Posted on
January 15, 2011 in
From the State Bar of Texas, contact information for a young Houston criminal-defense lawyer:
(Original here; archived PDF here.)
Yes, the State Bar in fact says that this lawyer is employed by a Texas prison inmate (she is not), and gives that inmate’s prison address as the lawyer’s address (it is not). This is on the State Bar’s lawyer-search site, where people can (theoretically) go to find reliable contact information for any Texas lawyer. I wonder how much of the lawyer’s mail Mr. Tarvin has received.
Meanwhile, the same State Bar of Texas is struggling to persuade you that the amendments to the Disciplinary Rules are in the best interest of your clients and you. Unfortunately for the State Bar, ethos is important.
But the contact information on the bar website is maintained by the attorney and it is the responsibility of the attorney, not the state bar, to ensure the information is correct. Right?
I don’t think so.
The lawyer is supposed to give the State Bar her current address.
(I am assuming that this lawyer didn’t tell the State Bar that she was employed by a TDCJ inmate.)
Beyond the responsibility to give the State Bar the correct information (and to correct it when she finds out it’s wrong), I don’t think a Texas lawyer has any duty to go looking for ways the State Bar is screwing it up (though it’s obviously a good idea). How could it be otherwise, with so many lawyers who are technological incompetents?
Well, I talked to Jen and she’s trying to clear it up. It would have helped if we had her side of the story. Something went wrong here (she’s locked out of logging in to the SBOT website) and it’s important to find out what, but I don’t think it’s clear from the information in the post.
I have no doubt that she’s trying to clear it up. I’d be livid … no, I’d be berzerk if I were she.
I hope that you would, having talked to her, tell me if you though my assumption that she didn’t give the incorrect information to the SBOT was unfounded.