Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
An Austin lawyer stole a client's 401(K) funds. A lawyer from Tyler bounced checks from his IOLTA settlement account. A Waxahachie lawyer failed to fully account for funds from a family's estate. In all, 13 lawyers were disciplined. Here are the details.
U.S. Judge Lee Yeakel has rejected a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of mandatory bar dues charged by the State Bar of Texas. The Austin jurist ruled that the mandatory dues and the activities they pay for are well within the official responsibilities authorized by the Texas Legislature and do not violate the First Amendment. Allen Pusey has the details.
Semyon Narasov, 55, pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy to commit money laundering at NextHealth and conspiracy to pay and receive bribes and kickbacks while at Forest Park Medical Center.
Word this week that a $5.5 billion bank merger was scrubbed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic may only be the beginning of the bad news from the Corporate Deal Tracker. 'Buckle up' is the lesson gleaned from this week's belated report. Be sure to see a note about that and the absence — for the moment — of our friend and colleague, Claire Poole.
The 8-0 decision Friday by the Texas Supreme Court allows congregants who seceded from The Episcopal Church in 2006 to take church property with them. The Lawbook has the details.
Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first state official known to be infected with the novel coronavirus. Justice Lehrmann confirmed the diagnosis in an interview with The Dallas Morning News.
From the beginning the whole process took only a smidge over 94 minutes. But jury selection in the first actual (sort of) virtual trial was as smooth and efficient as 30 faces from 30 different places mashed onto a screen can be. The Lawbook watched and was impressed.
UPDATED: The Texas Office of Court Administration has announced that the website that serves the Texas judiciary has been the victim of a ransomware attack. Updated to include comments to The Lawbook by Chief Justice Nathan Hecht.
The court rejected the effort by a group of protestors to curb the coronavirus curbs by filing directly to the state's highest court. In rejecting In Re Salon a La Mode, et al. the court showed sympathy for both sides, but ordered them to begin their legal protest with the lower courts.
The State Bar of Texas reported disciplinary actions against 15 lawyers, two of them judges. A judge from San Antonio was disciplined for her Facebook posts about lawyers in her court and an Austin lawyer, previously suspended for a marijuana charge in Arizona, was disbarred for defrauding a client's account and generally neglecting another client's litigation.
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