The Supreme Court of Texas is inviting public comments on proposed amendments to Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 9, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, and 64, as set forth in this order.
In Misc. Dkt. No. 25-9092, the Court sets forth a plan to eliminate the Court’s practice of requesting merits briefs before granting a petition for review, effective January 1, 2026.
Comments regarding the proposed amendments should be submitted in writing to rulescomments@txcourts.gov by December 23, 2025. The Court will issue an order finalizing the amendments after the close of the comment period. The Court may change the rules in response to public comments.
The Court expects the amendments to take effect on January 1, 2026, and to apply fully to any proceeding in the Court if the petition for review, original proceeding, or certified question is filed in the Court on or after that date. If a petition for review, original proceeding, or certified question is filed in the Court before January 1, 2026, then the former rules apply in all respects, unless otherwise ordered by the Court.
The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, an initiative of the Dallas Bar Association, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and local lawyers, is hosting free virtual and in-person legal clinics for eligible Dallas County residents throughout November.
All virtual clinics run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.:
DVAP; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; and St. Mary’s University School of Law—Thursday, November 6
DVAP, Goldman Sachs, and Toyota—Friday, November 7
DVAP and Haynes and Boone—Thursday, November 13
DVAP, DLA Piper, and SMU Dedman School of Law—Thursday, November 20
DVAP will host the following in-person clinic:
South Dallas Clinic; Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 2922 Martin Luther King Blvd., Dallas. Sponsored by DVAP; SMU Dedman School of Law; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges—Tuesday,November 11, at 5 p.m.
For virtual clinics, Dallas County residents are asked to apply for free legal assistance through the online form available at https://tinyurl.com/DVAPClinic. After the form is completed, applicants can expect a phone call from an attorney through an unknown number labeled “No Caller ID” or something similar.For information about the legal clinics, go to dallasvolunteerattorneyprogram.org. For free legal assistance any time, contact the DBA’s Lawyer Referral Service at DallasLRS.org. For media inquiries about the legal clinics, contact DVAP Director Michelle Alden at aldenm@lanwt.org.
Greenberg Traurig and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs received the 2025 Access to Justice Awards from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF) during a luncheon co-hosted by the foundation and the Supreme Court of Texas on October 20 at the AT&T Hotel Conference Center in Austin.
The luncheon was held to address the growing need for expanded access to civil legal aid across the state and recognized the commitment of partners who work to ensure that all Texans—regardless of income—can navigate the justice system. “Legal aid provides more than just legal help. It offers peace of mind, stability, and a path forward for families facing hardship,” said TAJF Executive Director Betty Balli Torres in a press release. “Thanks to the dedication of [these] honorees, more Texans have the support they need to face legal challenges and move toward a more secure future.” TAJF Treasurer Roland Johnson and Supreme Court of Texas Justice Brett Busby, the court’s liaison to the TAJF and the Texas Access to Justice Commission, presented the awards. They both praised the TAJF’s and the recipients’ continued dedication to access to justice.
Greenberg Traurig has co-sponsored a post-graduate fellowship program with the TAJF for 15 years, according to a press release. The Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs has worked with the TAJF since the COVID-19 pandemic on housing stabilization legal services essential to keeping Texans housed. The event also featured presentations from grantees who shared personal examples of the day-to-day impact of legal aid in communities across Texas. Speakers included Robert Doggett of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Kay Caballero of Family Legal Services of the South Plains, and Zoe Dobkin, a fellow at Texas Legal Services Center. For more information about the TAJF, go to teajf.org.
PHOTO (from left): Texas Access to Justice Foundation Treasurer Roland Johnson, Supreme Court of Texas Justice and TAJF liaison Brett Busby, TAJF Executive Director Betty Balli Torres, and State Bar of Texas President Santos Vargas during the TAJF Access to Justice Luncheon on October 20. Photo courtesy of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Kyle Hawkins as a justice on the Supreme Court of Texas for a term set to expire on December 31, 2026. He will replace Justice Jeff Boyd, who retired in June.
