Executive Director’s Page
Ethics Resources Abound for Texas Lawyers
Lawyers are entrusted to preserve and improve the administration of
justice. To me, that means we must carry ourselves with integrity and
maintain the highest degree of ethical and professional conduct.
The stakes in an ethical lapse are much larger than simply offending a
colleague or opposing counsel—much larger than even rebuke or sanction.
Ethical and moral failures carry with them potential loss of respect and
reputation not only for the lawyer but also for the profession as a
whole.
What’s more, since 2015 all new Texas attorneys have taken a revised
oath that includes a pledge to “conduct myself with integrity and
civility in dealing and communicating with the court and all
parties.”
To this end, the State Bar of Texas has created a number of resources to
assist lawyers with ethical dilemmas or concerns. You may be familiar
with one or two, but probably not all. I want to take this opportunity
to highlight some of these resources.
Ethics Helpline
The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel operates the toll-free Ethics
Helpline: (800) 532-3947. Attorneys are encouraged to leave messages
that are answered by two staff ethics attorneys between 8 a.m. and 5
p.m. Monday through Friday. In a Herculean effort, those two attorneys
responded to more than 6,000 calls for assistance during the 2017-2018
bar year.
While the office is unable to issue written opinions, provide legal
advice regarding ethical questions, or address questions concerning
pending grievances, the attorneys do provide helpline callers with
guidance on the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct,
pointing to ethics opinions and pertinent caselaw that can help callers
make informed decisions.
Ethics Question of
the Month
In September, the Texas Bar Journal, in partnership with the
Texas Center for Legal Ethics, began publishing an informative Ethics
Question of the Month for readers to ponder. The feature is designed to
educate Texas lawyers about the Disciplinary Rules of Professional
Conduct, Texas ethics opinions, and other sources of ethical guidance.
See this month’s question on Page 680. The answer is published with the
question, and the full reasoning behind each month’s answer can be found
on the TCLE website, legalethicstexas.com.
texasbar.com/ethics
Many ethics resources, including the Disciplinary Rules of
Professional Conduct and the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, can
be found online at texasbar.com/ethics.
The page also has dozens of resources and links to commissions,
committees, and nonprofits that concern themselves with promoting ethics
within the practice of law.
Free ethics
articles in the TexasBarCLE Online Library
You may know that you can purchase access to more than 25,000 seminar
articles through the TexasBarCLE Online Library at texasbarcle.com. You
may not know that all State Bar members have free access to more than
2,100 ethics-related articles through the Online Library. Also, the
Texas Young Lawyers Association’s Ten Minute Mentor series
features videos on ethics and professionalism at tenminutementor.com.
Ethics speaker directory
To assist local bars and help promote ethics education, the State Bar
of Texas Professionalism Committee created a directory of ethics
professionals who are available to speak at CLE events throughout the
state. The directory and other professionalism resources can be found at
texasbar.com/professionalism.
Texas Lawyer’s Creed
Finally, the Texas Bar Foundation and the State Bar
Professionalism Committee provide free copies of the Texas Lawyer’s
Creed in the form of a brochure or a poster suitable for framing. The
Texas Supreme Court and Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approved the
creed in 1989 in an effort to eliminate abusive tactics within the
practice of law and promote respect and confidence in the profession. To
receive brochures or a poster, email your address to professionalism@texasbar.com
and bar staff will happily fill your request.
I found many of these ethics resources tremendously helpful in my
practice as a Galveston County trial lawyer, and I hope you do as well.
Your State Bar is committed to fostering high standards of ethical
conduct and providing useful services to our members. If you have ideas
for additional resources, please let me know.
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.
