating licensed legal paraprofessionals and court-access assistants, and the board’s comments were developed with the goals of increasing regulatory efficiency and improving public protection.
Read the court’s order here and the board’s comments here. Continue Reading
Volunteer attorneys will be available to answer legal questions on Wednesdays in October through the Dallas Bar Association’s LegalLine E-Clinic. The clinics, which run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., are free of cost.
A volunteer attorney will call a participant for up to 15 minutes of legal advice. No attorney-client relationship will be established. Individuals may receive referrals to local, legal, or social service agencies.
Calls from the clinic will remain anonymous. Participants should expect a call from an unknown number labeled “No Caller ID” or something similar. To participate, an online form is available at https://shorturl.at/borO4. Registration for e-clinics closes at noon on the Tuesday prior.
Clinics are scheduled for October 2, October 9, October 16, October 23, and October 30.
For more information, go to dallasbar.org/?pg=LawyerReferralService.
The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, an initiative of the Dallas Bar Association, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and local lawyers, is hosting free virtual and in-person legal clinics for eligible Dallas County residents throughout October. Continue Reading
The University of Houston Law Center received a $1.25 million gift from Alan F. Levin, a UHLC alumnus, and his wife, Diane, for the endowment of a mediation clinic to build upon and enhance mediation training for students, according to a press release.
The mediation clinic is one of 13 specialized clinics at the UHLC that provides trained student mediators to the justice courts in Harris County. The clinic and the reception area for all UHLC clinics will be named in the Levins’ honor.
“This very generous gift will be transformative in supercharging our already excellent mediation programming,” UHLC Dean Leonard Baynes said in a press release. “Together, the Levins and the UHLC will shepherd the next generation of legal mediators in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”
The State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section and the Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) will host LAWtería 2024, benefiting TAJF legal aid efforts throughout Texas. The fifth annual virtual game night will take place at 6 p.m. on September 24 via Zoom.
To participate in the event, attendees are encouraged to donate to enter the game and will receive a game card via email. The event will also feature door prizes and intermission entertainment. Donations can be made at teajf.org/donate/LawTeria.aspx.
The game night will be hosted by State Bar of Texas Past President Sylvia Borunda Firth and will include “callers” Texas Sen. Judith Zaffirini; Justice Robbie Partida-Kipness, of the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas; Justice Gisela D. Triana, of the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin; and Justice Lori I. Valenzuela, of the 4th Court of Appeals in San Antonio. Special guests include Supreme Court of Texas Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht, Supreme Court of Texas Justice Brett Busby, 444th District Court of Cameron County Judge David Sanchez, and attorneys Dan Sanchez, Armando Lopez, Ruben Medina, and Patrick Gabaldon.
For more information about the Texas Hispanic Issues Section, go to texashispanicissuessection.com. For more information about the TAJF, go to teajf.org.
Gov. Greg Abbott swore in the newly appointed judges to the Texas Business Court on September 19 at Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth. Created during the 88th legislative session with the enactment of HB 19, each Business Court Division will provide a mechanism for businesses to resolve complex commercial disputes in Texas.
“Last year, I worked with the Texas Legislature to pass a law creating the first-ever Texas business courts, along with a centralized court of appeals, to resolve public law disputes and constitutional challenges that impact Texas businesses across our state,” Abbott said in a press release. “Today, I am proud to swear in the first judges to the Texas business courts. These experienced individuals will serve to ensure that Texas businesses will have a sophisticated and efficient process to resolve their disputes. I look forward to seeing the positive impact these courts will provide for a bigger, better Texas for generations to come.”
The governor swore in Andrea Bouressa and William “Bill” Whitehill to the 1st Business Court Division in Dallas; Melissa Andrews and Patrick K. Sweeten to the 3rd Business Court Division in Austin; Marialyn Barnard and Stacy Sharp to the 4th Business Court Division in San Antonio; Jerry Bullard and Brian Stagner to the 8th Business Court Division in Fort Worth; and Sofia Adrogué and Grant Dorfman to the 11th Business Court Division in Houston.
For more information about the Texas Business Court, go to txcourts.gov/about-texas-courts/business-court/.
The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors will meet at 8 a.m. on September 27 at the Overton Hotel & Conference Center in Lubbock. The meeting is open to the public and will be broadcast live on the State Bar of Texas YouTube channel.
The meeting agenda is available here and the board packet materials are available here. Among the agenda items, the board will consider and discuss approval of the Administration Committee’s proposed comments regarding the Supreme Court of Texas’ Preliminary Approval of Rules Governing Licensed Legal Paraprofessionals and Licensed Court-Access Assistants to be submitted to the court on behalf of the board. Continue Reading
Solo firms can fail for any number of reasons. The good news is if you can identify and responsibly address the risks, you can help ensure the long-term viability of your practice. The following are of particular concern.
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