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Explore Our News SectionNew Commissioners Appointed to the Texas Access to Justice Commission
The Supreme Court of Texas and the State Bar of Texas have appointed three new commissioners and reappointed one other member to the Texas Access to Justice Commission. The Supreme Court of Texas appointed new commissioners Luz Herrera, Associate Dean for Experiential Education at Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth and William “Bill” Marple, Director of Pro Bono and Bar Relations, at Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas in Dallas. The State Bar of Texas appointed new commissioner Nicole Voyles, partner at Tindall England, P.C., in Houston, and reappointed Jenny Lee Smith, attorney and counselor at law at Cobb & Counsel, in Austin. These commissioners will assist the Commission in its efforts to expand civil legal aid resources to low-income Texans. More »
Commission Honors Dallas Attorney Pamela St. John with the Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Award
The Texas Access to Justice Commission honored Pamela St. John with its Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Award last week during the Business Law and Corporate Counsel CLE and Luncheon, which was held in conjunction with the State Bar of Texas’ Annual Meeting. St. John is an exemplary pro bono leader who has enriched AT&T’s culture of pro bono and continually strives to meet the legal needs of low-income Texans in her community. The award was presented to St. John by Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, the Court’s liaison to the Texas Access to Justice Commission. St. John designated the Houston Volunteer Lawyers as the recipient of the $2,000 stipend that accompanied the award. More »
Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans Raises $560,200
The Texas Access to Justice Commission with its co-sponsor, the State Bar of Texas, honored veterans throughout the state at the Champions of Justice Gala Benefiting Veterans last night at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center in Austin. More than $560,200 was raised to help provide civil legal services to low-income Texan veterans. Keynote speaker for the evening was the Honorable James A. Baker III. More »
Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault
Since the LASSA Network’s inception, legal aid has opened nearly 4,500 new cases involving survivors of sexual assault. The LASSA Network provides survivors of sexual assault with a wide range of free legal services from general advice to holistic, direct representation in civil legal matters stemming from sexual assault. More »
Justice for All - It’s not just a phrase. It’s a real thing you can be part of!
Last year, the Justice for All Campaign raised more than $1.3 million to help low-income Texans with their basic civil legal needs. Contributions are distributed to civil legal service providers across the state that help low-income Texans. More »
Courage in the Courthouse
I recently had the opportunity to think a lot about self-represented litigants because I was one. More »
Make Mine Plain Please
The average American has a seventh-grade reading level, which makes it next to impossible for most people to read a legal document and actually understand it. The importance of a litigant’s ability to comprehend what is happening in their own case was a major theme of the 2017 Self-Represented Litigation Network Spring Board Conference held this February. More »