Thereafter, on December 3, 2003, the Court indicated it would delay the effective date of Proposed Rule 8a and expressed its willingness to allow State Bar leadership to appoint a special task force on referral fees. This task force has now been appointed and has scheduled public hearing across the state. The first public hearing was held in El Paso on January 28. Future meetings are scheduled for:
February 4 -- San Antonio (1:30 - 4:30)
100 Dolorosa, Bexar County Courthouse, Courtroom, 5th Floor
February 18 -- Harlingen (1:30 - 4:30)
1202 Ed Carey Drive, Hampton Inn, Meeting Room
February 25 -- Dallas (2:00 - 5:00)
2101 Ross Avenue, Belo Mansion, Haynes and Boone Ballroom
March 3 -- Houston (1:00 - 5:00)
1303 San Jacinto St., South Texas College of Law, Garrett Townshall
March 26 -- Austin (10:00 - 5:00)
1414 Colorado, Texas Law Center, Room 101
The task force's preliminary report will be presented to the Board of Directors at its April 16, 2004, meeting. The final report and recommendations will be submitted to the Board at the June 24, 2004, State Bar Annual Meeting. The Board will then forward to the Court any recommendations with the request that the Court authorize the Bar to hold a referendum, which would be conducted in the the fall of 2004.
2004 Referral Fee Task Force Members
Richard Hile, Chair
Dies & Hile, LLP, 1601 Rio Grande St. #330, Austin, TX 78701
JoAl Cannon-Sheridan
Moak & Sheridan, LLP, 211 E. Commerce, Jacksonville, TX 75766
Alistair Dawson
Beck Redden& Sechrest, One Houston Center, 1221 McKinney St. #4500, Houston, TX 77010
Linda Eads
Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law, 3315 Danivel Avenue, Dallas, TX 75205
David Evans
48th Judicial District Court, 201 Main St, Ste 1400, Fort Worth, TX 76102-3118
Ygnacio Garza, CPA
Long Chilton, LLP, 3125 Central Blvd, Brownsville, TX 78520
John Hagan
Fletcher & Springer, LLP, 8750 N. Central Expressway, 16th Floor, Dallas, TX 75231
Hartley Hampton
1401 McKinney, #1800, Houston, TX 77010
Hugh Rice Kelly
1936 Rice Boulevard, Houston, TX 77005
Steven Laird
Law Office of Steven C. Laird, PC, 2400 Scott Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76103
Ron Lewis
Baker Botts, One Shell Plaza, 910 Louisiana Street, Houston, TX 77002
Steve McConnico
Scott Douglass & McConnico, 600 Congress Avenue, Suite 1500, Austin, TX 78701
Stephen Maxwell
Maxwell, Littman& Knowles, 100 E 15th St, Suite 120, Fort Worth, TX 76102
Lonny Morrison
Morrison & Shelton, 807 8th Street, Suite 400, City National Building, Wichita Falls, TX 76301
Richard Pena
Law Offices of Richard Pena, 2028 E. Ben White, Suite 220, Austin, TX 78741
Robert Schuwerk
University of Houston Law Center, 4800 Calhoun, Houston, TX, 77004
Provide duplicates to: Robert Schuwerk, 207 Bonnieview, Austin, TX 78704
Mary Evans Sias, PhD
The University of Texas at Dallas, 2601 N. Floyd Road, AD 31, Richardson, TX 75080
Kent Sullivan
80th District Court, Harris County Civil Courthouse,1019 Congress, 16th Floor, Houston, TX 77002
Hector Zavaleta
615 E. Schuster Avenue, Building 1, El Paso, TX 79902-4360
Ex-Officio Members
Betsy Whitaker, President, State Bar of Texas
Kim Askew, Chair, Board of Directors, State Bar of Texas
Kelly Frels, President-Elect, State Bar of Texas
Guy Harrison, Past President, State Bar of Texas
State Bar Staff
Tony Alvarado, Executive Director
800-204-2222, Ext. 1400
KaLyn Laney, External Affairs Officer
800-204-2222, Ext. 6026
Kristina Hutson, Legislative Analyst
800-204-2222, Ext. 6026
