Commission for Lawyer Discipline - State Bar of Texas

Commission for Lawyer DisciplineThe Commission for Lawyer Discipline is a standing committee of the State Bar of Texas and serves as the client inthe Texas attorney discipline system. The Commission provides oversight to the Chief Disciplinary Counsel andadministers the attorney discipline system. The Commission works closely with the State Bar Board of Directors andmakes quarterly reports to the Board on the administrative functions of the Commission as well as important issueswithin the grievance process. Professional responsibility and public protection are priorities of the State Bar ofTexas, and oversight, funding, and support of the disciplinary system are in the best interests of all Texas attorneysas they provide ethical representation to their clients. State Bar directors play a critical role in the discipline systemas they recommend both lawyers and non-lawyers to the State Bar president for appointment to local grievancecommittees. The Commission is composed of 12 members: six attorneys appointed by the President of the State Barand six public members appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas.ATTORNEY MEMBERSBetty Blackwell, chair of the Commission, is a private practitioner in Austin. She received her law degree from theUniversity of Texas School of Law and was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1980. Her service on the Commission forLawyer Discipline began in 2005. She has served as chair for the past five years. She is a past president of the TexasCriminal Defense Lawyers Association as well as the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and is certified incriminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.Ronald E. Bunch serves as vice chair of the Commission. He is a sole practitioner in Waxahachie who focuses onpersonal injury law. A past president of the Ellis County Bar Association, Bunch has served on the State Bar of TexasBoard of Directors, the Unauthorized Practice of Law Subcommittee, and as chair of the State Bar Local Bar ServicesCommittee. He is a graduate of Baylor Law School.Frank Costilla, Jr. is in private practice in Brownsville. He received his law degree from the University of Iowa in1977 and was admitted to the Texas Bar the same year. He served on the Board of Disciplinary Appeals for two termsand was appointed in 2006 to serve on the Commission and reappointed in 2009. Costilla has also served aspresident of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Rio Grande Valley Chapter.Guy N. Harrison maintains a general civil litigation and mediation practice in Longview. He served as chair of theState Bar of Texas Board of Directors from 1997 to 1998 and as State Bar President in 2002–03. He has served as alocal grievance committee member and past member of the Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct Committee.He received his law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1973.2Charles W. Schwartz is a partner in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP., in Houston where he leads thelitigation practice. He graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1977 and from Harvard Law Schoolwith an LL.M. in 1980. Schwartz served as a member of the District 4 Grievance Committee from 1993 to 1999. Heserved on the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors from 2000 to 2004, and as its chairman in 2002–03. He is aSustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and received the Foundation’s Dan R. Price Memorial Award in2004. He is certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and was appointed to theCommission in 2008.