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April 30th is your deadline to vote for State and Bar President-Elect

This year, there are three candidates for State Bar of Texas President-elect – Trey Apffel of League City, Steve Fischer of Rockport, and Larry Hicks from El Paso. The lawyer chosen will serve a one-year term as president-elect from June 2013 to June 2014, and then will serve as president of the State Bar of Texas from June 2014 to June 2015.  The candidates are listed in alphabetical order.

Trey Apffel is the owner and principal of the Apffel Law Firm in League City, where he focuses on personal injury litigation, toxic torts, and medical malpractice. His practice also includes family law and divorce. He has practiced in Galveston County for more than 30 years.

Apffel has served on the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas, as a member of the Executive Committee, and chaired the Legislative Policy Committee. He is a former member of the Commission for Lawyer Discipline. He is a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, a Texas Bar Foundation Life Fellow, and served on the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees.

Apffel is a member of the Galveston County Bar Association and served as the organization’s president in 1996–1997. He is an associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a director of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association.

Apffel received a B.B.A. from Baylor University and a J.D. from Baylor Law School. He is certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

View Apffel's campaign brochure

View Apffel's campaign website

Steve Fischer is a sole practitioner in Rockport. His practice focuses on criminal and family law but also includes litigation and real estate.

Fischer serves on the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Bar Journal Board of Editors, and as vice chair of the Insurance and Member Benefits Subcommittee in which he also chairs a subcommittee.

Fischer has served as Willacy County District Attorney, president of the Aransas County Bar Association, and on the Aransas County ISD School Board. He has been or currently serves as a member of the Texas Indigent Defense Committee, Texas Crime Victims Committee, Technology Oversight Committee, Texas Penal Code Committee, as a board advisor to the Court Rules Committee and the Family Law and Criminal Justice sections, and as the alternate board advisor to the Disability Issues Committee. He has been a professor at the University of Texas –Permian Basin and has authored numerous articles. He has practiced law in Midland-Odessa, El Paso, Denton, Huntsville, and the Rio Grande Valley.

Fischer received a B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley; an M.A. in criminology from Sam Houston State University; an M.P.A. from the University of North Texas; and a J.D. from Indiana University.

View Fischer's campaign brochure

View Fischer's campaign website

Larry W. Hicks is the president of the three-lawyer firm of Hicks & Llamas, P.C., in El Paso. He primarily defends medical malpractice claims, but he also handles employment litigation and other commercial litigation on both sides of the docket. He founded the firm nearly 30 years ago.

Hicks has served on the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, and the El Paso Bar Association. He is a past president of the El Paso Young Lawyers Association and the Federal Bar Association–West Texas Chapter. He serves as a director of the Texas Lawyers Insurance Exchange and chairs its Reinsurance Committee. Hicks is a past chair and member of the Texas Bar Journal Editorial Board. He is an author and frequent speaker.

Hicks received a B.S. from Texas Tech University, M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law. He is certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is licensed to practice in Texas and New Mexico.

View Hicks' campaign brochure

View Hicks' campaign website

For more information on the TYLA President-elect candidates, please click here and to get full details on the elections, please visit the election page.