State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting
By Kristie Wright

102nd Judicial District Judge John Miller swears-in Bill Miller as TYLA President

The 2007 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, held June 21-22 in San Antonio, was once again a great success. As always, there were numerous opportunities for CLE updates, section committee meetings, and reunions with colleagues from across the state. In addition, attendees were able to honor outgoing president Martha Dickie as they welcomed the leadership of Gib Walton. (Cont.)

Feature TYLA Affiliate

HYLA President Julie Baumgarten
By Rabecca Cross

Julie Baumgarten

A new group of officers and directors took over the reigns of the Houston Young Lawyers Association early this summer. Julie Baumgarten, an energy lawyer at the Houston-based Williams Companies, Inc., is the President for the 2007-2008 year.

Public service and leadership is nothing new for Baumgarten. She has previously served as President of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation, and represented Houston as a director for TYLA. (Cont.)

 

Meet the Affiliates

Please email the TYLA office if there are any changes to your local affiliates contact information.

If your affiliate has an upcoming event that you would like featured in eNews, please forward the information to Bree Trevino or contact eNews Co-Chairs Brad Allen, Rabecca Cross or Connie Pfeiffer.

Feature TYLA Project

Record Number of Participants Turn Out for Federal Court Practice CLE
By David Anderson

The TYLA Member Services Committee and Texas Bar CLE recently hosted the 2007 Federal Court Practice Seminar. This year's seminar was held on May 18 at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Houston, and the program is being replayed in Dallas, El Paso, and Tyler over the summer.

More than 250 participants turned out for the live program in Houston—a record number. The seminar covered the major aspects of federal court litigation, from pleadings to discovery to post-trial motions. The speakers included a large number of prominent practitioners and jurists, as well as the clerks from each of the four U.S. District Courts in Texas. (Cont.)

Tips for Young Lawyers

Focus on Your Future
By Cordell Parvin

Throughout my legal career, helping younger lawyers achieve their own career success and satisfaction is important to me. Since I owe much of my own success to knowing what I wanted to achieve in the future and focusing on that, I have always stressed the importance of setting future goals and having a plan to achieve them. (Cont.)

Article of Interest

Insurance Law Update: New Texas Statutes Regarding
Suitability and Replacement
By Kimberly Burke

Kimberly Burke

Two new Texas Insurance Code statutes regarding annuity suitability and the replacement of annuities and certain life insurance policies will take effect September 1, 2007 (for contracts made on or after January 1, 2008) that could potentially affect your clients. The following is a brief summary of these new statutes, TEX. INS. CODE Chapters 1115 and 1114 (H.B. 2761, and H.B. 2762, respectively):
(Cont.)

 

ABA/YLD Update

The American Bar Association/Young Lawyers Division, in conjunction with TYLA and the State Bar of Texas, is recruiting lawyers to provide Disaster Legal Services ("DLS") to disaster victims. When a disaster is declared, FEMA and the State Bar of Texas set up a DLS hotline for disaster victims. Due to recent extensive flooding, many counties in our state have been declared disaster areas and the hotline has been activated. We need help responding to these calls!! You do not need to live in one of the affected areas to help. If you are interested in becoming a DLS volunteer, please sign-up through the State Bar of Texas website, www.texasbar.com . If you have any questions, please contact Kimberly Burke, ABA/YLD District 25 Representative, kimberly_burke@aigag.com.

If you have any questions about ABA/YLD conferences or projects, please contact: Kimberly Burke, ABA/YLD District 25 Representative or Chris Rogers, ABA /YLD District 26 Representative through these email links.

Take Note

• TYLA deadline to receive grant applications for the 2007-2008 Local Affiliate Grant Program. Click here for more information.
  
  
• TYLA Minority Scholarship applications and brochures mailed to all participating Texas ABA accredited law schools. Click here for more information.
  
  
• TYLA Annual Report 2007
  Want to know how TYLA is serving its members and the community? Then be sure to read the 2007 annual report, which details the activities of TYLA during the 2006-2007 Bar year. Click here for a copy or call 800-204-2222, ext. 1529 and we'll send you a copy.
  
  

• Get Involved and Sign Up Today!
  
  If you want to be involved as an active volunteer in TYLA, now is the best time. The new Bar year is just getting underway, and you can get in on the ground floor and really help shape the work of our public or member service committees of your choice. Visit our website to find out more about TYLA committees and their focus .. then sign up online!

Please note: if you signed up for a committee prior to June 2007, you will need to sign up for your committees again. Committee memberships are reset each year on June 1.

Upcoming Events

• August 7-14, 2007: ABA/YLD Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA
  
• September 14-15, 2007: TYLA Board of Director's meeting, Lubbock
  
• October 4, 2007: Texas Lawyers Care Silver Anniversary Celebration, Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin
  
• October 5-6, 2007: ABA/YLD Fall Conference, Charlotte, NC