Work-life balance is often pegged as the reason women leave traditional law firms. But for the growing number of women establishing their own firms, their departure is often rooted more deeply in gender inequality in the profession than in raising children or having more free time. “If women were feeling valued, were getting properly rewarded …
Brace Yourselves, PACER-Like Systems Are Coming This Winter
By the end of the year, the Lone Star State will have a PACER-like court records system. The Texas Supreme Court took the next step in expanding re:SearchTX, which grants access to state court records electronically filed anywhere in Texas, so that lawyers can download documents in any case—and so can the general public—at a …
Federal Judge: Prosecutor ‘Absurd’ for Using Deportation As Reason for Denying Bond in Criminal Case
A federal judge has called a U.S. prosecutor’s argument absurd and a problem of the government’s own making in a recent ruling that highlights the clash between criminal court processes and the nation’s increasingly controversial immigration policies. Magistrate Judge Andrew Austin of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in Austin was …
Productivity and Performance: Allison Levy Helps Ensure AdvoCare Plays By the Rules
An exciting aspect of being general counsel of AdvoCare International Inc. is that Allison Levy occasionally meets celebrity athletes like New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and NASCAR champion Richard Petty. Meeting athletes who endorse AdvoCare is a nice reward for Levy, who shoulders a big load as the company’s sole lawyer. The Plano-based company …
Texas Immigration Law Professors Take Action to Help Reunite Families Seeking Asylum
Law students were on summer break when outrage erupted nationwide over the Trump administration’s practice of separating immigrant parents and children who crossed the country’s southern border. But summer didn’t stop Texas immigration law professors from taking action, and in the coming school year, they’re planning opportunities for law students in their schools’ immigration clinics …
Michele Mirto: Stepping up A2J while cutting cost
As executive director of Step Up to Justice, a Tucson, Arizona-based privately funded legal aid nonprofit, Michele Mirto wields a shoestring budget and just three staff members armed with legal technology. They lead an army of volunteer lawyers in resolving low-income clients’ civil matters—mostly family law but also guardianship, consumer law, bankruptcy, and wills and probate. …
‘Extreme Part-Time’ Lawyer-Moms Flock to Freelance Firms
After having her second child, Southern California litigator Erin Giglia worked part-time for law firm Snell & Wilmer, but fellow associate Laurie Rowen had different plans for work when her baby girl was born 16 days after Giglia’s daughter. Rowen always knew she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, while continuing to do legal work …
Boost Your Practice by Improving Your Wellness: New ABA Book
It’s a well-known fact that lawyers suffer at high numbers from mental health and substance abuse problems, and a new book on lawyer wellness drives home a point that might motivate many attorneys to take action. When wellness permeates an attorney’s life, there’s a positive impact on his law practice, clients, judges and juries, said …
Legal services innovator moves on to app development
It’s too easy for attorneys to be aware that something isn’t perfect in their practices and accept the situation instead of pushing back. So says longtime legal innovator Nicole Bradick. “What it’s all about is identifying something not working as well as it should be and thinking of possible solutions,” says Bradick, who in January …
Houston Law Grads Discuss Juggling Classes While Raising Families
Houston law graduates Ieshia Champs and Shartory Brown have inspired many people with their stories surviving childhood homelessness and teenage pregnancy and then succeeding in law school while raising multiple kids. Texas Lawyer spoke with Brown and emailed Champs for advice for other law students about juggling a strict schedule, coping with overwhelming demands, and …



