Thank You to Our Volunteers!

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 …

Lora Livingston Elected Texas ABA Delegate

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 Member Appointed Chair of TDCJ Board

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 …

New Laws of Interest

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 …

Teaching Law in a Former Communist State

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 …

Ethical Issues Raised by Lawyers’ Use of ChatGPT

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 …

Congratulations to Austin’s 50-Year Lawyers!

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 …

First AYLA Trial Institute a Success

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 …

Velva Price Wins Clerk of the Year

Travis County District Clerk Velva Price was named the County & District Clerks Association of Texas Clerk of the Year for 2023! Price was awarded her plaque at CDCAT’s 128th annual conference in June 2023 in McAllen. CDCAT’s Clerk of the Year award is presented to both a district clerk and a county clerk, each of whom should have provided …