© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Janet Elliott
AUSTIN (Oct. 27) – With only half of the state’s lawyers donating their services to needy clients, the scales of justice appear permanently stuck. Four in five Texans who seek legal help are turned away.
The focus Monday at the Texas Access to Justice luncheon was on the half of lawyers who generously donate their time advocating for battered women, struggling veterans and many others.
The value of this work was estimated to be more than $500 million in 2013.
Good, but not enough when balanced against the unmet needs, said Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman.
“We’re really hoping that as much as lawyers are doing with their pro bono effort, that they do a little more, that they find a little more time to represent just one more client,” Guzman said.
According to a 2013 State Bar survey, 51 percent of attorneys provided an average of 54.6 hours of free pro bono services in 2013. Of these lawyers, 21 percent provided an average of 91 hours of substantially reduced fee services. The numbers were included in the State Bar’s recent self-evaluation report to the Sunset Commission.
The amount of pro bono performed by State Bar members has been a topic of discussion during previous Sunset reviews. The Legislature will consider any recommendations made by the Sunset review when it meets in 2017.
State Bar President Allan Dubois, who attended the luncheon, said he hopes that legal services will be a good issue for the agency.
“Pro bono volunteers lead by example. The goal is to do more,” said Dubois.
Guzman and Chief Justice Nathan Hecht presented Legislative Hero Awards to state Reps. Todd Hunter, Morgan Meyer and Kenneth Sheets.
Hunter has been a longtime legislative advocate for access to justice, said Hecht. Hunter is chairman of the Calendars Committee, which schedules bills for floor debate. His law firm is Hunter & Handel in Corpus Christi.
Meyer and Sheets helped pass HB 1079 during the 84th Legislature. The bill requires the comptroller to transfer certain civil penalties or payments recovered by the attorney general to a judicial fund for legal services.
Meyer, an active Dallas volunteer attorney, is a partner in Bracewell & Giuliani. Sheets, a decorated Marine, is a partner in the Dallas firm of Payne & Blanchard.
The Legislature also increased legal services funding by $7 million for a total of $61.4 million. An additional $3 million was appropriated specifically for services to veterans and their families.
As a freshman legislator, Meyer said he experienced a lot of political issues at the Capitol. “However, this is one issue which is neither Republican or Democrat,” said Meyer. “It is something which is near and dear to all of our hearts, making sure that folks have equal access to justice.”
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