News From Around the Bar • February 2026

Dallas Bar Association Elects 2026 Officers

Above: 2026 Dallas Bar Association President Jonathan Childers. Photo courtesy of the Dallas Bar Association.

The Dallas Bar Association elected its slate of 2026 officers during its Annual Meeting on November 6 in Dallas. Sarah Rogers, of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, was elected president-elect and will serve as the DBA’s 118th president in 2027; Stephanie Gause Culpepper, of Lument, was elected first vice president; Jennifer King, of Kershaw Anderson King, was elected second vice president; Cortney Parker, of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, was elected secretary/treasurer; current President Vicki Blanton, of AT&T, will serve as immediate past president; and Jonathan Childers, of Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, will serve as DBA president in 2026. For more information about the DBA, go to dallasbar.org

Waco Attorneys Receive 2025 Advocate of the Year Awards

The Baylor Law School Veterans Clinic honored Waco attorneys Evan Simpson and Tyler Sims with the 2025 Advocate of the Year awards during a ceremony at the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association luncheon on November 7. The award recognizes dedicated lawyers who serve Central Texas veterans and their families with free legal services through the clinic each year. In 2018, the Baylor Law Veterans Clinic established a partnership with the local bankruptcy bar association, where individual attorneys agreed to take on cases for local veterans on a pro bono basis. Simpson and Sims both primarily practice bankruptcy law. They have handled multiple Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases for veterans on a pro bono basis through the clinic. They have taken on cases for veterans in financial crisis, diligently working to obtain debt discharges in bankruptcy for numerous veterans. Since its founding in 2012 by professor Bridget Fuselier, the Baylor Law Veterans Clinic has served over 2,600 veteran households in Central Texas and has drafted more than 590 wills since 2016, under the guidance of professor Tom Featherston, according to a press release. For more information about the clinic, go to Baylor Law Veterans Clinic or email LegalClinics@baylor.edu.

Nominations Sought for Pro Bono Awards

The State Bar of Texas Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee and the State Bar of Texas Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters Committee are seeking nominations for their annual awards. The Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee Pro Bono Excellence Awards include the Frank J. Scurlock Award, the J. Chrys Dougherty Legal Services Award, the Judge Merrill Hartman Pro Bono Judge Award, the Pro Bono Award, the Pro Bono Coordinator Award, the W. Frank Newton Award, and the Pro Bono Support Staff Award. The Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters Committee Indigent Defense Awards include the Warren Burnett Award, the Michael K. Moore Award for Excellence in Research or Writing in the Area of Indigent Criminal Defense, and the Jeff Blackburn Award. Nominations are due by 5 p.m. February 20, and recipients will be notified in May. Attorney nominees must be in good standing with the State Bar. Award nomination forms are available at texasbar. com/probonoawards. For more information about these awards, contact the Legal Access Department at 512-427-1855 or by email at probono@texasbar.com.

Fifth Circuit Adopts Rule Changes

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit adopted an amendment to its rules in December. The approved amendment is as follows:

FIFTH CIRCUIT RULE 25.2.1
Electronic Filing. All cases will be assigned to the court’s electronic filing system. Counsel must register as Filing Users under Rule 25.2.3 and comply with the court’s electronic filing standards, posted separately on the court’s website, www.ca5.uscourts.gov, unless excused for good cause. Non-incarcerated pro se litigants may request the clerk’s permission to register as a Filing User, in civil cases only, under such conditions as the clerk may authorize. Filing Users must submit all briefs, motions, and petitions for rehearing in PDF text (not scanned), format and only when directed by the clerk, in paper format. Whenever possible, other documents, e.g., record excerpts, etc., should be submitted in PDF text format, and only when directed by the clerk, in paper format. All paper filings must be identical to the electronic file(s).

The court received no comments on the proposed amendment, and the amended rule went into effect on December 1, 2025.

Additionally, the court adopted the following changes to local rules to conform with the December 1, 2025, changes to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure:

FIFTH CIRCUIT RULE 39 COSTS
Taxable Rates. The cost of reproducing necessary copies of the briefs, appendices, or record excerpts shall be taxed at a rate of actual cost, or $0.40 per cover, and $.20, whichever is less, including cover, index, and internal pages, for any form of reproduction costs. The cost of the binding required by 5TH CIR. R. 32.2.3 that mandates that briefs must lie reasonably flat when open shall be a taxable cost but not limited to the foregoing rate. This rate is intended to approximate the current cost of the most economical acceptable method of reproduction generally available; and the clerk will, at reasonable intervals, examine and review it to reflect current rates. Taxable costs will be authorized for up to 15 copies for a brief and 10 copies of an appendix or record excerpts, unless the clerk gives advance approval for additional copies.

39.2 Nonrecovery of Mailing and Commercial Delivery Service Costs. Mailing and commercial delivery fees incurred in transmitting briefs are not recoverable as taxable costs.

39.3 Time for Filing Bills of Costs. The clerk must receive bills of costs and any objections within the times set forth in FED. R. APP.

P. 39 (e)(3)(d). See 5TH CIR. R. 26.1.

The amended rule is effective December 1, 2025.