The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors voted unanimously Friday to consent to the Commission for Lawyer Discipline’s selection of Seana Willing as the new chief disciplinary counsel. Willing served the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for 18 years —14 of those as executive director of the commission. For the past two years, Willing … Continue Reading
Investitures were held for the newest judges in Travis County and the state’s 3rd Court of Appeals. Justices Thomas Baker, Chari Kelly, Edward Smith, and Gisela Triana were sworn in to the 3rd Court of Appeals on January 7 at the Austin Central Library’s Special Event Center.… Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Public Affairs Committee announced it is seeking submissions for the 2019 Texas Gavel Awards, which honor outstanding journalism that fosters public understanding of the legal system. Entries published or broadcast during the 2018 calendar year will be accepted for print, broadcast, and online categories until 5 p.m. March 29. There is … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas’ Membership Department was informed in December 2018 of the deaths of these members. We join the officers and directors of the State Bar in expressing our deepest sympathy.… Continue Reading
To keep up on the latest State Bar of Texas news as well as top Texas legal news, sign up for the State Bar of Texas’ Daily News Briefing. The Daily News Briefing is a compilation of State Bar of Texas news and legal news stories culled from media across the state. The briefing is … Continue Reading
Ready to realize those New Year’s resolutions? Start with reading the Texas Bar Journal. Our editorial staff has you covered with highlights from the January issue. And don’t forget to check out Disciplinary Actions, Memorials, and Movers and Shakers.… Continue Reading
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed David Whitley as the 112th secretary of state of Texas on December 17, 2018. Whitley replaces outgoing Secretary of State Rolando Pablos. “David has been an invaluable member of my administration for over a decade, both in my time as attorney general and during the entirety of my first term as … Continue Reading
Supreme Court of Texas Retired Associate Justice C.L. Ray Jr., 87, died December 9, 2018, in Lansing, Michigan, per a Supreme Court news release. He died under hospice care in the late stages of prostate cancer. Ray was elected to the Supreme Court in 1980 and retired from the court in 1990. At that time, … Continue Reading
The Dallas Bar Association, or DBA, recently elected Laura Benitez Geisler, of the Geisler Law Firm, to serve as president in 2019. Upon being sworn in on January 12, Geisler will be the first Hispanic member of the DBA to serve as president. Geisler currently serves as board adviser to the DBA’s Lawyer Referral Service … Continue Reading
State Bar of Texas offices will be closed Wednesday in recognition of a statewide day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation Monday encouraging all Texans “to gather, assemble, and pay their respects to the memory of George Herbert Walker Bush through ceremonies in homes, businesses, public … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas’ Membership Department was informed in November 2018 of the deaths of these members. We join the officers and directors of the State Bar in expressing our deepest sympathy. • Virgil H. Barfield, 82, of Houston, died August 23, 2017. He received his law degree from the University of Houston Law … Continue Reading
Can’t wait to cap off another year with the Texas Bar Journal? Neither can we. Take a look at our editorial staff’s picks for the December issue. This month’s theme: equality in the workplace . And don’t forget to check out Disciplinary Actions, Memorials, and Movers and Shakers.… Continue Reading
The Texas Supreme Court and State Bar of Texas welcomed newly licensed attorneys at the New Lawyer Induction ceremony November 19 at the Frank Irwin Center in Austin. Members of the Texas’ highest courts, deans from the state’s law schools, State Bar and Texas Board of Law Examiners officials, and friends and family watched as … Continue Reading
The free clinic, which takes place December 8 at the Katy VA Outpatient Clinic, will offer veterans, or spouses of deceased veterans, one-on-one advice and counsel from volunteer attorneys in areas of law including family law, wills and probate, consumer law, and real estate and tax law, as well as disability and veterans benefits.… Continue Reading
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, or TAJF, wraped up Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week, a statewide effort to provide legal aid to qualified veterans, on Saturday, November 17. The weeklong event brought legal aid programs, local bar associations, law schools, and pro bono attorneys together to offer free legal services in civil legal matters, … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Law-Related Education Annual Conference will be held on January 25-26, 2019, at the Commons Conference Center in Austin. The theme for 2019 is “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society, and Free Enterprise,” which expands on the 2019 Law Day theme.… 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
Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas convened a special session of the court on Wednesday to honor judges and governors who served in the armed forces during the Great War. Descendants of those honored were among those present in the crowd. The session was held in the historic Texas Supreme Court courtroom in the … Continue Reading
Young Gunners, a new podcast from the Texas Young Lawyers Association, or TYLA, discusses practical tips and challenges that face new attorneys. The podcast, first released on October 23, 2018, has eight episodes, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday. Episodes feature TYLA directors talking with experienced attorneys about topics including demand letters, going to court, … Continue Reading
The 14 Texas Courts of Appeals issued almost 10,000 opinions in the FY 2018, an increase of 1.3 percent from the previous year. The number of opinions issued by each justice increased by 4.5 percent. The majority of the appellate cases before the court are now civil cases—making up a record percentage of the docket … Continue Reading
Dallas-based attorney Gary Lawson is one of the co-founders of the Independence Corps, a nonprofit that helps veterans who are wounded or disabled and seeks to reduce the number of veteran suicides by promoting feelings of well-being—including helping vets regain independence through mobility devices. He is a longtime advocate and participant in nonprofits such as … Continue Reading
Texas Supreme Court Justice Phil Johnson submitted his resignation from the court on November 8 and will leave office on December 31. “You feel like in this position you can make a difference,” Johnson said in a press release. “The law is the superstructure of society, the framework for doing what we can do. I’ll … Continue Reading
Houston-based Childs Law Firm is collecting toy donations for Toys for Tots as part of the national collection effort by the National Association of Legal Assistants. Toys for Tots, founded in 1947, is a program run by the United States Marine Corps that distributes toys to children in need.… Continue Reading
Austin Adoption Day brought together 24 new families at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center on Thursday, November 1. Sponsored by the Austin Bar Foundation, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and several others, the event put 51 foster care children into “forever families.” The day was one of celebration as the justice … Continue Reading
