Chief Justice of the Third Court of Appeals Darlene Byrne was awarded Jurist of the Year by the Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (TEX-ABOTA) at their annual awards dinner in Sante Fe, New Mexico, on June 17, 2023. ABOTA’s guiding principles are preservation of an independent judiciary and the right to a trial by jury, and …

The Maryland Supreme Court has issued an opinion limiting the testimony of firearms experts. In Kobina Ebo Abruquah v. State of Maryland[1], the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County allowed a firearms examiner to testify that bullets recovered at a murder scene were fired from a gun Abruquah acknowledged was his. In so doing, the circuit court abused its discretion, …

A delegation of US legal professionals, led by former Austin Bar and Texas State Bar President Richard Pena, visited the United Arab Emirates to meet and exchange knowledge with professional counterparts, academics, and government officials. Also among the Legal Structures and Rule of Law Delegation were Kenneth Owens, administrative law judge with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; and …

The Austin Bar Association recently won the 2023 Deborah G. Hankinson Access to Justice Award from the Texas Access to Justice Commission. The award is given to local bar associations that demonstrate a commitment to access to justice in their communities and to raising financial support for legal service providers on a local and statewide basis. The Austin Bar won …

Austin aviation attorney Michael Slack has been appointed to the External Advisory Board for Texas A&M’s Hagler Institute for Advanced Study. The Hagler Institute was established in 2010 by the Texas A&M regents to create an incubator for advanced study in various fields, including medicine, science, architecture, social sciences, business, education, engineering, agriculture, law, and public and foreign policy. The …

On July 13, 2023 the Third Court of Appeals hosted a delegation of Egyptian judges as part of the U.S. State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The IVLP is the State Department’s premier professional exchange program and connects current and emerging foreign leaders with their American counterparts through short-term visits to the United States. The justices visited and discussed their respective …

Immediate Past President of the Austin Bar Association Amanda Arriaga will participate in a panel discussion on cultivating and retaining diverse leaders in bar associations on Sept. 20, 2023. Arriaga served as Austin Bar president for 2022-23 and was its first Latina president. The panel discussion is being put on by the National Conference of Bar Presidents. Joining Arriaga in …

House Bill 4628 was passed by the 88th Texas Legislature and establishes clear communication requirements between law enforcement and forensics labs. The bill went into effect Sept. 1, and requires crime labs to notify a law enforcement agency within 30 days when they obtain a match from DNA or other forensic evidence. Within five business days of this first notification, …

This is the second in a series of eight articles about the Travis County Forensic Mental Health Project. The Travis County Forensic Mental Health Project delivered its recommendations to the Travis County Commissioners in March 2023. The goal of these recommendations is to provide solutions other than jail to address mental health and substance abuse disorders in the county. Recommendation …

Two of the bills Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht endorsed in his State of the Judiciary address on April 5, 2023, passed during the 88th Texas Legislative Session. The first, House Bill 19, relates “to the creation of a specialty trial court to hear certain cases; authorizing fees.” Specifically, the bill calls this the “Business Court.” The …