State Bar of Texas Podcast
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The State Bar of Texas Podcast is a monthly show featuring news and discussions relevant to the legal profession, from the latest industry trends and caselaw to practice tips and State Bar programs. Host Rocky Dhir, attorney and CEO of Dallas-based Atlas Legal Research, invites thought leaders and innovators to share their insight and knowledge on what matters to practitioners.
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The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors approved the nominations of Denise Scofield, of Houston, and Santos Vargas, of San Antonio, as president-elect candidates at its meeting on September 30, 2023. Texas lawyers will vote for the president-elect and district directors from April 1 to April 30. The winner will serve as president-elect from June 2024 to June 2025 and as president from June 2025 to June 2026. For more information, go to texasbar.com/elections.
[The content for this episode was recorded as a live webcast video on March 26, 2024, at the Texas Law Center in Austin, TX.]
Since its inception in 2017, the Committee on Disciplinary Rules and Referenda has been charged with the examination of Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules of Disciplinary Procedure to determine rule adequacy and necessary changes. After extensive evaluation of existing rules, the committee proposed 12 new rules between 2021 and 2023 which Texas attorneys will now have the opportunity to vote on from April 1-30, 2024.
Rocky Dhir talks with committee members Lewis Kinard (Chair), Judge Phyllis Martinez Gonzalez, and Scott Brumley, and former member Claude Ducloux about the proposed rules to help Texas legal professionals gain a better understanding of the purpose and implications of the suggested changes. For more information, including links to background information on each rule proposal, go to texasbar.com/rulesvote.
The Texas legislature recently enacted the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, which goes into effect on July 1, 2024. Lawyers have an urgent need to understand this new legislation and its coming impacts on their practice and clients. Rocky Dhir talks with Shawn Tuma, a widely recognized expert in cybersecurity and data privacy law, to help Texas attorneys understand the elements of this act and best practices in security for compliance with new regulations.
Shawn Tuma is a partner at Spencer Fane LLP in Cyber Risk Management, Cyber Incident Response, and Cyber Security, Hacking and Data Breach Litigation.
AI has been around for a very long time, but 2023 was its renaissance, with ChatGPT and other AI technologies suddenly speeding forward with exponential growth. Attorneys and paralegals should be focused on learning and adapting to this quickly evolving technology to ensure competence in a world where AI is taking greater precedence. Rocky Dhir talks with paralegal Megan Goor-Peters and attorney Joshua Weaver about responsible AI use and its current impacts in legal practice. They address common concerns and discuss the hopeful merging of human and AI elements for greater efficiency and success in the future of our justice system.
Megan Goor-Peters is a senior paralegal and property manager at Brender Law Firm in Fort Worth. Goor-Peters is the current State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division liaison to the Texas Bar College and a member of the State Bar Task Force for Responsible AI in The Law.
Joshua Weaver is Director of the Texas Opportunity & Justice Incubator (TOJI), a flagship program of the State Bar of Texas focused on supporting attorneys as they build sustainable solo practices serving low-income and modest-income communities.
There were a number of real estate cases in 2023, but only a few were notable enough to be of importance to all practitioners in this area of the law. Rocky Dhir welcomes Roland Love to discuss his article highlighting prominent 2023 real estate decisions in the December edition of the Texas Bar Journal. Roland gives an overview of these cases and their implications, covering PNC Mortgage v. Howard, Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Ltd. v. Whitely, Mitchell v. MAP Resources, Inc., and the rather humorous Pecos County Appraisal District v. Iraan-Sheffield ISD.
Read Roland’s full article here: Real Estate Law Year in Review
Roland Love is the 2022 recipient of the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Law Section Lifetime Achievement Award in Real Estate and the Texas Bar College Patrick A. Nester Award for Outstanding Achievement in CLE.
Mentorships can be very impactful in the lives of attorneys, leading to better lawyering and stronger law firms. As a profession, there is so much we can do to develop and encourage mentorships, and the October Texas Bar Journal examines this subject in detail. Rocky Dhir welcomes article authors Nikki Chargois-Allen, Denise Paul, and Regan Boyce to discuss their thoughts on mentor-mentee relationships and setting up mentoring programs for young lawyers.
For real-life perspectives from a mentor-mentee pair, check out Nikki and Denise’s article: In Their Own Words: How To Be a Good Mentor and A Good Mentee.
