At the Law Practice Management and Texas Bar College Meet & Greet on Thursday, June 19, at the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort & Spa, State Bar of Texas Law Practice Management Committee Chair Greg Sampson announced that the Law Practice Management Committee received the American Bar Association Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division’s 2025 Solo and Small Firm Project Award for its work on succession planning, sudden cessation custodianships, and the Succession Planning Toolkit. The award is bestowed on bar leaders and associations for the successful implementation of a project targeted to solo and small firm lawyers.
The Law Practice Management Committee worked with various stakeholders to address the issues that arise from a population of aging lawyers—in 2023, approximately 20% of State Bar of Texas members were over the age of 65—by creating a Succession Planning Toolkit, an advanced designation of custodian portal, and the implementation of two new rules of professional responsibility. Sampson thanked the committee for its hard work and invited State Bar of Texas Past President Laura Gibson to say a few words.
Gibson, who made succession planning her initiative while president, told the crowd that after her father died, she had to help return her father’s clients’ files to them—and it was something that had an impact on her. She encouraged everyone to designate a custodian attorney through the bar’s portal.
For more information about succession planning, go to texasbar.com/succession.
PHOTO: From left: State Bar of Texas Law Practice Resources Division staff members Trish McAllister and Dean Schaffer with State Bar of Texas Law Practice Committee members John Meredith and Audie Sciumbato; State Bar of Texas Past President Laura Gibson; Law Practice Committee Chair Greg Sampson; Law Practice Committee members Kristin Postell, Kassi Burns, and Debra Bruce; and Law Practice Resources Division Director Sharon Sandle. Photo by Patricia Busa McConnico