Limited time to read the October issue of the Texas Bar Journal? Our editorial staff’s picks have you covered. Check out our must-reads for in-depth articles exploring cybersecurity, data privacy issues, and more. And don’t forget to catch up on the latest Movers and Shakers, Memorials, and Disciplinary Actions.
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The State Bar of Texas’ Membership Department was informed in September of the deaths of these members. We join the officers and directors of the State Bar in expressing our deepest sympathy.
The Galveston County Bar Association and the Houston Bar Foundation’s Veterans Legal Initiative are sponsoring a free legal clinic for veterans on Saturday, October 6, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Veterans and spouses of deceased attorneys can receive one-on-one advice and counsel from volunteer attorneys in family law, wills and probate, consumer law, real estate and tax law, and disability and veterans benefits.
Joe K. Longley
Editor’s note: State Bar of Texas President Joe K. Longley sent the following message to members on Friday.
Dear Member,
The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors and its Executive Committee held meetings today in Austin. I’m writing to update you on some of the major developments from the meetings.
Committee Review Subcommittee Formed
Much of the State Bar’s work is done by volunteers on 30 standing committees, and there is a safeguard in place to make sure those committees remain effective. At least every other year, the Executive Committee is required by statute to review the existing standing and special committees of the State Bar. The last review was done in April 2017.
This year, I will chair the seven-member Committee Review Subcommittee of the Executive Committee. Over the next three months, the subcommittee will assess whether there is a continued need for each committee, whether the committees are fulfilling their purposes, and whether any of their activities overlap. Continue Reading
In F.F.P. Operating Partners v. Duenez, 237 S.W.3d 680, 686 (Tex. 2007), the Texas Supreme Court stated that negligent entrustment is a form of vicarious liability. The basis for imposing liability on the owner of the object entrusted to another is that ownership of the object gives the right of control over its use (Id.). But perhaps the court applied this concept too broadly. Perhaps ownership of the object and control of the person using the object are two different concepts. Most Texas cases do not address this distinction because they have construed negligent entrustment in the context of the employer-employee relationship where vicarious liability is otherwise present through respondeat superior [See TXI Transp. Co. v. Hughes, 306 S.W.3d 230 (Tex. 2010); Schneider v. Esperanza Transmission Co., 744 S.W.2d 595 (Tex. 1987); but see, Dao v. Garcia, 486 S.W.3d 618, 629 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2016, pet. denied)(friend liable for driver’s negligent driving where the driver had taken the friend’s keys without her knowledge); Williams v. Steves Industries, 699 S.W.2d 570, 571 (Tex. 1985); Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. v. Mayes, 236 S.W.3d 754, 758 (Tex. 2007); and McGuire v. Wright,140 F.3d 1038, 1998 WL 156342 at *2 (5th Cir. 1998) (unpublished)].
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The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors voted unanimously September 28 to approve Jeanne Cezanne “Cezy” Collins of El Paso and Larry P. McDougal Sr. of Richmond as candidates for 2019-2020 president-elect.
Collins and McDougal will appear on the ballot in April 2019 along with any certified petition candidates. There are currently no additional president-elect candidates, although members have until March 1 to run as a petition candidate by submitting a petition signed by at least 5 percent of the State Bar membership.
Austin Attorney Shannon H. Ratliff (center), receives a resolution honoring him from from Kyle Longley, director of the LBJ Presidential Library (left), and State Bar of Texas President Joe K. Longley (right).
The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors on Friday presented attorney Shannon H. Ratliff with a resolution honoring him for his service to the bar and the people of Texas and the United States and his overall commitment to the legal profession.
Ratliff is a shareholder in Davis, Gerald and Cremer in Austin. He has been a trial and appellate lawyer for more than 50 years.
Early in his career, Ratliff clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark and served as an assistant to Lyndon Baines Johnson in Johnson’s roles as U.S. Senate majority leader, vice president, and president.
Ratliff, a leading authority on oil and gas legal matters, has served as the lead trial lawyer in numerous complex lawsuits for Fortune 50, 100, and 500 companies in a variety of statewide and nationwide litigation.
He was appointed and served as a member of the University of Texas System Board of Regents from 1985 to 1991. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and the Austin Bar Foundation and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and American Board of Trial Advocates.
A new Texas Young Lawyers Association project plans to put more books in children’s hands. Bookshelves in Courtrooms is promoting literacy by stocking shelves in courthouses across Texas with books for children of all ages. The program, TYLA Board Director Kaylan Dunn hopes, will help kids who may be going through a tough time.
“The project’s goal is to facilitate the availability of books in areas frequented by children in courthouses across the state of Texas to promote literacy, provide meaningful activity during a potential time of stress, and allow continued access to books even after a child’s visit has concluded,” Dunn said.
In today’s digital workplace, organizations are deciding to outsource services to the Cloud. Cloud computing is transforming IT, there are significant benefits to this which can introduce real cost savings and an abundance of flexibility to businesses.
When choosing to move to the Cloud, IT services, data, and infrastructure are transferred to a Cloud Provider. Essentially, the IT systems are moved to a secured data center somewhere in the world and clients just need a computer and internet connectivity.
Data is a valuable asset and must be protected, it is critical to understand your Cloud Security compliance as we are constantly reminded of Malware/Virus outbreaks, Ransomware attacks, Data misuse scandals and privacy breaches.
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From left: State Bar of Texas President Joe K. Longley; Jason Wheeler of WFAA-TV; Eleanor Dearman of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times; Anita Hassan, formerly of the Houston Chronicle; Jessica Savage and Veronica Flores of KRIS-TV, and Rudy England, chair of the SBOT Public Affairs Committee.
State Bar of Texas President Joe K. Longley and SBOT Public Affairs Committee Chair Rudy England welcomed journalists from around the state as winners of Texas Gavel Awards.
The Texas Gavel Awards recognize excellence in journalism that fosters public understanding of the legal system; educates the public about the rule of law, the legal profession, and the judicial branch of government; and discloses practices or procedures needing correction to improve the justice system.
Winners included Anita Hassan, formerly of the Houston Chronicle and now a member of an investigative team at the Las Vegas Review-Journal; Eleanor Dearman of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times; Krista M. Torralva, formerly of the Caller-Times and now a member of the San Antonio Express-News reporting staff; Jason Wheeler and Tanya Eiserer, both of WFAA; and Jessica Savage, Veronica Flores, Cameron Gorman, and Michael Salazar of KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi.
