STATE BAR BOARD UPDATE JUNE 2022
Board Elects New Chair,
Advances Proposed Budget
Written by Lowell Brown
ABOVE FROM LEFT: Chair Santos Vargas (left) with Chair-elect Chad
Baruch; Amy Turner receiving a Staff Excellence Award from Executive
Director Trey Apffel.
Photos by Geoffrey Hinkson
The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting on
April 29 in El Paso. Highlights of the meeting appear below. You can
watch video of the meeting and read the agenda and meeting materials at
texasbar.com/board.
New board chair-elect
The board elected Dallas district director Chad Baruch chair of the
board for the 2022-2023 bar year. Baruch, managing shareholder in
Johnston Tobey Baruch, previously served on the board from 2007 to 2010
and was one of two nominated candidates for president-elect in 2017.
New at-large directors
The board approved President Sylvia Borunda Firth’s appointment of
Elizabeth Sandoval Cantu, of Edinburg, and Modinat “Abby” Kotun, of
Houston, as at-large directors. Cantu and Kotun will serve three-year
terms beginning in June.
State Bar of Texas budget
The board voted to submit the proposed 2022-2023 fiscal year budget to
the Texas Supreme Court for consideration. The proposed budget is
available at texasbar.com/budget.
Proposed Texas Lawyer’s Creed and rule changes
The board approved the submission of proposed revisions to the Texas
Lawyer’s Creed to the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeals for
consideration. The proposed revisions can be viewed at texasbar.com/creed.
The board also approved referring to the Supreme Court recommendations
from the Court Rules Committee regarding Texas Rule of Civil Procedure
193.7 and Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 39.7.
Task force updates
President-elect Laura Gibson provided an update on the Redistricting
Task Force, saying the task force recommended no changes to the bar
districts this year. The Building Planning Special Committee continues
to study possible uses for the bar’s property at 1415 Lavaca St. in
Austin, committee chair Jerry Alexander said. Also, Houston district
director Diane St. Yves-Brewer updated the board on the Discipline &
Client-Attorney Assistance Program Committee’s review of the report of
the Task Force on Public Protection, Grievance Review, and the Client
Security Fund.
Committee appointments
The board approved appointments to the bar’s standing committees for
2022-2023.
Recognitions
The board adopted resolutions honoring Judge M. Sue Kurita and El Paso
immigration attorney Linda Y. Rivas for exceptional service. Executive
Director Trey Apffel presented Staff Excellence Awards to Eric Quitugua,
associate editor of the Texas Bar Journal, and Amy Turner,
human resources director.
Looking ahead
The next scheduled board meetings will take place June 8-9 in Houston.
Comments can be emailed to boardofdirectors@texasbar.com.
To find your district directors, go to texasbar.com/board
and click on “Board Members.”TBJ
