Executive Director’s Page
Looking Back on a Year of Improvements
This month’s Texas Bar Journal highlights major developments
in the law in 2019. We asked a variety of attorneys to recap significant
trends and court decisions from the past year that affected their
practice areas. Their reports are informative for all Texas lawyers, and
we are happy to publish them in our “Year
in Review” starting on page 29.
The past year also brought a number of improvements at the State Bar of
Texas to better serve our members and the public. I’ve summarized some
of them below, but for a more comprehensive look at State Bar
operations, I encourage you to read our 2018-2019 annual report at texasbar.com/annualreport.
Lawyer well-being
Lawyer wellness is a top priority for the State Bar, and we redoubled
our efforts to promote well-being and suicide prevention in 2019. The
Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program, or TLAP, released It’s Good to
Get Help, a video that aims to end the stigma lawyers may face when
seeking help for substance use and other mental health issues. I
encourage you to watch the video at youtube.com/statebaroftexas
and help us share the message. TLAP also produced an excellent free
ethics CLE webcast titled “What Lawyers Need to Know About Depression
and Suicide,” which is available at texasbarcle.com.
Member benefits and services
The State Bar launched or enhanced a number of member benefits and
services. Among other initiatives, the bar:
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added staff to the toll-free Ethics Helpline (800-532-3947) to help ensure members receive prompt answers to questions;
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launched TexasBarCLE’s Flash CLE Silver program to help lawyers 70 and older meet their MCLE requirements at a discounted rate; and
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opened the Texas Opportunity & Justice Incubator (txoji.com) to attorneys across the state via online learning.
We also expanded our member discount program (texasbar.com/benefits)
with new vendors, including MetLife, Credible, Smith.ai, and four new
practice management providers. Four complimentary benefits are now
provided through the Texas Bar Private Insurance Exchange when obtaining
health insurance, and the exchange’s new Health Advocate benefit helps
you with claims and with coordinating care.
Fiscal responsibility
Under the leadership of
President Randy Sorrels and Immediate Past President Joe K. Longley, the
bar has continued its efforts to control spending while increasing its
reserves in line with sound financial practices. Also, as featured in my
October column, the bar shifted to 100% online membership fee payments,
which resulted in cost savings, increased security, and other
efficiencies. The bar’s most recent financial audit opinion remains
unmodified, or “clean,” which is the best opinion available.
Transparency
The State Bar continued its commitment to open government by working
to implement 10 recommendations from an independent transparency review
(texasbar.com/weaverreport).
When federal litigation was filed in March challenging the mandatory bar
structure in Texas, we created a webpage (texasbar.com/mcdonaldvsorrels)
to keep our members and the public up to date on the case. Also, in June
the State Bar launched an online portal to hundreds of archived
documents and photos, making 80 years of bar history easily available to
all. Go to texasbar.com/digitalarchives to browse these
records.
More to come
We’re also working hard on initiatives you’ll hear more about in 2020.
A board work group on succession planning is developing recommendations
for programs to help attorneys protect their businesses, families, and
clients in the event of their death or inability to practice law.
Also, the State Bar Committee on Disciplinary Rules and Referenda
continues to consider potential rule changes that could proceed to a
vote by members in 2020. You can review the committee’s work and provide
comments at texasbar.com/CDRR.
I look forward to updating you on these and other State Bar initiatives
throughout the new year.
Sincerely,
Trey Apffel
Executive Director, State Bar of Texas
Editor-in-Chief, Texas Bar Journal
(512) 427-1500
@ApffelT on Twitter
GOVERNANCE INFORMATION
The
State Bar of Texas Board of Directors will hold its quarterly meeting at
9 a.m. CST January 24, 2020, at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston, 1300
Lamar St. All are welcome to attend. The agenda and background materials
will be available at texasbar.com/board
at least seven days before the meeting.
Have a question
for Trey? Email it to trey.apffel@texasbar.com and
he may answer it in a future column.
