As reported in the Texas Tribune,1 veteran households across the nation have seen an increase of predatory advertisements by companies claiming to be “medical consultants” or “benefits coaches.” These unaccredited companies promise to help veterans with disabilities submit their benefits claims to the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) for a fee, but many veterans have reported they were misled into …
The Veterans Legal Assistance Program (VLAP) would like to thank the individuals listed below for their assistance at our Sept. 9, 2023, clinic! ATTORNEYSMelanie IbarraMichael JonesEmily FrancoXiangyun LiNicole MartinezTom MehaffyRebecca O’ConnorKaris Anne ParnhamAnn PriceRonald RomeroJustin RosasRodney RuizBrandon ScottCharles SmaistriaAnn TaylorGeoffrey Van OldenCharmaine BackensNadia BettacEmily CollinsKatherine LickteigSusanna MeringolaJim NolanSue Snyder LAW STUDENTSEmil AnayaKatie CarmichaelLucy ElkinsAnna NewellNichole Zhou PARALEGALSCarli CollinsErin CrumpAmber HaneyJennifer …
Judge Lora Livingston will serve as Texas’ delegate in the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. The House of Delegates is the ABA’s policy-making body responsible for the election of ABA officers and members of the Board of Governors. Livingston was elected the successor of Dallas attorney Kim J. Askew, who was term limited. Livingston is eligible to serve up …
Austin Bar fellow Eric Nichols has been appointed chair of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. Nichols is a partner at Butler Snow LLP, an Austin Bar 100 Club member firm. Nichols has previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas and as deputy attorney general for criminal justice in the Office of the Texas …
District Judges’ and Felony Prosecutors’ Compensation Senate Bill 2310 establishes a third salary tier for certain prosecutors who have been in office more than 12 years. If a state prosecuting attorney or state prosecutor has been in office for more than 12 years, he/she is entitled to receive a salary equal to the salary paid to a district judge with …
Steve Schulwolf is the new chair of the Austin Bar’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. For those unacquainted, his career path might sound familiar: He started off working for Big Law in Chicago. Then, when he moved to Austin in 2019 because his wife got a job here, he decided to transition to ADR. “I’ve always thought about doing it, and …
At the last Austin Bench Bar conference, I presented with U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on the ethical issues of using ChatGPT. This article summarizes some of the ethical issues raised in that discussion, along with some potential solutions that legal service providers are trying to use. ChatGPT is a computer program operated by a company called OpenAI. It uses …
The Austin lawyers below were honored for their 50 years of service to the profession at the State Bar of Texas’s annual meeting. Anita Ashton Karen Johnson Butler Thomas William George David Biggs Kultgen Hon. Jan P. Patterson Judge Bob Perkins Jimmy Altman John C. Augustine Ron Dale Betz Evelyn Hudson Biery William P. Boone Dick Terrell Brown J. Winston …
On June 24, people from across the legal community gathered at the Chateau Bellevue to laugh, connect, and even do a little “gambling.” Fully equipped with poker, blackjack, and roulette, the Austin Bar/Austin Young Lawyers Association’s Leadership Academy hosted a Casino Night and Silent Auction that transformed the downtown Austin venue into a casino on the Vegas Strip. The Austin …
AYLA’s inaugural Trial Institute proved to be a great success. The sold-out event took place on June 30, 2023, in the Ceremonial Courtroom of the new Travis County Civil & Family Courts Facility. AYLA partnered with the American College of Trial Lawyers to host a day of honing trial skills using materials and testimony from the real-life espionage trial of …