The State Bar of Texas reminds residents that free civil legal resources are available to low-income individuals and families struggling to recover from the tornadoes and severe storms that affected 16 Texas counties on October 20. The State Bar of Texas toll-free legal hotline — 800-504-7030 — connects callers with legal aid providers in their area who … Continue Reading
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, or TEAJF, will celebrate its 35th anniversary with a dinner on October 25 at the Fairmont Austin Hotel. Bestselling author and attorney John Grisham will deliver the keynote address at the event.… Continue Reading
The popular, 30-year-old legal education program known as the “People’s Law School” is halting its in-person classes on the campus of the University of Houston Law Center and moving its program online. This is the final year that people can attend the “People’s Law School” in person. The final live program will be from 9 … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas and Lone Star Legal Aid seek to alert residents that free legal resources are available to low-income individuals affected by severe storms and flooding spawned by Tropical Storm Imelda. Lone Star Legal Aid operates a toll-free disaster legal hotline — 866-659-0666— that can help with issues such as replacing lost documents, … Continue Reading
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, or TEAJF, and Texas Legal Services Center, or TLSC, announced David Insley as the first recipient of the Randall Chapman Fellowship. Insley is a recent graduate of St. Mary’s University School of Law. During the two-year fellowship, he will focus on serving economically disadvantaged families struggling to navigate the … Continue Reading
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) is conducting disaster-preparedness sessions for community members in Texas’ flood-prone areas. The agency has already held a dozen sessions in Spanish and English in cities around the state. The next will take place Sept. 11 in Brownsville and Sept. 18 in Sinton. See below for details. The sessions cover property insurance, renters’ … Continue Reading
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (ABA YLD), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other organizations are partnering to provide legal and recovery assistance to people affected by severe storms and flooding that occurred in Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy counties on June 24 and … Continue Reading
Texas Capital Bank is the newest member of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation’s Prime Partner Bank program. Prime Partner banks and credit unions voluntarily pay higher interest rates for Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, or IOLTA, to raise money for civil legal aid and to support improvements to the justice system.… Continue Reading
The Dallas Bar Association, or DBA, received a grant from the Texas Bar Foundation to launch its Entrepreneurs in Community Lawyering program this fall. The Entrepreneurs in Community Lawyering program is the first local legal incubator in Dallas and seeks to create a pipeline for lawyers who are well equipped to launch a fiscally stable … Continue Reading
The Texas Access to Justice Commission with its co-sponsor, the State Bar of Texas, honored veterans throughout the state at the Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans on Tuesday in Austin. More than $455,050 was raised to help provide civil legal services to low-income Texas veterans. Proceeds are distributed by the Texas Access to Justice … Continue Reading
MidSouth Bank has partnered with the Texas Access to Justice Foundation’s Prime Partner Bank program. As part of the program, MidSouth Bank will voluntarily pay higher interest rates for Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, or IOLTA. “Many Texans face serious legal issues, such as escaping situations of domestic violence or avoiding foreclosure, and simply do … Continue Reading
In March 2019, three Texas lawyers sued the State Bar of Texas claiming that under Janus v. AFSCME (2018), it is unconstitutional for an attorney to be required to join the State Bar of Texas in order to practice law. The plaintiffs also challenge bar programs that they claim exceed the bar’s “core regulatory functions.” … Continue Reading
The American Bar Association is seeking licensed attorney volunteers to help with two projects to assist asylum-seekers and immigrant children along Texas’ southern border with Mexico. The ABA’s Commission on Immigration is leading week-long volunteer trips each month from April to October to direct-service projects along the Texas-Mexico border. Volunteers will work at the South Texas Pro … Continue Reading
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, with funding from the Texas Bar Foundation, is launching disaster-preparedness community meetings beginning today in the McAllen area. The meetings are designed to inform the public about legal solutions to many post-disaster problems. Tonight’s meeting will be delivered in Spanish. It will begin at 6:30 p.m. at La Union Del Pueblo … Continue Reading
A Texas police detective is issuing a warning that scammers are attempting to use the legal profession as a tool to bilk money from people who may be unfamiliar with the justice system. George Schilter, a detective in the criminal investigations division of the Webster Police Department and a licensed Texas lawyer, wrote to the … Continue Reading
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association, or NLADA, honored and featured several notable Texans at its annual conference at the Westin Galleria in Houston in November. The event celebrates, advocates for, and educates on access to justice, bringing together legal aid and indigent defense lawyers from across the U.S.… Continue Reading
Lawyers across the nation can provide pro bono assistance to North Carolinians in the wake of Hurricane Florence thanks to a recent order of the North Carolina Supreme Court. After Hurricane Harvey several hundred out-of-state lawyers volunteered their services to residents of this state. ABA President Bob Carlson reminds lawyers that ABA Free Legal Answers, an online … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Circuits and is reprinted with permission. By Hannah Allison Texas is RSVP’ing YES to pro bono week this year. How about you? Not sure what it is? The Celebrate Pro Bono homepage reads, “…this initiative provides an opportunity for legal organizations across the … Continue Reading
Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center is looking for pro bono attorneys to travel to El Paso for at least a week to provide much needed direct legal services on the ground. Immigration experience is a plus, but not required. Volunteers will be directly assisting detained asylum seekers in greater El Paso with their asylum claims.… Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas was presented a prestigious 2018 Harrison Tweed Award on August 3 at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Chicago. The Harrison Tweed Award recognizes bar associations that have made extraordinary efforts to improve the availability of civil legal services or indigent defense services to people living in poverty. Named … Continue Reading
Several state, local, and national bar associations; disaster legal services providers; and the city of McAllen are coming together to educate lawyers and the general public in the McAllen area on FEMA appeals processes and disaster legal services in general. The free seminar, “Disaster Legal Services and FEMA Appeals CLE,” will be from 9 to … Continue Reading
The Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas has awarded a $25,000 grant to support Houston Volunteer Lawyers’ efforts to provide legal representation to low-income households who have a legal issue caused by Hurricane Harvey and who cannot afford an attorney, particularly in cases that involve litigation. According to a news release, Houston Volunteer … Continue Reading
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, or TAJF, announced the creation of the Randy Chapman Fellowship program for legal aid lawyers on June 20.… Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) remind residents that free legal resources are available to low-income individuals struggling to recover from a disaster such as recent flooding that has affected Aransas, Cameron, Hidalgo, Nueces, San Patricio and Willacy counties. TRLA operates a toll-free disaster legal hotline — (866) 757-1570 — that … Continue Reading