And, for more on ways to create mentoring programs, read Regan’s article: Set For Success: How To Set Up a Firm Mentoring Program for Young Attorneys
Nikki Chargois-Allen is a partner with the law firm of Davidson, Troilo, Ream & Garza in San Antonio.
Denise Paul is regional legal counsel to Jungheinrich, one of the world’s largest suppliers of industrial trucks.
Regan Boyce is a partner in Chamblee Ryan in Dallas.
A new set of laws has just been enacted by the 88th Texas Legislature, and the September 2023 edition of the Texas Bar Journal is chock full of informative articles on these changes. To look at some of these laws in greater detail, Rocky Dhir welcomes Kristal Thomson and Jerry Bullard to discuss their articles on the areas of family law and civil litigation/appellate law, respectively. Tune in to keep ahead of the latest updates! Kristal explains what did and didn’t change for the Texas Family Code and other updates for family lawyers, and Jerry offers pertinent information for civil trial and appellate practitioners.
Kristal C. Thomson is a partner in the family law practice group of the firm Langley & Banack in San Antonio.
Jerry D. Bullard is a shareholder in the Grapevine firm of Adams, Lynch & Loftin.
Keeping an appellate perspective in mind as you prepare for a trial can do a lot to keep your case on track and avoid future headaches. Rocky Dhir talks with Elana Einhorn and Melissa Lorber, authors of the article, Help Us Help You: Top 10 Appellate Mistakes in the Trial Courts, which appeared in the July/August Texas Bar Journal. Elana and Melissa give an overview of the article and share their top tips for success in trial court.
Elana Einhorn practices appellate law at Enoch Kever. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law and a former Supreme Court of Texas staff attorney.
Melissa Lorber is a founding member of Enoch Kever and is certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
State Bar President Cindy Tisdale and Texas Young Lawyers Association President Laura Pratt were sworn in at the annual meeting in Austin this June. Rocky Dhir sits down with both to discuss their plans for their presidencies in the coming year. Cindy shares her intention to study AI, focus on civility, and continue to develop more wellness tools for Texas attorneys. Laura discusses TYLA’s focus on public service, her plans to improve and update previous TYLA projects, and her developing website devoted to helping young people with everyday “adulting” topics.
Cindy Tisdale is a board certified family law attorney and 2023-24 President of the State Bar of Texas.
Laura Pratt is a commercial litigator at Sprouse Shrader Smith PLLC and 2023-24 President of TYLA.
Tune in as Rocky Dhir talks with William Barr about his personal life, stories from his stints as Attorney General, and thoughts on the future of our nation. Mr. Barr opens up about his family and career and shares advice for others as they navigate both personal and professional life choices. They also discuss Mr. Barr’s recently published book, One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General.
William Pelham Barr is an American attorney who served as the 77th and 85th United States attorney general in the administrations of Presidents George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump.
Rocky Dhir welcomes Daytripper host Chet Garner to chat about his many explorations of the great state of Texas. Chet visits towns of all shapes and sizes to find the beauty and adventure in every location. Tune in for their conversation highlighting the impressive diversity, history, nature, and community Texas has to offer.
Chet Garner is the creator, executive producer, writer, and host of The Daytripper, a Texas travel show on PBS.
Pandemic-era legal proceedings taught Texas lawyers and judges that alternative methods can be extremely effective in a variety of court processes. And now that we have entered into the post-pandemic era, these tech-fueled advancements are still front and center in Texas courts. Judge Roy Ferguson, Megan LaVoie, Michelle Casady, and Jennifer Doan discuss their session on what legal professionals need to know to incorporate the latest options for court proceedings into their practice.
Roy Ferguson is a judge of the Texas 394th District Court, presiding over the largest judicial district in the state of Texas.
Megan LaVoie serves as the Administrative Director for the Texas Office of Court Administration and Executive Director of the Texas Judicial Council.
Michelle Casady is a reporter at The Texas Lawbook.
Jennifer Haltom Doan is a founding partner with Haltom & Doan, a boutique trial and appellate firm located in Texarkana, TX-AR.
Culture can make or break your law firm, and it is absolutely essential to nurture a positive, supportive environment to truly have a successful firm. Senior law firm leaders Holly Draper, Hannah Hembree Bell, Brian Hall, and John Meredith discuss their session from the annual meeting focused on ways to improve your law firm culture. They share experiences from their firms and emphasize the importance of developing vision and values, being flexible enough to recognize changing needs, and striving to live out and support your cultural vision at all levels of your organization.
