Christopher V. Popov, of Vinson & Elkins, took office as president of the Houston Bar Association during the HBA Annual Dinner on May 19.… Continue Reading
The Managing Director’s Office of the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar released bar pass data for ABA-approved law schools that lists pass rates based on race, ethnicity, and gender.… Continue Reading
Texas Bar Foundation donates $6,000 to Tarrant County nonprofit The Texas Bar Foundation’s donation to Alliance For Children will help facilitate the presentation of a new training course—Behavioral Characteristics of Sex Offenders— for staff and partners. The course will be led by Michael L. Bourke, a former chief psychologist for the U.S. Marshals Service.… Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee has announced its 2022 Pro Bono Excellence awards winners. Michael Logan Ware, of Fort Worth, received the Frank J. Scurlock Award; the Rev. Brooks Harrington, of Fort Worth, received the J. Chrys Dougherty Award; Judge Jerry W. Simoneaux Jr., of Harris … Continue Reading
Thank you to the 14 writers who submitted entries to the Texas Bar Journal Short Story contest this year. Author names were removed from entries before being submitted to judges in order to keep the contest fair and impartial. Two panels of judges faced the challenging task of selecting winners, and for each round, … Continue Reading
To provide a streamlined solution for those individuals in need of legal representation throughout 68 southwest Texas counties, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, or TRLA, recently established new universal local and toll-free phone numbers. Anyone seeking to apply for legal services, contact a TRLA office, or contact a TRLA staff member should now dial 956-996-TRLA (8752) … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting on April 29 in El Paso. Highlights of the meeting appear below. You can watch video of the meeting at youtube.com/statebaroftexas and read the agenda and meeting materials at texasbar.com/bodmaterials. New board chair-elect The board elected Dallas district director Chad Baruch chair of the board for … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas is excited to welcome three dynamic keynote speakers for its 2022 Annual Meeting in Houston, on June 9 and 10. Award-winning chef Chris Shepherd, internationally best-selling novelist Corban Addison, and Simon Tam—an activist and bassist of The Slants, will speak separately over the two-day event held at the Marriott Marquis … Continue Reading
Law students from some of the top trial advocacy programs in the country will take part in the thirteenth annual National Top Gun Mock Trial Competition, scheduled for June 1-5 at Baylor Law School in Waco. This year’s competition, known as Top Gun XIII, is by invitation only and is among the nation’s most prestigious … Continue Reading
Cinco de Música will return for its second year via the American Bar Association Hispanic Commission on Hispanic Legal Rights and Responsibilities. Held online, the virtual event features comedy from Michael Freed, president of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, and five musical performances, including Dallas’ “Off the Record.”… Continue Reading
AUSTIN—Texas attorneys elected Cindy V. Tisdale of Granbury to be president-elect of the State Bar of Texas. Tisdale received 51.69%—11,081—of the 21,437 votes cast during the monthlong voting period that ended May 2. Her opponent, Jose “Joe” Escobedo Jr. of Edinburg, received 48.31%, or 10,356 votes. Tisdale will be sworn in as president-elect during a … Continue Reading
Dallas lawyer Chad Baruch was selected chair-elect of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors during the board’s quarterly meeting on April 29 in El Paso. Baruch, managing shareholder at Johnston Tobey Baruch, will take office in June and will serve as chair until June 2023. Baruch was elected in 2020 to serve as … Continue Reading
More than $500,000 was raised to help provide civil legal services to low-income Texas veterans during the Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin on April 28. Proceeds from the gala, which was co-sponsored by the Texas Access to Justice Commission and the State Bar of … Continue Reading
The Texas Young Lawyers Association, or TYLA, will hold its Eighth annual Western States Regional Summit from May 19 to May 22 at the Hotel Paso del Norte in El Paso. Speakers and attendees will arrive from New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and other states in the Mountain West to take part in this event, which … Continue Reading
During May, Baylor Law School’s Estate Planning Clinic will offer free wills and simple estate planning to police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and their spouses living or working in McLennan County. In addition to a will, simple estate planning services include a power of attorney, medical power of attorney, declaration of guardian, and directive to … Continue Reading
Hannah E. Shoss, Evan Alexander Barr, and Olivia Sher are the three highest scorers on the February 2022 Texas Bar Exam, the Texas Board of Law Examiners announced in a press release. “The Supreme Court of Texas is immensely proud of the achievements of these three individuals,” said Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby in … Continue Reading
Volunteer attorneys will be available to answer legal questions at no cost from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. CDT on Wednesdays in May via a LegalLine e-clinic sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association. To participate, complete the online form found here for the first clinic, scheduled for 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. CDT on May … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors will hold its quarterly meeting at 9 a.m. MDT on April 29 in El Paso. Attorneys and members of the public can attend the meeting in person or watch it live on the State Bar’s YouTube channel. Public comment will be accepted in person or via Zoom or … Continue Reading
State Bar of Texas past President Cullen Smith Jr., 96, died April 16, 2022. He served as president of the State Bar of Texas from 1978 to 1979.… Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas’ newest lawyers will be officially sworn in May 13 at the State Bar of Texas New Lawyers Induction Ceremony in Austin. Those who passed the February 2022 Texas Bar Examination are eligible to be inducted at the event, which will begin at 10 a.m. CDT at Bass Concert Hall, located … Continue Reading
Charles A. Beckham Jr., a partner in Haynes and Boone in Houston, has been elected president of the American College of Bankruptcy. Beckham, who will serve a two-year term as president, will assume the role of principal operating officer of the college and will also lead and participate in numerous college programs and activities around … Continue Reading
State Bar of Texas President Sylvia Borunda Firth released the following statement April 4 on the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in the McDonald v. Firth case regarding the mandatory bar in Texas. “We are pleased the Court continues to recognize the longstanding precedent that supports the mandatory bar structure. Thirty other states and … Continue Reading
Baylor Law School faculty member and Waco City Councilman Joshua G. Borderud was honored with the 2020 American Inns of Court Sandra Day O’Connor Award for Professional Service in the U.S. Supreme Court courtroom in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, March 26. The award recognizes a lawyer who displays excellence in public interest or pro bono … Continue Reading
Austin lawyer Claude Ducloux is the winner of the 2022 Pat Nester Innovation in Professional Development Award. Ducloux will receive the award in July at TexasBarCLE’s Advanced Personal Injury Law Course in San Antonio. Ducloux was chosen because he supports innovation in professional development by ensuring attorneys in Texas, and throughout the nation, know how … Continue Reading
