The Michael Morton Act: What prosecutors and defense attorneys need to know
By:  Alex Bell

When Governor Perry recently signed SB 1611, also known as the Michael Morton Act, the landscape for Texas criminal discovery changed dramatically. Gone are the days of discretionary open file policies. New disclosure requirements are mandatory and extend to "all material evidence." The duty to turn over Brady materials now extends indefinitely—as in FOREVER. And, most importantly, the language of the new law suggests that none of its requirements are waivable.

Pocket Guide: Social Media 101
By:  Sally Pretorius

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vine, AVVO, Linkedin, search engine optimization, pop-up advertisements, and blogs: Everywhere we turn social-media is in front of us. When we open up our social-media forum of choice, we see many of our non-lawyer friends and colleagues showcasing their work lives with boasts about success, where they are, and even funny stories about what happened at work.  However, we as lawyers have an obligation and duty to make sure that we do not run afoul of our governing Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct while participating in the social-media fun. We all know that we have to be cautious when it comes to advertising and soliciting clients, but are we all aware of the rules as they apply to our social-media involvement?

Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association’s 9th Annual Monster Bash
By: Carina C. Garza, HCYLA President-Elect

Is your local affiliate looking for a fun way to engage current members, recruit new ones, and give back to your community?  Throw a Halloween costume party benefiting your favorite charity!

This year marks the 9th Anniversary of Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association’s Monster Bash social. Monster Bash is open to the public and features a Halloween costume contest, live music, and food and beverages for the night. The proceeds of our Monster Bash benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation® and go towards sponsoring a local child’s wish.  It typically takes $5,000 to grant one wish, and past sponsored wishes include fantastic trips to Disney World.

Pursuing Excellence in Your Legal Writing
By:  Elizabeth Beyer

Similar to the number of rules in the Bluebook for legal citations, as legal writers, we are bound by a seemingly limitless number of grammatical rules and guidelines to follow.  However, sometimes the only thing that matters is whether you’re making errors that your audience will notice.  Perhaps your Facebook grammarian friends have shared the commonly frowned-upon mistakes made in Facebook posts. (I consider the your / you’re distinction to be the number one pet peeve of Facebookers everywhere.)  While it’s good to keep those basics in mind, as professional writers, we have a more sophisticated audience – other lawyers and judges.   Let’s just put it this way: If the judge thinks you don’t know what you’re talking about, your clients may end up disappointed in the result.

Contention Discovery Requests in Federal Cases in Texas: Punting in the First Quarter Could Lead to Disaster in the Fourth
By:  Ricardo J. Bonilla

It happens every day: One litigant serves discovery requests on another, asking the latter to “identify every fact” or “explain every basis” for the party’s legal contentions in a lawsuit. For the longest time, the response was standard: Delay answering the requests by pointing to the party’s expert reports, which would be produced much later in the case, allowing the party to perform more discovery and spend more time formulating its contentions and the bases for them. That practice is not safe in Texas's federal courts anymore, and one need look no further than the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to find the reason why.

Dallas Fair Park Run Supports Pro Bono Efforts

Young lawyers in the Dallas area can support efforts to provide free legal services to indigent Texans by participating in the Family Law Cares Pro Bono 5K Fun Run and Walk to be held Sunday, November 10, at Fair Park in Dallas.

Those who want to participate can click here and register for the event. The registration fee prior to race day is $20. On-site registration is $25 and begins at 7:30AM that morning. The fee for runners up to 14 years of age is $15. Each entrant receives a fun run tee shirt and other giveaway items.  Runners are advised to arrive prior to the 8:30AM race start time. 

The American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Fall Conference was recently held in Phoenix, Arizona.  The Affiliate Assistance Team, as well as the other YLD teams, coordinators, and committees hosted an Affiliate Leader Programming roundtable discussion. 

During the first part of this session the Affiliate Assistance Team introduced leaders of affiliated young lawyer organizations (Affiliates) to the ABA YLD and its resources.  Affiliate Leaders were given an overview of the ABA YLD and provided handouts with helpful information on key resources and deadlines.  The Team also introduced itself to Affiliate Leaders and explained its role within the Division.

Join the Pro Bono Party

National Pro Bono Week is coming up on October 21 – 25. Organizations across the state are celebrating the work of pro bono volunteers and turning their attention to meeting the need for pro bono services.

During Pro Bono Week we’ll be recognizing outstanding pro bono volunteers and programs on our Facebook page. Follow us on Facebook for more information about pro bono opportunities and ways to get involved.