Pummeled by Hurricane Harvey, federal and state courts along the Texas Gulf Coast have closed their doors and suspended all operations, grinding to a near halt one of the busiest jurisdictions in the country. … Link. PDF: Houston-area Courts Crippled by Hurricane Harvey _ Law
Category: News
Austin Solo’s License in Jeopardy After Pleading Guilty to Heroin Possession
The Commission for Lawyer Discipline is seeking to take the law license of an Austin solo practitioner who was indicted in a murder-for-hire plot, but instead received deferred adjudication for possessing and intending to deal heroin. In a petition for compulsory discipline, the commission noted that James N. Walker was indicted in Travis County on …
Some Law Schools Take the Lead in Students’ Well-Being, Report Finds
Published in The National Law Journal on Aug. 17, 2017. Many law schools across the country run programs to help stressed out or depressed students, some of whom struggle with alcohol or drug problems. There’s more work to do. The National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being said in a report released earlier this week that law schools …
Disciplinary Suit Filed Against Lawyer for Filing Frivolous Legal Mal Case
Mark Womack, a Houston solo practitioner who beat back a legal malpractice case after eight years of litigation, said he’s gratified that the State Bar of Texas filed a disciplinary lawsuit against the lawyer who represented the plaintiff who sued him. The Commission for Lawyer Discipline sued Houston solo practitioner Armando Lopez in Harris County …
$30M in Bitcoin Ordered Returned in Cryptocurrency Class Action
A federal judge has ordered the return of 11,000 bitcoins worth about $30 million in a decision considered the first of its kind. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida stems from a class action in which plaintiffs alleged that the defendant had …
ABA Fines, Publicly Censures Law School
Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law was publicly censured and must pay $15,000 for not complying with an American Bar Association standard that prohibits schools from discriminating against faculty members. In the public censure, the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar also found Thurgood Marshall Law violated an ABA …
Accreditation Decision Reached for UNT Law
There are now 10 accredited law schools in Texas. UNT Dallas College of Law has won provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, said UNT Law Dean Royal Furgeson. Students will be overjoyed at the good news because graduating from an accredited law school opens up …
Former Judge Kevin Fine Resigns Law License As Part of Plea Deal in Drug Case
In a public fall from grace, former district judge Kevin Fine has resigned his law license in an attorney discipline case as one condition of a plea deal in a felony drug case. But he’s still facing a second drug charge and he’s incarcerated in Kerr County as it winds its way through the court …
Client Sues Divorce Lawyer Alleging Job Negotiations With Firm Representing Wife Was Conflict
A client alleges that he accepted his divorce lawyer’s self-serving advice and took a low-ball settlement in his divorce, not knowing that the lawyer was secretly negotiating a lucrative job offer with the law firm that represented the wife. But the lawyer, James “Jake” Gilbreath, and other defendants have denied everything. Dennis Wayne Brand alleged …
First Participants in the State Bar Legal Incubator Program Help to Close the Justice Gap
It’s the first day of the rest of the lives of 10 lucky lawyers who are the first group of participants in the State Bar of Texas’s new legal incubator. The participants in the Texas Opportunity and Justice Incubator, which opened this month, have emerged from an intense three-week boot camp that turbocharged the launches …