State Bar of Texas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 15, 2015
Contact: Amy Starnes
Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas
(800) 204-2222, ext. 1706, or (512) 427-1706
amy.starnes@texasbar.com

AUSTIN — The State Bar of Texas is offering a legal hotline — (800) 504-7030 — to help victims of the Bastrop-area wildfires find answers to basic legal questions and connect with local legal aid providers.

The hotline — answered in English and Spanish — is designed to connect low-income persons affected by the disaster with local legal aid providers who can help with such issues as replacing lost documents, insurance questions, landlord-tenant issues, and consumer protection issues such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process.

Callers can leave a message at any time. People who qualify for assistance will be matched with Texas lawyers who have volunteered to provide free, limited legal help.

A partnership between the State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, local bar associations, and legal services providers throughout Texas is making a range of assistance available.

Additional resources are available at texasbar.com/wildfires and texaslawhelp.org.

The State Bar of Texas reminds the public that solicitation of a potential legal case is a crime unless the lawyer has a family relationship with you or you have been a client of the lawyer in the past or are currently a client. Solicitation of you is also a crime if perpetrated by a non-lawyer employee or representative of the lawyer, unless the previous conditions exist. Please report any prohibited contacts by lawyers or their representatives, whether in person, telephone, or otherwise, to your local law enforcement authority or the State Bar of Texas at (877) 953-5535.

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The State Bar of Texas is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Texas that provides educational programs for the legal profession and the public, administers the minimum continuing legal education program for attorneys, and manages the attorney discipline system. For more information, follow us on Twitter @statebaroftexas, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/statebaroftexas, or visit texasbar.com.