Commission for Lawyer Discipline - State Bar of Texas

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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.
Lisa Tatum of LM Tatum, PLLC, practices in the areas of public finance, general civil practice, employment, and education.She earned her B.A. in government from Smith College in 1991 and her J.D. from Santa Clara UniversitySchool of Law in 1994. She has served the State Bar in a number of capacities, including as a director, section representative,chair of the African American Lawyers Section, and District 10 Grievance Committee member. Tatum wasappointed to the Commission in 2010.PUBLIC MEMBERSJanna Kiehl of Amarillo was appointed as a public member to the Commission in 2005. She has served as chiefexecutive officer of the Better Business Bureau of Amarillo/The Texas Panhandle since 1994. Prior to joining theBetter Business Bureau, she was employed by the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission. Her service to the StateBar of Texas began in 1999 when she was appointed to the District 13A Grievance Committee.Edward B. Beanland retired from Ernst & Young after a 39-year career during which he served in a wide variety ofroles, including serving as Global Client Service Partner for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Beanland led thefirm’s Southwest Strategic Growth Markets practice from the mid-1980s through the late-1990s and established andfor 10 years hosted the Ernst & Young Southwest Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. He received a B.B.A., magna cumlaude, from the University of North Texas in 1970.Providence C. Boneta is a senior vice president of Corporate Banking with Frost Bank in McAllen. She wasappointed as a public member to the Commission in 2009. From 2006 to 2009, she served on the District 12BGrievance Committee. Boneta attended Texas A&M University where she earned a B.B.A. in finance.Jeff Lewis of Manor was appointed to the Commission in 2009 upon completion of his second term with the District9 Grievance Committee. He has worked at the Office of the Texas Attorney General for more than 21 years andcurrently is with the agency’s Internal Audit Division. Prior to that, he worked in the Child Support Division. Lewisreceived a B.B.A. from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.Kate McKenna of Fort Davis was appointed to the Commission in 2010. As a journalist and art director, she hasworked in various capacities for the Austin American-Statesman, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Office ofVice President Al Gore, the Desert-Mountain Times (Alpine), among other places. She also is an illustrator andpainter working from her studio in Fort Davis. McKenna has a degree in government from the University of Texas atAustin, as well as a degree in art history.Nancy Freeman Powers of Taylor Lake Village is a retired registered nurse with a specialty in critical care and postopen-heart surgery recovery. She currently works as historian and genealogist for the Texas Society of MayflowerDescendants. Powers has been a licensed realtor and was awarded lifetime membership in the Texas PTSA. She wasappointed to the Commission in 2010.3
Page 1 and 2: State Bar of TexasCommission for La
Page 6 and 7: Ethics Helpline — (800) 532-3947T
Page 10 and 11: At a Grievance Committee Training a
Page 12 and 13: Recognizing VolunteersMore than 400
Page 14 and 15: Disciplinary Appeals, obtaining dis
Page 16 and 17: District Grievance CommitteesTexas
Page 18 and 19: Grievance ProcedureThose who believ
Page 20: COMPLAINT STATISTICSDuring the 2010
Page 23 and 24: PUBLIC REPRIMANDThis type of discip
Page 25 and 26: Other Disciplinary ProceedingsCOMPU
Page 27 and 28: Grievance SupportThe Office of Chie
Page 29 and 30: This past year, 50 percent of calls
Page 31 and 32: STATE BAR OF TEXAS — A FEW STATS8

Commission for Lawyer Discipline - State Bar of Texas

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