Executive Director's Page
Keeping Up With the News
Summer was eventful for the State Bar of Texas, as our board of directors and CLE programs began to resume in-person meetings and we worked to keep Texas lawyers informed of the latest news on the effects of COVID-19 on the legal profession and a federal lawsuit against the bar.
I’m devoting my TBJ column this month to recapping these events, but the best way to receive timely updates from the State Bar of Texas is to receive our emails. The State Bar sends email newsletters on topics including COVID-19 court orders, State Bar governance, member benefits, monthly TBJ articles, and daily legal news headlines. If you’re not receiving these updates, you may have opted out of optional emails from the State Bar.
If you have questions about your email subscriptions, please contact Communications Director Lowell Brown at 512-427-1713 or lowell.brown@texasbar.com and he will make sure you are receiving the updates you want to receive.
COVID-19 Orders and McDonald v. Sorrels
Update
The State Bar updated Texas lawyers via email on July 21 regarding the
Texas Supreme Court’s 39th and 40th COVID-19 emergency orders and the
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit’s panel opinion in the
McDonald v. Sorrels litigation involving the State Bar. The
information is also printed in this issue. The court orders begin on
page 750; the lawsuit update is on page
692.
Board of Directors Meetings
This issue of the TBJ also includes news from the State Bar
Board of Directors meetings on June 16-17 in Austin. See page 690 for a
summary of the board’s actions.
The next scheduled board meeting is at 9 a.m. CDT on September 24 in San Antonio. The agenda and materials will be posted at texasbar.com/bodmaterials. You are welcome to join us in person, or to watch the meeting live on YouTube at youtube.com/statebaroftexas. To sign up to speak during the meeting, please email Amy Starnes at amy.starnes@texasbar.com by 5 p.m. CDT on September 23.
Casemaker Merges with Fastcase
Finally, for many years the State Bar has provided free access to legal
research through both Fastcase and Casemaker as a benefit to all Texas
lawyers. In January, Fastcase and Casemaker announced they were merging
to offer a more comprehensive set of tools and products under one
platform: Fastcase. Access to the Casemaker platform ends September
1.
To help ease your transition to Fastcase, please visit the Fastcase Resource Library (https://bit.ly/fastcase-resource-library) where you can access tutorial videos, register for training webinars, and find answers to your questions.
Sincerely,
TREY APFFEL
Executive Director,
State Bar of Texas
Editor-in-Chief,
Texas Bar Journal
Trey Apffel can be reached at 512-427-1500, trey.apffel@texasbar.com or
@ApffelT on
Twitter.
