Serving Those Who Served:  TYLA Publishes Two Pamphlets to Help Veterans with Legal Issues

By: Geoff Gannaway

It is rare to find a cause so universally supported that just about everyone will agree with its inherent worth. TYLA and the State Bar of Texas have adopted just such a cause for the 2010-2011 bar year, driven by one simple truth: “Veterans deserve our gratitude.” This maxim forms the cornerstone for projects currently underway on the part of a joint effort of TYLA and Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans (TLTV), which have pooled their talents and resources to serve those who have sacrificed so much for others.

Food for Thought Benefits Dallas Youth
By: Kim Garlitz

It was another incredible year for the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers’ Food for Thought at the Tower Club, a celebrity chef charity fundraiser supporting Big Thought. The remarkable generosity of the committee’s celebrity chefs, sponsors, event participants, and volunteers is an extraordinary example of a unified community outreach effort to help area youth. Because of this outpouring of support, DAYL’s Food for Thought was able to raise in excess of $15,000 for Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit dedicated to closing the opportunity gap in education through creative learning.

Office in a Flash

By. Robert Booth, Mills Shirley LLP

Are you considering opening your own law practice? The Texas Young Lawyers Association recognized that an increasing number of young lawyers are choosing to open their own law firm straight out of law school or within the first few years of their practice. These lawyers are quickly forced to make a number of decisions such as whether they should form a partnership, where should they rent office space and what type of billing method and rate should they use -- while at the same time learning to practice law and creating business. To assist these young lawyers in many of the decisions they face, TYLA has created a new project: Office in a Flash.

Surviving in the Legal Practice
By:  Sonia Munoz Gallagher, Esq.

Time is constantly ticking isn’t it? Doesn’t it seem to get even faster when you walk into your office? Competition for solo practitioners and law firm associates is only getting tougher each month as more lawyers lose their jobs.

So, how can you stand out? How can you differentiate yourself, be profitable, and truly enjoy being a lawyer?

Texas Lawyers for Texas Vets: VA Claims, Denials, and Appeals
By: Brian Walker

For most of our nation’s history, attorneys have taken very little, if any, part in assisting veterans in obtaining benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). For many years, federal policy even discouraged attorney representation of VA claimants, and in some instances, created criminal penalties for attorneys who took a role in the veterans benefit process. In the most recent decades, however, Congress has opened the door to attorney representation. Attorneys can assist veterans on a pro bono basis at all phases in the claims process, and as of June 20, 2007, Congress legalized accredited attorneys to get involved in the VA benefits adjudication process and charge a fee as long as the veteran claimant has applied for benefits and been denied those benefits at least once.

“Demand for Pro Bono Higher Than Ever”
By: Benet Magnuson

The State Bar’s pro bono survey revealed only 52 percent of Texas lawyers provided any free legal services to the poor in 2009, the lowest level of pro bono participation in the history of the survey. Following the crash of IOLTA funding for legal aid programs, this fall in pro bono services is another sign of how the economic recession is making it increasingly difficult for poor Texans to access justice.

August 20
TYLA Minority Scholarship applications and brochures mailed to all participating Texas ABA-accredited law schools

August 27
TYLA deadline to receive grant applications for the 2010-2011 Local Affiliate Grant Program

August 30
TYLA deadline to receive final first committee report

September 6
Holiday - Labor Day (Texas Law Center closed)

September 17-18
TYLA Board of Directors meeting - T Bar M, New Braunfels

October 4
TYLA grant checks mailed to TYLA Local Affiliate grant recipients

October 14-17
ABA/YLD Fall Conference - Santa Fe, NM

October 15
TYLA deadline to receive TYLA Minority Scholarship applications

October 25
TYLA deadline to receive second committee report