Houston attorney Vinh Ho was named the Houston Bar Association’s new executive director effective May 13, the HBA announced in a press release. Ho has over 16 years of experience in immigration and family law, civil matters, and nonprofit leadership. He will succeed current Executive Director Mindy G. Davidson, who will retire later this year after five years of service to the HBA in that position. “I am thrilled to join the Houston Bar Association,” Ho said in a press release. “I have dedicated my career to public service and look forward to serving Houston lawyers in furtherance of our prof ..read more

The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors held its quarterly meeting on April 19 in Galveston. Highlights of the meeting appear below. Watch video of the meeting on YouTube, and read the agenda and meeting materials at texasbar.com/bodmaterials. Proposed budget and dues increase The board voted to submit the bar’s proposed 2024-2025 fiscal year budget to the Supreme Court of Texas for consideration. Directors also approved a 10% increase in membership dues to be effective for the 2025-2026 bar year. If approved by the Supreme Court, it would be the first increase in bar dues rates since 1991 ..read more

If you’re a lawyer in Texas who handles client money, you need to know and understand Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) rules. While IOLTA accounts aren’t applicable to all lawyers, it’s important to know whether you must use such accounts and how to manage them. What is an IOLTA Account? An Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) is a trust account designed to fund legal aid for people who can’t otherwise afford a lawyer. It also acts as an account where lawyers can responsibly hold client funds. The interest earned on those trust accounts is sent by the financial institution to t ..read more

In a combined election and referendum, Texas attorneys elected Santos Vargas of San Antonio to be president-elect of the State Bar of Texas and approved all 12 proposed disciplinary rule amendments. Vargas received 52.06%—10,925—of the 20,986 votes cast during the monthlong voting period that closed at 5 p.m. CDT today. His opponent, Denise Scofield of Houston, received 47.94%, or 10,061 votes. Vargas will be sworn in as president-elect during a State Bar of Texas Board of Directors meeting on June 20, 2024, and will serve as president of the State Bar of Texas from June 2025 to June 2026. In ..read more

The Texas Access to Justice Commission, along with its co-sponsor, the State Bar of Texas, raised $565,850 to help provide civil legal services to low-income Texas veterans during the Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans on April 25 at the AT&T Hotel & Conference Center in Austin. Proceeds from the gala will be distributed by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. Supreme Court of Texas Justice Brett Busby, who serves as liaison to the TAJC, acted as master of ceremonies for the evening. He emphasized the importance of providing access to justice to veterans and presented the ..read more

The SMU Dedman School of Law team of Matthew Mussalli (3L), Jordon B.V. Smith (3L), and Johanna Pang (2L) won the American Bar Association’s 2024 National Appellate Advocacy Competition held April 7 in Philadelphia. The team, coached by SMU Adjunct Professors Lance Caughfield and Haleigh Jones, a 2015 graduate of SMU Law and former student of Caughfield’s, captured the regional title out of a field of 31 teams in February in Brooklyn, New York, to advance to the championship round. SMU’s second team of Bronwyn Tuff, Alan Cuff, and Rachael Briner also progressed to the final round of the region ..read more

The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, an initiative of the Dallas Bar Association, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and local lawyers, is hosting free virtual and in-person legal clinics for eligible Dallas County residents throughout May. All virtual clinics run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.: DVAP and Hunton Andrews Kurth—Thursday, May 2 Veterans Clinic—DVAP and Bradley Arant Boult Cummings—Friday, May 3 DVAP, Weil Gotshal & Manges, and DLA Piper—Thursday, May 9 DVAP and St. Mary’s University School of Law—Thursday, May 16 DVAP and SMU Dedman School of Law—Thursday, May 23 DVAP, Haynes and Boone ..read more

The State Bar of Texas Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee announced its 2024 Pro Bono Excellence award winners. Retired Judge Lora J. Livingston, of Austin, received the Judge Merrill Hartman Pro Bono Judge Award; Nathaniel Peter Holzer, of Corpus Christi, received the Frank J. Scurlock Award; Lauren Joyner, of Edinburg, received the J. Chrys Dougherty Award; Methodist Justice Ministry, of Fort Worth, received the Pro Bono Award; Sylvia Chavez, of Plainview, received the Pro Bono Coordinator Award; Susan Davis, of Fort Worth, received the Pro Bono Support Staff Award; and Ha ..read more

Volunteer attorneys will be available to answer legal questions on Wednesdays in May through the Dallas Bar Association’s LegalLine E-Clinic. The clinics, which run from 4 to 8 p.m., are free of cost. A volunteer attorney will call a participant for up to 15 minutes of legal advice. No attorney-client relationship will be established. Individuals may receive referrals to local, legal, or social service agencies. Calls from the clinic will remain anonymous. Participants should expect a call from an unknown number labeled “No Caller ID” or something similar. To participate, an online form is ava ..read more

In my previous life as a practicing Estate Planning attorney, I would often joke with clients who brought me revocable trusts to review. My go-to quip was to ask the age and retirement date of their former planner. Whether that got a laugh is debatable, but one thing this is certain. Revocable trusts have become increasingly popular in the last decade, largely due to one statutory phrase…“less restrictive alternatives to guardianship.” Once used primarily for avoiding probate in the Texas Probate Systems, revocable trusts are now used to bypass the need for guardianship of the estate, which ca ..read more