Texas Law Center has the offices of the State Bar of Texas
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Type | Legal Society |
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Headquarters | Austin, TX |
Location |
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Membership
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95,437 |
Website | http://www.texasbar.com |
The State Bar of Texas (the Texas Bar) is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. The Texas Bar is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas. It is the fifth largest organization of lawyers in the United States. The State Bar is headquartered in the Texas Law Center at 1414 Colorado Street in Austin.
The Texas Bar is composed of those persons licensed to practice law in Texas and is an "integrated" or "mandatory" bar. The State Bar Act, adopted by the Legislature in 1939, mandates that all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas be members of the State Bar. As of 2014, membership in the Texas Bar stands at 95,437.
The purposes of the State Bar of Texas are:
The organization provides avenues for citizens to file grievances against attorneys and provides continuing legal education (CLE) courses for attorneys.
The mission of the State Bar of Texas is to support the administration of the legal system, assure all citizens equal access to justice, foster high standards of ethical conduct for lawyers, enable its members to better serve their clients and the public, educate the public about the rule of law and promote diversity in the administration of justice and the practice of law.
The Bar is run by an executive director, currently Michelle Hunter, and a board of directors made up of volunteers. The current president of the State Bar of Texas, Frank Stevenson, took office during June 2016.
The Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct are promulgated by the Texas State Bar through the authority of the Texas Supreme Court. These rules "set forth principles to which attorneys should aspire and rules to which they must conform".
Although lawyers have had statewide organizations in Texas since the 19th century, the State Bar of Texas began its formal existence on April 19, 1939, when Governor W. Lee O'Daniel signed House Bill No. 74, titled the State Bar Act of 1939. From that point, membership in the State Bar of Texas became a prerequisite for the practice of law in Texas.
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