Former State Bar of Texas President G. Thomas Vick Jr. was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Austin College in Sherman during a dinner held on October 17. Vick, a 1977 graduate of Austin College, served as president of the State Bar of Texas from 2017 to 2018.
Vick also served as chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2014; on the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors from 2005 to 2008, and on the Texas Access to Justice Commission from 2006 to 2009. He has received numerous awards and recognitions from the State Bar of Texas and other legal associations around Texas and the nation.
A partner in VickCarney in Weatherford, Vick received a J.D. in 1981 from South Texas College of Law Houston.
The State Bar of Texas has announced a partnership with Rev, one of the world’s leading platforms for legal transcription accuracy and secure discovery review. Through this partnership, the 116,000-plus members of the State Bar of Texas will have access to discounted annual subscriptions to Rev’s AI platform, which provides secure and reliable transcription and legal AI workflow tools.
The partnership is formed at a critical time as the state bar proactively guides its members on the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence. This new member benefit complements the recently launched State Bar of Texas AI Toolkit, a comprehensive resource designed to help Texas attorneys navigate an increasingly complex legal landscape with new technology.
“We are excited to announce this partnership with Rev,” State Bar of Texas Executive Director Trey Apffel said in a press release. “This new member benefit—our first since the launch of the State Bar of Texas AI Toolkit—underscores our commitment to providing lawyers with access to relevant technology tools to support their practices.”
Rev’s platform delivers the one of the world’s most accurate legal transcripts, proven to outperform competitors by nearly 50% on challenging audio, according to a press release. Beyond transcription, Rev ingests and indexes bulk discovery files—including PDFs, Word documents, and TXT files—to help attorneys cut through overwhelming evidence at speed and scale. With citations-first AI and enterprise-grade security—SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance, plus a strict no third-party LLM training policy—Rev provides legal teams a defensible and confidential foundation for faster, more precise review.
“The State Bar of Texas has shown real leadership in guiding attorneys through the responsible use of AI,” Rev Founder and CEO Jason Chicola said in a press release. “At Rev, our mission is to ensure justice isn’t lost to inefficiency or oversight, and this partnership brings attorneys the accuracy, security, and innovation they need to protect the integrity of every case.”
The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, an initiative of the Dallas Bar Association, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and local lawyers, is hosting free virtual and in-person legal clinics for eligible Dallas County residents throughout October.
All virtual clinics run Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.:
DVAP and St. Mary’s University School of Law—Thursday, October 2
DVAP and Hunton Andrews Kurth—Thursday, October 9
DVAP, Haynes and Boone, and SMU Dedman School of Law—Thursday, October 16
DVAP and DLA Piper—Thursday, October 23
DVAP, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, and McGuireWoods—Thursday, October 30
In this episode of the State Bar of Texas Podcast, host Rocky Dhir introduces a new series of the Texas Young Lawyers Association’s Young Gunners podcast, which spotlights all nine justices of the Supreme Court of Texas. In these special episodes, then-TYLA President Hisham Masri, then-TYLA Immediate Past President Laura Pratt, and then-TYLA President-elect Alyson Martinez speak with the SCOTX bench members about their respective path to the high court, judicial philosophy, and advice for young attorneys navigating the legal profession.
AffiniPay, the team behind LawPay, MyCase, CasePeer, and DocketWise, is now 8am™. This marks a new chapter in how we support professionals like you—we’re more connected, more purposeful, and more invested in your success than ever before.
In this episode of the State Bar of Texas Podcast, host Rocky Dhir welcomes Shawn Tuma, a past chair of the State Bar of Texas Computer & Technology Section and co-chair of the Cyber, Data, and AI Practice at Spencer Fane, to discuss a range of recently enacted technology laws, helping attorneys understand their purpose, implications for legal practice, and considerations related to technology competence. As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, new Texas laws are establishing a foundational framework for its governance, with a focus on the prevention of harm and ethical use. The two explore key legislation including the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act, Texas Cyber Command, and Cybersecurity Safe Harbor, offering insights into emerging best practices for technology in legal practice.
