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G. David Smith
Texas attorneys elected G. David Smith, of Rockwall, to be president-elect of the State Bar of Texas and Armin Salek, of Austin, as president-elect of the Texas Young Lawyers Association during a monthlong voting period that ended today.
Smith received 52.03% — 8,541 — of the 16,417 votes cast during the monthlong voting period that ended April 30. His opponent, Deborah L. Cordova, of Edinburg, received 47.97%, or 7,876 votes.
Smith will be sworn in as president-elect during a State Bar of Texas Board of Directors meeting on June 19, 2025, and will serve as president of the State Bar of Texas from June 2026 to June 2027.
Smith is a founding partner in Smith & Lee Lawyers in Rockwall. Originally from Slaton, his family moved to Canyon and later to Muleshoe, where he graduated from high school. Smith earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at the Permian Basin and his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law.
After earning his law degree, Smith joined the Odessa firm of Brannan and Pipes in 1983. The following year, he opened the Law Offices of G. David Smith in Odessa, focusing on criminal defense and civil litigation. In 1989, Smith relocated to Dallas to expand his practice to include personal injury law. In 2002, he moved the office to Rockwall, and the firm eventually became Smith & Lee with the addition of his stepson, Ryan K. Lee. Continue Reading
After a while, you learn that the most useful numbers aren’t always the obvious ones. Billables and revenue matter — but they won’t tell you everything. The additional insight comes from tracking a few key metrics, month after month.
Here are three metrics worth putting on your monthly agenda. They dig deeper than surface-level stats and are all trackable through the reporting and analytics features of top-rated legal practice management software.
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The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors will meet at 8 a.m. on April 25 at the Houston Marriott Sugar Land in Sugar Land. The meeting is open to the public and will be broadcast live on the State Bar of Texas YouTube channel.
The meeting agenda is available here. Among the agenda items, the board will elect a new chair for 2025-2026, consider and discuss approval of appointments of at-large directors, and consider and discuss approval of the State Bar of Texas 2025-2026 proposed budget for presentation to the Supreme Court of Texas.
Those who wish to address the board in person during the meeting should fill out a speaker card at the beginning of the meeting and submit it to a staff member onsite. To sign up to speak remotely during the meeting, email boardofdirectors@texasbar.com or call 512-427-1400 or 800-204-2222 (toll free) before 5 p.m. CDT on Thursday, April 24. Please provide the agenda item number you wish to speak on.
Written comments regarding agenda items must be received by 5 p.m. CDT on Monday, April 21, for timely distribution to the board before the meeting. Please submit written comments by email to boardofdirectors@texasbar.com and indicate the agenda item you are referring to.
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The Appellate Section of the State Bar of Texas is now accepting nominations for this year’s Texas Appellate Hall of Fame class. The Hall of Fame posthumously honors advocates and judges who made a lasting mark on appellate practice in the state of Texas.
The section will honor the Hall of Fame inductees in a presentation and ceremony at noon on Thursday, September 4, 2025, during the State Bar’s Advanced Civil Appellate Practice course.
Nominations should be submitted in writing to Jennie Knapp at jennie.knapp@uwlaw.com no later than Friday, May 30, 2025. An individual’s nomination in a prior year will not necessarily carry over to this year. As a result, if you nominated someone previously and would like to ensure his or her consideration for induction this year, you should resubmit the nomination and nomination materials.
Nominations should include the nominator’s contact information, the nominee’s bio or CV, the nominee’s photo if available, and all the reasons for the nomination, including the nominee’s unique contributions to the practice of appellate law in the state.
Nominations will be considered based upon some or all of the following criteria: written and oral advocacy, professionalism, faithful service to the citizens of the state of Texas, mentorship of newer appellate attorneys, pro bono service, participation in appellate continuing legal education, and other indicators of excellence in the practice of appellate law in the state of Texas.
Ah yes, the billable hour – a lawyer’s ticket to unlimited wealth, or so we think anyway. If we’re not careful, it’s also a ticket to stress, countless headaches, and often for new lawyers and even experienced ones, total burnout. And the three main perks of billable hours can also be your downfall if you’re not careful.
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Former Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht and TCLE Board Chair Judge Audrey Moorehead. (TCLE photo)
The Texas Center for Legal Ethics reached its 35th anniversary this year, and is celebrating by gifting one hour of free ethics CLE to all Texas attorneys, the organization said in a press release.
The course consists of a one-hour video of a recent interview between the center’s Board Chair, Judge Audrey Moorehead, and former Chief Justice of Texas Nathan L. Hecht.
Chief Justice Hecht retired in December after serving 36 years on the Supreme Court of Texas, the last 12 as chief justice. In the interview, Judge Moorehead talks with him about the journey from his boyhood farm in Clovis, New Mexico to becoming the longest-serving member of the Supreme Court of Texas in history. They discuss a wide range of topics, including how he became a judge, his tenure on the Court, and the importance of legal ethics and professionalism in Texas.
The video is available by clicking this link which will direct users to set up a free account and watch the course, Ethics With A Legend – A Conversation With Former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht.
To learn more about the Texas Center for Legal Ethics, visit legalethicstexas.com.
Supreme Court of Texas Senior Justice Debra Lehrmann will receive the Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award from the Texas Bar Foundation during the foundation’s annual dinner on June 20 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort in San Antonio.
The award recognizes active or retired federal or state judges with “an exceptional reputation for competency, efficiency, and integrity,” according to a press release. It was established in 1995 in honor of Baylor Law School graduate and Brazoria County Bar Association Past President Samuel Pessarra. Continue Reading
In this episode of the State Bar of Texas Podcast, host Rocky Dhir welcomes Dallas attorney Kent C. Krause to discuss the basics of aviation law—many attorneys have limited knowledge of this expansive area of the law—and dig into its evolving issues and changes. Can your neighbor fly his drone into your yard? What’s the difference in legal responsibilities between private aviators and commercial airlines? How is AI impacting flight and flight training? The two also discuss the succession of tragic and unsettling airline incidents in 2025 and examine the laws, safety frameworks, and failures that came into play.
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