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
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation, or TAJF, received a $20 million Housing Stability Services Program grant package from the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs for COVID-19-related housing legal services. The grant will allow legal aid organizations throughout Texas to provide free civil legal services to eligible households experiencing housing insecurity. Services include … Continue Reading
The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday issued its 38th Emergency Order of the COVID-19 pandemic. In it, the court permits the modification or suspension of court deadlines and procedures through August 1, 2021. The order permits all courts to hold in-person proceedings, including jury trials, after the adoption of health and safety standards, but encourages … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Executive Committee will meet at 10 a.m. CDT April 6. All State Bar members and the public may watch the meeting on the State Bar of Texas YouTube channel. Among items on the agenda are: 4d. Action: Consider and discuss approval of the creation of an Advertising Review Task Force 4e. … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The Texas Supreme Court issued the following advisory on March 5. In the 36th emergency order issued Friday responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas Supreme Court has removed requirements that all but certain proceedings be remote but encourages remote trials and hearings and gives local presiding judges authority to require masks for participants and … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, February 12. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Order The Texas Supreme … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on February 5, 2021. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Order The Supreme Court … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, January 15. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Order and OCA Guidance … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The following message was sent to all members on January 5. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar of Texas information. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Orders The Texas Supreme Court … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The Texas Supreme Court issued the following advisory on December 22. In an emergency order posted Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court has extended deadlines for procedures for tenants and landlords under a statewide housing-assistance program intended to avoid evictions for tenants behind on rent. The Texas Eviction Diversion Program, announced in October, is … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: State Bar of Texas Executive Director Trey Apffel sent the following message to members on December 18. I hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. I am writing to share information related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to remind you about the upcoming public forums on the 2021 … Continue Reading
The Greater Waco Chamber will host a Workforce Resource Summit virtually at 8:30 a.m. December 4. The half-day conference is designed for company leaders, managers, and human resources professionals to deliver information and conversations to help with understanding current workforce issues and how to best overcome challenges and look to the future. Bryan Daniel, chairman … Continue Reading
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
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to all members on Friday, November 13 regarding Supreme Court emergency orders and other items related to the pandemic. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas … Continue Reading
The State Bar of Texas Public Affairs Committee virtually presented the 2020 Texas Gavel Awards on Tuesday. Due to the pandemic, the awards were presented as part of an online ceremony with the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas annual awards. The Texas Gavel Awards awards recognize excellence in journalism that fosters public understanding of … Continue Reading
The Texas Opportunity & Justice Incubator (TOJI) has a new director and is building on its successes as it prepares to accept its sixth cohort of attorneys. Joshua Weaver, an attorney and entrepreneur, took the helm of the State Bar of Texas program, which expands access to justice opportunities by helping Texas lawyers build sustainable … Continue Reading
Texans struggling to pay rent and facing possible eviction can turn to a new website — Stop TX Eviction — to find a step-by-step tool kit designed to help them understand the eviction process and their rights. The website, stoptxeviction.org, is available in English and Spanish. There, renters can: Obtain important documents to give a landlord … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and other State Bar updates was sent to all members on September 18. Dear Member, This message includes updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other State Bar updates. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: State Bar President Larry McDougal sent the following message to all members on Thursday. Dear Member, The COVID-19 pandemic has touched every part of our lives, affecting our families, our mental and physical well-being, and our economy. Millions of Texans have lost their jobs or had their incomes impacted by the economic fallout. … Continue Reading
Editor’s Note: The Office of Court Administration issued the following news release on August 31. The Office of Court Administration (OCA) released its report on Jury Trials During the COVID-19 Pandemic today as required by the Supreme Court of Texas’ Twenty-Second Emergency Order Regarding the COVID-19 State of Disaster. The report contains observations from the … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to State Bar of Texas members on August 7. COVID-19 has severely impacted the State of Texas and the administration of the judicial system. Many lawyers are struggling in the economic climate created by the pandemic. Under Article III of the State Bar Rules, Texas lawyers who do … Continue Reading
Editor’s note: The following message was sent to State Bar of Texas members on July 31. We are writing to share updated information related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as recent State Bar news. We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. Supreme Court of Texas Emergency Orders The … Continue Reading
Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan urged the public to remain vigilant for COVID-19 scams that are targeted through emails, texts, phone calls, and in one case, in person. In the recent in-person scam, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said men claiming to be Houston Public Works employees gained access to a couple’s home by alleging water … Continue Reading
In a world where COVID-19 has forced people to rethink how they’ll thrive, bar associations are probably not on the minds of attorneys who are currently navigating a new arena built on a bedrock of plexiglass benches, Zoom, and social distancing. But in this pandemic, it’s OK to put some things on the backburner, said … Continue Reading
