covid - Texas Bar Practice

Getting Going and Best Practices for Zoom Videoconferencing

Getting Going and Best Practice for Zoom Videoconferencing×Print PDF version Of This Guide. It seems like everyone has started using Zoom, the videoconferencing software. Lawyers are learning to use Zoom to meet remotely with clients and colleagues, courts have signed up for Zoom accounts and are now holding many “video hearings,” and litigators are even using it for depositions and mediations. We hope you find these guides helpful. “Getting Going with Zoom” is a short guide to Zoom, including help with setting up and using Zoom, links to various resources, and some notes on securing communications over Zoom. VIEW THE “GETTING GOING WITH ZOOM” GUIDE Best Practices for Videoconferencing” has tips for videoconferencing in general, such as best practices for audio and video results, as well as communication etiquette. VIEW THE “BEST PRACTICES FOR VIDEOCONFERENCING” GUIDE Resources by TopicStarting A PracticeLearn what you need to know before you begin. →Maintaining a PracticeNurture your budding practice with our collection of resources. →Growing a PracticeTips to take your practice to the next level. →Succession Planning and PreparationIf you can’t be certain, you can at least be ready. →Closing a PracticeVital information for those winding down a practice for themselves or others. → Practice TechnologyLearn new efficiencies. Leverage …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

How To Protect Your Clients and Firm in the Event of Death, Disability, Impairment, or Incapacity

How To Protect Your Clients and Firm in the Event of Death, Disability, Impairment, or Incapacity This information is designed to help you protect your clients’ interests in the event you are suddenly rendered unable to practice law. With some advanced planning, you can ensure a smoother transition for your clients and allay potential ethical pitfalls. Successor Attorney If you suddenly become unable to practice law, someone will need to review your case files to ascertain if there are pending or upcoming filing dates, contact clients to return or transfer files, handle the firm’s financial affairs, and deal with other issues that may need immediate attention.  Due to the content contained in the files, and the need to be able to spot legal issues, the best person to do this is presumably an attorney, or “successor attorney.” By determining in advance who will serve as your successor attorney, you offer better protection for your clients and a faster transition out of law practice. Once you have found a suitable attorney who agrees to wind down your practice, it is important to discuss what duties the successor attorney will need to perform, the scope of their responsibility, what event will trigger the …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

A Guideline for Judges

A Guideline for JudgesWhat to Do When an Attorney has Abandoned His Practice, Is Incapacitated, or Deceased: Assumption of Jurisdiction, A Guideline for Judges or Other Interested Persons Attorneys are aging. Because of a weak economy many attorneys are sole practitioners (while others never wanted anything other than to practice on their own) and are forced to work as long as they can. It is a combustible combination. Unless an attorney practices in a smaller location or before the same judge or judges, it may take a while to learn that an attorney has become incapacitated or has died. A client may learn an attorney is no longer available when the attorney’s phones are disconnected and the office appears abandoned. A judge may learn the attorney is unavailable when a client contacts the court for information on what to do to continue with his or her case when the attorney has disappeared. The Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, Part XIII, provide for the cessation of practice as follows: 13.02 Assumption of Jurisdiction: A client of the attorney, Chief Disciplinary Counsel, or any other interested person may petition a district court in the county of the attorney’s residence to assume jurisdiction over the attorney’s …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

Checklist for an Attorney Who Closes Another Attorney’s Office

Checklist for an Attorney Who Closes Another Attorney’s Office This checklist is intended as a guideline only as circumstances surrounding the closing of a law office vary. Check the attorney’s calendars to look for case deadlines. Search the attorney’s office to look for documents that need to be filed. Open and review all unopened mail, especially certified mail, and file it. Review electronic sources to ensure that the client file is complete and up to date. Review the firm’s electronic records for client-related material, including such things as e-mail communications, instant messages, or other documents generated during the course of the case, especially those communications that indicate pending deadlines. Look for an office procedure manual. Determine whether anyone has access to a list of clients with active files. Review active client files to determine which cases need to be dealt with first. Make sure that any case with a statute of limitations running, or that is set for hearing or trial, are handled immediately. Look for cases with discovery settings. It is important to handle these cases immediately. Contact the client for matters that are urgent or set for the near future. Ask the client for permission to reset. As …

What to do if Your Attorney Dies, Disappears, Becomes Disabled, or is Suspended or Disbarred

