Bell County Bar Association News

Kay Taylor, the amazing photographer who has donated her services for the last three Adoption Day Events, was able to get the Adoption Day program into the Bell County Living magazine, Fall 2014 edition. A link to the online version is here … the story starts on page 76!!

Bell County will be hosting its SIXTH Adoption Day Event on Friday, November 14th. So far there are twelve families participating, adopting approximately twenty kids (though those numbers may change before the event!). It is anticipated that opening remarks will be made at 9:30 a.m., with the first cases being called at 9:45 a.m.

If you or your firm are interested in making a donation to help offset the costs, please mail your check, payable to BCBA, to PO Box 282, Belton, TX  76513. Please note "Adoption Day" in the check memo so that your donation is applied correctly.

For those who are new to the Bar, the Adoption Day event is to help finalize and create "Forever Families" for children who have been living in foster car, and who are being legally adopted by these families. The Bar provides each family with a gift bag that includes age appropriate toys for the children, as well as gifts for the parents, a disposable camera for the kids to use, and other goodies! The Bar also purchases pop up Wizard of Oz books for each family, and decorates the courtrooms with a Wizard of Oz theme to make this day exceptionally special for these special families and children!!

If you are at the Courthouse on November 14, even if you're not involved in a case, please stop by the 169th or 264th Courtroom and watch as these families become 'forever' on this memorable day!!!

The Bar Association will be sponsoring a legal clinic for veterans on Friday, November 7, 2014, at the Temple VA. A flyer with details is available here.

We still need attorney and paralegal volunteers to help staff the clinic, and attorneys who are willing to take one or more cases/referrals from the clinic. No document prep is done on site. Some veterans have cases that can be resolved with just a short consultation. Some veterans have cases that require representation.

Please fill out the three forms (here, here and here) and fax or email back to John Torti at Lone Star Legal Aid, and indicate whether you will be attending the clinic, and/or can take a referral from the clinic. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO ACCEPT A REFERRAL. Obviously, the more volunteers there are, the better the chance that every veteran is provided the legal assistance that they need.

None of us can do everything, but all of us can do something.

The Bell County Bar Association is pleased to announce the agenda for the 2014 Fall Bench Bar Conference which will be held in the 146th Judicial District Courtroom, Bell County Judicial Complex, on September 25, 2014.

Check-in will begin at 8:15 a.m. The event is FREE to paid members of the BCBA and the BCBAP; while the non-member attorney cost is $50 at the time of registration, and the non-member paralegals cost is $30 at the time of registration. Note: If you have staff who are NOT members of the Paralegal group, they can attend the entire CLE for $25 OR just the e-filing portion for $10. Lunch and an afternoon snack are included!

Early registration ends on September 23rd. WALK-INS WILL BE ACCEPTED, BUT ARE NOT GUARANTEED MATERIALS OR LUNCH. Please email bell_co_bar@yahoo.com if you plan to attend so we can get you registered as soon as possible!!

The program has been approved for 5.75 hours participatory and one hour of ethics CLE credit.

THE AGENDA:
Morning Session (9:00-Noon)
8:45 - Opening Remarks, Business Meeting
9:00 - 9:45 - Introduction to Immigration Law - Ilwho Rho
9:45 to 10:00 - Morning break
10:00 - 11:00 – Preserving Error for Appeal - Justin Smith
11:00 - 12:00 - Judge’s Family Law / Mediation Panel, with Judge Fancy Jezek and retired Local Administrative Judge Rick Morris

Afternoon Session (1:00-5:00)
1:00 - 2:00 – Helpful Hints in Criminal Defense for the General Practitioner – Paul LePak / Tom Siegman
2:00 - 2:30 – What the Bar Can do for You (.5 ethics) - Susan Nelson
2:30 - 3:00 p.m. – Without Regret – 3 Keys You Didn’t Know for Keeping your Ethical Edge Sharp (.5 ethics) - J. Michael Godfrey
3:00 to 3:15 - Afternoon break
3:15 - 4:15 – E-filing Bell County District & County Clerks

Please see the PDF below for information regarding an E-Discovery Web Portal for the District Attorney's Office.

This portal is scheduled to go live on MARCH 24, 2014.

Download here: 20140307 E-Discovery-Portal-Announcement.pdf