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Week of July 20, 2009
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Calling All Summer Associates! Legal Build 2009 Needs Your Help
Austin Habitat for Humanity and the Austin Bar Association’s Legal Build Committee invite you to provide a wonderful community service opportunity for your summer associates! Summer Clerk Day at the Legal Build site is Saturday, July 25. If your summer associates are interested in helping build a home for Tamika Nobles and her family, please have them contact Julie Smith at jasmith@ahfh.org.
We ask that each firm sending summer associates make a donation of $50 to $100 for each person they send. Click here to make a donation. This is a great way to get your summer associates involved in a fun Austin Bar Association activity and to expose them to the local Bar's charitable undertakings.
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FTC "Red Flags" Rule to Go in Affect August 1
The Federal Trade Commission has established a Red Flags Rule under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The Rule, originally set to go into effect May 1, 2009, requires creditors to develop programs identifying, detecting, and responding to the warning signs ("red flags") of identity theft. The FTC considers lawyers, among other professionals, to be creditors and thus subject to the Rule.
The American Bar Association requested the FTC to postpone enforcement of the Rule in order to assess the implications of the Rule on lawyers and law firms. On April 30, 2009, the FTC delayed enforcement of the Rule until August 1, 2009.
On June 13, 2009, the ABA Board of Governors passed policy urging the FTC and Congress to exempt lawyers from the Red Flags Rule. The Governmental Affairs Office is advocating the exemption of lawyers from the Rule before the August 1 enforcement date.
However, at this date, lawyers are included in the Rule and should prepare accordingly. For more information, please visit either the ABA Web site or FTC Web site.
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Enough About Me ... What Do You Think About Me?
That's right, the Austin Bar Association wants your opinion on how we're doing. To launch this new Bar year, we want to know what you — our members — think about the Austin Bar programs, benefits, services, etc. This is YOUR association, and to best serve you, we need to know what you like, what you don't like, what's working for you, and what's not.
Last Monday, the Austin Bar sent out notices for an electronic survey through the Ballot Box software. Participation in the survey should only take about 5 minutes, and the pay-off is an association that better serves our members.
Contact Carol Tobias at Carol@austinbar.org or Kat Hinson at Kat@austinbar.org with any questions about the survey.
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CLE for Your Staff, August 6 - September 23
Invest in your staff by sending them to the upcoming Advanced Legal Career Enhancement Seminar offered annually by Austin LSA, the association for legal professionals. The course will cover ethics, civil litigation, citations and research, courts and jurisdictions, real estate, estate planning, probate, family law, criminal law, office procedures, and written communications. Where else can you get a bargain like this for only $50?
For more information, please contact Fay Jordan at 495-1426 or fjordan@georgeandbrothers.com.
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School Supply Drive Aims to Make 2009-2010 an A+ Year
New shoes are not the only thing some children are lacking at the beginning of the school year. Many do not have the pencils, paper, or other basic supplies to help them be successful from day one of the new school year.
That is why the Austin Bar and AYLA have partnered with For the Children to contribute to the education of public elementary school students in Travis, Williamson, and Hays counties by procuring and distributing basic school supplies. Campus allocation is based on the number of students qualifying for federal free or reduced-cost lunch programs.
To help start these students off on the right foot, you may bring cash, checks made out to For the Children, or supply donations to the Austin Bar office by Friday, Aug. 7. Don't forget to put a donation box in your office to gently remind co-workers to donate. Click here to learn more about the For the Children program.
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Hays County District Clerk Approves E-Filing for Civil Documents
Hays and surrounding counties now have the ability to file civil documents in the Hays County District Courts electronically through eFiling for Courts, a service developed by TexasOnline, the official Web site of the State of Texas and offered through the Hays County District Clerk’s Office.
Electronic filing enables filers to submit civil documents via the Internet without printing, standing in line at the Justice Center or hiring a courier. Filers can send documents through a secure website 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week from any location with Internet access. The electronic filing rules in Texas allow filers to submit most documents up to 11:59 p.m. and still meet the filing deadline. An added bonus for attorneys is the ability to electronically “serve” copies of documents to other parties in the case, with or without a filing.
To eFile in Hays County, an attorney must register with one of TexasOnline’s certified Electronic Filing Service Providers. The current providers are American LegalNet, CaseFileXpress, Court File America, eLawServices, My File Runner, OneLegal, and ProDoc. Once registered, attorneys can eFile into any participating court in the state.
For more information, visit www.TexasOnline.com/eFiling or www.distclerk.co.hays.tx.us.
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Featured Member Benefit: Austin Bar Career Center
Austin Bar Association Career Center can help you find the perfect employer or employee. Just register with our virtual recruiting office to take advantage of an extensive resource center that allows you to: post/edit your confidential resume online, research potential employers, post jobs, view online resumes of qualified candidates, receive online tips for resume writing, interviewing, etc.
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Upcoming Meetings
SECTIONS:
Tuesday, July 21 - Health Law Section Meeting
COMMITTEES:
The following Austin Bar Committees are meeting at the Austin Bar office, 816 Congress, Suite 700.
Parking is available in the adjacent garage, accessible from 9th Street. Please feel free to attend any that interest you.
Since lunch is provided, please RSVP by noon the previous day to Mollie@austinbar.org or call 472-0279 with your name and the name of the committee.
Thursday, July 23 - People's Law School Committee Meeting
Tuesday, July 28 - Legal Build Committee Meeting
Tuesday, July 28 - Judicial Affairs Committee Meeting
Monday, August 3 - CLE Committee Meeting
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Proud corporate sponsors of the Austin Bar Association
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