What to do if Your Attorney Dies, Disappears, Becomes Disabled, or is Suspended or DisbarredWhen a client is unable to contact an attorney for any reason Client’s valuable legal rights may be compromised. Therefore, it is important to: 1) obtain your file; 2) ascertain the status of the case, including any pending deadlines or court settings; and 3) hire new counsel if you are unable to locate your attorney. The following are suggestions that may assist you in protecting your rights and ensuring that your legal matter is handled appropriately. 1. Gather information regarding the location of your file a. If the attorney disappears, first try to ascertain where/if s/he has relocated. To ascertain if the attorney has relocated: Contact the State Bar of Texas to determine if the attorney has provided new contact information; If not, contact the landlord of the building to determine if the attorney left a forwarding address; or Send a letter, certified mail return receipt requested, to determine if/where the letter is delivered (you may have to check the USPS website for the location of the delivery). b. If the attorney becomes disabled or dies: Determine if another attorney has agreed to assume responsibility for …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

Best Practices When Selling A Practice

Best Practices When Selling A Practice×to print brochure from the pdf version, click here. One of the most misunderstood “non-rules” in the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC) is the so-called ban on selling a legal practice. There simply is no such ban. There are no rules that prohibit lawyers from selling all or part of their practices. That being said, there are TDRPC Rules that impact the sale of a law practice, and lawyers need to be familiar with them. For purposes of selecting applicable Rules, “sale of a law practice” refers to the conveyance of client matters from the lawyer who has an attorney-client relationship with the client (“selling lawyer”) to an acquiring lawyer. The relevant TDRPC Rules include the following: Rule 1.01 Competent and Diligent Representation The acquiring lawyer needs to have the competence to render legal services and represent the clients in the particular matters previously handled by the selling lawyer. This presents a challenge when the acquiring lawyer may not know enough about the matters in the files to determine competence to represent particular clients. See Rule 1.05 below, “Confidentiality of Information.” Rule 1.02 Scope and Objectives of Representation If the acquiring lawyer intends …

What To Do When Your Boss or Relative is No Longer Able to Practice Law

What To Do When Your Boss or Relative Is No Longer Able to Practice LawA Checklist for Staff and Family Members When an attorney is, with or without warning, unable to practice law and is a sole practitioner, what to do with the attorney’s law practice can be bewildering to the attorney’s staff, if there is any staff, and devastating to the family. This checklist is intended as a guideline to help the incapacitated or deceased attorney’s staff and/or family to close down the attorney’s practice. First, remember that although it may seem an impossible task to close down an attorney’s office, it has been done by others, including those without any legal experience, and it can be done by you. For remaining staff, if there it is any way you can afford it, please consider staying around to help close down the practice. Some staff might agree to help close the practice while looking for another job, helping out a few hours here and there. The family will be very grateful. For the family member left with the attorney’s practice, try to get the attorney’s staff to stay with you for at least a month to help close down …

closing - Texas Bar Practice

A Letter to Texas Attorneys Closing a Practice

A Letter to Texas Attorneys Closing a Practice Dear Texas Attorneys, Judges, Attorney Relatives and Staff, and Members of the Public: Law practices are not immune from the unfortunate and unexpected events and accidents which occur in everyday life. An attorney’s illness, incapacity, or even suspension due to misconduct, can result in the temporary or permanent closure of a practice. Although difficult to contemplate, having a contingency plan in place is part of being a good lawyer and will help to 1) fulfill ethical duties towards clients, 2) save Judges, relatives, colleagues and attorney staff from some of the difficulties of a temporary or permanent closing of a law practice, 3) facilitate obtaining new counsel, and 4) reduce potential misconduct and/or malpractice claims. The following materials are provided to 1) help Texas Attorneys plan and prepare for events that could render them unable to practice law, and 2) help Texas Judges, members of the public, as well as relatives, colleagues and staff of attorneys, with the closure of an attorney’s practice and finding new counsel, if necessary. Included are resources, as well as sample checklists, court documents and correspondence. How to Protect Your Clients and Your Firm in the Event …

covid - Texas Bar Practice

Do-It-Yourself Guide for Handwritten ‘Holographic’ Wills in Texas

Do-It-Yourself Guide for Handwritten ‘Holographic’ Wills in Texas “Do-It-Yourself Guide for Handwritten ‘Holographic’ Wills in Texas” is a short guide about how to use and write holographic (hand-written) wills in Texas, including sample language to include in a holographic will. Hand-written wills can address very basic issues and do not replace the advice of an estate-planning attorney, but may be useful during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, when signing a will in person with a notary and witnesses may not be possible. Thanks to Houston Volunteer Lawyers for this resource.Download the Guide HereUseful Links o   Ten Minute Mentor: “Maximizing Technology in Your Practice”The information provided and the opinions expressed in this monograph are solely those of the author. Neither the State Bar of Texas nor the author are rendering legal, accounting or professional advice and assume no liability in connection with the suggestions, opinions, or products mentioned.Resources by TopicStarting A PracticeLearn what you need to know before you begin. →Maintaining a PracticeNurture your budding practice with our collection of resources. →Growing a PracticeTips to take your practice to the next level. →Succession Planning and PreparationIf you can’t be certain, you can at least be ready. →Closing a PracticeVital information for those winding down a practice for …