Executive Director's Page May 2023

Texas Bar Practice Offers Free Access to Digital Publications to Law Students and Educators

One of our priorities at the State Bar of Texas is to support the next generation of lawyers by enhancing law students’ participation in the administration of justice, professional responsibility, and public service.

In that spirit, I’m pleased to report that Texas law students and educators can now gain free access to digital publications and online subscriptions from the State Bar.

By creating an account on the bar’s Texas Bar Practice website at texasbarpractice.com, students and educators of approved law schools will have free access to all digital book downloads and online subscriptions for educational purposes.

To gain free access to State Bar publications, students can simply create a “Law Student” Texas Bar Practice account using their university email address from a list of approved Texas law schools. This is the only available method for law students and faculty to make use of this free service.

The following law schools are currently approved:

• Baylor Law School

• South Texas College of Law Houston

• SMU Dedman School of Law

• St. Mary’s University School of Law

• Texas A&M University School of Law

• Texas Tech University School of Law

• Thurgood Marshall School of Law

• University of Houston Law Center

• University of Texas School of Law

• UNT Dallas College of Law

If your university is not listed above, you can contact us to ask about getting your school approved.

For a step-by-step guide on how to set up your law student account, watch our instructional video at youtube.com/watch?v=JHFwVH2FmQc. Upon signing up, law students and professors can access all of our digital books and online subscriptions at no cost.

State Bar publications are written by committees of Texas lawyers who are experts in their fields and span many areas of law. Our practice manuals include practice notes, forms, and chapters aligned with case and statute links to Fastcase. Similarly, the Texas Criminal and Civil Pattern Jury Charges provide the definitions, instructions, and questions required to submit jury charges.

For more information on Texas Bar Practice resources, please email salesdesk@texasbar.com or call 512-427-1411.

Other law student resources
This new benefit builds on the State Bar’s longstanding commitment to law students. For many years, the State Bar of Texas Law Student Division (texasbar.com/lawstudentdivision) has provided free continuing legal education, a subscription to the Texas Bar Journal, membership in select State Bar sections, and access to health insurance, scholarships, and other benefits—all for a $15 annual fee (Texas Tech provides its 1L students the membership for free). The Law Student Division also offers $1,000 scholarships to four different members each year.

The State Bar also offers After the Bar Exam (afterthebarexam.com), a free resource for people who have taken the bar exam and are awaiting the results. The program features how-to videos from experienced attorneys on topics including establishing your career, managing your practice, and maintaining ethics and professionalism as a lawyer. Once they are licensed, participants in After the Bar Exam can claim CLE credit for the qualifying videos that they watched through the program.

Finally, law students have access to scholarship opportunities and other benefits through the Texas Young Lawyers Association, the bar’s public service arm.

I hope all Texas law students take advantage of these resources. Supporting future lawyers is critical to the State Bar’s mission of regulating the legal profession and improving the quality of legal services available to our fellow Texans.

Sincerely,
TREY APFFEL
Executive Director, State Bar of Texas
Editor in Chief, Texas Bar Journal