Holly Draper is CEO and managing partner at The Draper Law Firm and host of the Texas Family Law Insiders podcast.
Hannah Bell is the founding attorney of Hembree Bell Law Firm, where she specializes in family law, divorce, and estate planning.
Brian A. Hall is a member of Traverse Legal, PLC and the managing partner of its Austin, Texas office.
John Meredith is the Chief Operating Officer for Chamberlain Hrdlicka law firms with offices in Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia and San Antonio
The way athletes conduct themselves has the potential to majorly impact them, their team, and their sport as a whole. With such high stakes and the added influence of social media, personal conduct policies are in place to help maintain the integrity of professional sports leagues. Rocky Dhir talks to Kelli Masters, Daniel Hare, and Brian Michael Cooper about how these policies are created and the discipline processes that provide accountability and continued quality within a sports league.
Kelli Masters is an attorney, an NFL sports agent and Founder and President of KMM Sports, a full-service sports management company with offices in New York, Los Angeles and her hometown of Oklahoma City.
Daniel Hare is the founder and president of Varsity Search, a legal recruiting company dedicated to building great teams by bringing together lawyers and law firms.
Brian Michael Cooper is an accomplished sports executive, currently holding the positions of President & Chief Operating Officer at the American Flag Football League.
Rocky Dhir chats with Bench Bar Breakfast speakers Justice Debra Lehrmann and Timothy Berg about the mission and efforts of the Uniform Law Commission. They explain what the ULC does, the processes of projects undertaken by the commission, and how their acts provide consistency while still promoting the autonomy of the states.
Justice Debra Lehrmann is the Senior Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas.
Timothy Berg is General Counsel at Fennemore Craig, P.C.
Harnessing the power of technology with competence and confidence is now a top consideration for lawyers as they advocate for their clients. How should this look in your legal practice? Rocky Dhir talks with judges Amy Clark Meachum, Jessica Mangrum, and Martin Hoffman about the latest tech-based factors for effective advocacy in Texas courts. They discuss virtual and in-person platforms and share tips for lawyers on how to keep up with current courtroom technologies.
Amy Clark Meachum is a judge of the Texas 201st District Court.
Jessica Mangrum is a seasoned judge presiding over the Texas 200th District Court.
Martin Hoffman is an esteemed judge serving on the Texas 68th District Court in Dallas County.
As a group, first generation law students and lawyers tend to encounter common issues. Saumya Kuriakose, Nadda Rungruangphol, and Alysia Huskey give highlights from their panel focused on the experiences of first generation lawyers. They each share what led them into the law, discuss the unique challenges they faced, and offer insights on how law schools and firms can support first gen attorneys.
Saumya Kuriakose is an Attorney at The Pettit Law Firm in Dallas, Texas.
Nadda Rungruangphol is a Staff Attorney at the Texas State Securities Board in Austin, Texas.
Alysia Huskey is a licensed attorney with The State Bar of Texas and works as an Assistant District Attorney in Kaufman County, Texas.
AI has been helping lawyers for many years, but new tools powered by ChatGPT have even more exciting possibilities for the future of legal practice. Korin Munsterman discusses recent developments in legal AI tools and how they are already helping lawyers improve and streamline their practices. Korin also outlines what attorneys need to know about current ethics and privacy concerns surrounding generative AI.
Korin Munsterman is a Professor of Practice and the director of the Legal Education Technology program at UNT Dallas College of Law.
Mentioned in this Episode:
CoCounsel - Casetext
Spellbook
LegalSifter
Diversity, equity, and inclusion should be central to your law firm’s mission, but how do you go about building a welcoming workplace? John G. Browning gives tips from his session at the State Bar of Texas’ Annual Meeting on effective DEI solutions for law firms. He discusses historical challenges surrounding this issue and the education, training, and resources available to help your firm become a welcoming place for all.
John G. Browning is a partner at Spencer Fane and a former Justice on Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas.
Mentioned in this Episode:
National Association for Law Placement
Tune in for highlights from the State Bar of Texas’ Annual Meeting! During the conference, Laurence Colletti talked with presenter Dyane O’Leary about her session on how a modern mindset helps lawyers stay current with best practices and evolving legal technology. Dyane shares tips for maximizing efficiency through tech-powered practice management and gives insights on where to start if you’re looking to expand your knowledge of modern legal trends.
Dyane O’Leary is an Associate Professor of Legal Writing and the Director of Legal Innovation & Technology Concentration at Suffolk University Law School.
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