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Stories of Recovery: What it was like then. What it’s like now.

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. I had my first drink when I was 16 years old, and … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: Life can get better

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. I have always felt like an outsider and a loner. As a child, … Continue Reading

Change of Venue: From Court to the Stage

The story behind Night Court and its 2022 production ‘Night Court at 30 Presents Justice by the Dozen’ By Tara Taheri   Night Court is Houston’s very own all-lawyer musical theater company, which in recent years has transitioned to a public 501(c)(3) and has been approved for 2 hours of CLE ethics credits.… Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: Just keep walking your path

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 … Continue Reading

Latinx still making firsts

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, … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: There is an army out there to help you

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. After interviewing to move my solo practice to another firm, I celebrated … Continue Reading

Those guys have all the marks

It happens every time. A client falls in love with a trademark that is perfect for his new company. I perform a search and have to be the bearer of bad news: The field is crowded. That is, there are many variations of that perfect mark already registered to other companies, which are even in … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: A young lawyer’s journey to self-compassion

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. One beautiful spring morning, I was preparing to leave my house for … Continue Reading

Opinion: Adverse Childhood Experiences in the juvenile justice system

Adverse Childhood Experiences scores are typically very high for children who find themselves in the juvenile justice system. Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACE, are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years of age).(1) ACEs are used to identify the amount of traumatic stress an individual has experienced. While it has gotten better in … Continue Reading

Across state lines—working with out-of-state co-counsel

The COVID-19 pandemic experience of shuttered courthouses, restricted travel, and work-from-home arrangements has forced law firms to reevaluate how they do business, particularly when that work is done across state lines. Whether your firm decides to work through local counsel from outside your firm or to act as local counsel for an unrelated, out-of-state firm, … Continue Reading

A Tribute to Osler McCarthy: A Life Well Lived in the Law

Editor’s Note: The following tribute was originally published by the State Bar of Texas Appellate Section and is reprinted with permission.  By Wallace B. Jefferson Chief Justice, Texas Supreme Court (Ret.) Lawyers and journalists know why today is important in the life of Texas law. The Supreme Court just issued the term’s final weekly regular … Continue Reading

A Life of Serving: Civil litigator Lloyd Lochridge is inspiring others to do pro bono work and volunteer in their communities

Lloyd Lochridge died at 103 on April 13, 2021, in Austin. His obituary can be read online here. He served as State Bar of Texas president from 1974 to 1975. In recognition of Lochridge, we are reprinting this “Legal Legends” article that was printed in the June 2018 Texas Bar Journal. By Mitchell C. Chaney … Continue Reading

What Every Lawyer Should Know About Sexual Violence

There is a strong likelihood that you, as an attorney, have daily interaction with survivors of sexual violence. Sexual violence knows no boundaries, and your clients, your fellow attorneys, your employees, and your judges may be survivors. A 2015 prevalence study by the University of Texas found 40% (2 in 5) of women and 20% … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: Diagnosis was the beginning of my story

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on September 22, 2015. Editor’s note: 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) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. My first experience with clinical depression was at 13. It wasn’t called … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: Willing to Go to Any Length

Editor’s note: 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) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I had been a licensed attorney and member of the State Bar of Texas since 1984, almost 35 years. Then, in March 2019, I … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: My Happy New Year

Editor’s note: 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) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. I remember a number of years having terrible experiences with New Year’s Eve and drinking too much, doing something that was humiliating or that … Continue Reading

Celebrating the Holidays During a Pandemic

Is it possible, in 2020, to carry on the age-old U.S. tradition of gathering with family and friends during the holidays? As new cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in record numbers across the U.S. and abroad, health experts like Isaac Bogoch, infectious disease expert, fear that since “[w]e know that the vast majority of … Continue Reading

Stories of Recovery: ‘The Scariest and Most Amazing Gift’

Editor’s note: This post was originally posted on July 25, 2018. Editor’s note: 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) or find more information at tlaphelps.org. A little over four years ago, I believed my life was over. Not … Continue Reading
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