Executive Director’s Page
November Potluck: Continued Cost-Savings, Books in Courthouses, Bar Honors
As we head into November, and ultimately the holiday season, I want to update you about some State Bar happenings, changes, and a wonderful new program from the Texas Young Lawyers Association.
Dues Payment Process Changes
In continued efforts to reduce State Bar operating expenses, the bar
will require all membership dues and fees for 2019-2020 to be paid
online through the State Bar website.
A majority of our members already pays dues online. By implementing a
100 percent online dues collection process, we estimate that the bar
will save approximately $100,000 in printing and postage costs related
to producing paper dues statements in fiscal year 2019-2020.
Members will be able to pay dues and fees online on their My Bar Page at
texasbar.com using a credit card.
Checks will no longer be accepted. Law firms using the State Bar’s “Firm
Billing Process” may continue to use this process to pay for multiple
dues payments.
Bookshelves in
Courtrooms
The Texas Young Lawyers Association has taken on a fantastic new
project to promote literacy and at the same time ease what may be
difficult days for children in courtrooms across Texas.
The new program Bookshelves in Courtrooms has already
installed bookshelves full of donated books in courthouses in Fort Bend,
Dallas, and Collin counties, with plans for expansion into Smith, Tom
Green, Menard, Anderson, Austin, Bexar, Howard, El Paso, and Harris
counties.
TYLA President Sally Pretorius, who notes she once had an unpleasant
childhood experience in a Texas courthouse, said Bookshelves in
Courtrooms was inspired by a similar project started in 2016 by
Judge Karin Crump, of the 250th District Court in Austin.
TYLA District Director Kaylan Dunn spoke to Eric Quitugua, assistant
editor of the Texas Bar Journal, for an article about the new
program on the Texas Bar Blog. In it, Dunn said, “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 TYLA and its local affiliates are reaching out to judges who
may be interested in supporting Bookshelves in Courtrooms.
“If you see a bookshelf in your local courthouse, please feel free to
add books or donate them to the court to add when needed,” Dunn
said.
New or gently used books can be mailed to the TYLA office, 1414 Colorado
St., 4th Fl., Austin 78701. TYLA also has an Amazon wish list of books
that can be purchased and donated. For more information on the program
or introducing/expanding it in your area, contact Dunn at kaylandunn@huntonak.com.
Awards
The State Bar of Texas and its programs recently received three
prestigious awards.
First, the State Bar was awarded a 2018 Harrison Tweed Award at the
American Bar Association Annual Meeting in August. The award recognizes
bar associations for extraordinary efforts to improve the availability
of civil legal services or indigent defense services to people living in
poverty. The bar was honored for the sum of its legal services efforts,
including disaster response efforts after Hurricane Harvey made landfall
in August 2017, several pro bono assistance programs, and the creation
of the Texas Opportunity & Justice Incubator under the leadership of
Past President Frank Stevenson.
Second, TexasBarCLE received an Outstanding Achievement award in the
Best Programming category from the Association for Continuing Legal
Education, or ACLEA. TexasBarCLE was honored for its “CLE Fifteen” and
“Best of” online classes. ACLEA members are professionals in the fields
of continuing legal education and legal publishing. You can check out
the “CLE Fifteen” and “Best of” online offerings at TexasBarCLE.com.
Finally, the Texas Bar Journal Board of Editors received a 2018
Luminary Award from the National Association of Bar Executives
Communications Section for excellence in authored articles for
“Surviving the War Within” (November 2017), a story about veterans
living with post-traumatic stress written by editorial board member and
TYLA President-elect Victor A. Flores.
The State Bar of Texas continues to be a national leader in pro bono,
continuing legal education, and legal publications. Congratulations to
all of those whose efforts contributed to these award-winning
programs.
Sincerely,
Trey Apffel
Executive Director, State Bar of Texas
Editor-in-Chief, Texas Bar Journal
(512) 427-1500
@ApffelT on Twitter
Have a question for Trey? Email it to trey.apffel@texasbar.com and he may answer it in a future column.
