Texas Government Code Title 2, Chapter 81 - State Bar

SUBCHAPTER A GENERAL PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 81.001 - Short Title
  This chapter may be cited as the State Bar Act. Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, Sec. 3.01, eff. Sept. 1, 1987.
• Texas Section 81.002 - Definitions
  In this chapter: (1) "State bar" means the State Bar of Texas. (2) "Executive director" means the executive director of the state bar. (3) "General...

SUBCHAPTER B ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 81.003 - Sunset Provision
  The state bar is subject to Chapter 325 (Texas Sunset Act). Unless continued in existence as provided by that chapter, this chapter expires September 1,...
• Texas Section 81.011 - General Powers
  (a) The state bar is a public corporation and an administrative agency of the judicial department of government. (b) This chapter is in aid of...
• Texas Section 81.012 - Purposes
  In order that the public responsibilities of the legal profession may be more effectively discharged, the state bar has the following purposes: (1) to aid...
• Texas Section 81.013 - Seal
  The state bar has an official seal, which may not be used for private purposes. Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, Sec. 3.01,...
• Texas Section 81.014 - Suits
  The state bar may sue and be sued in its own name. Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 148, Sec. 3.01, eff. Sept. 1,
• Texas Section 81.015 - Contracts
  To carry out and promote the objectives of this chapter, the state bar may enter into contracts and do all other acts incidental to those...
• Texas Section 81.0151 - Purchasing
  The board of directors shall adopt guidelines and procedures for purchasing that are consistent with the guidelines and procedures in Chapters 2155-2158. Purchases are subject...
• Texas Section 81.016 - Property
  (a) The state bar may acquire by gift, bequest, devise, or other manner any interest in real or personal property. (b) The state bar may...
• Texas Section 81.017 - Indebtedness, Liability, Or Obligation
  (a) An indebtedness, liability, or obligation of the state bar does not: (1) create a debt or other liability of the state or of any...
• Texas Section 81.018 - Contractual Obligations
  Any bond, note, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, mortgage, deed of trust, assignment, pledge, contract, lease, agreement, or other contractual obligation owed to or by the...
• Texas Section 81.019 - Officers Of State Bar
  (a) The officers of the state bar are the president, president-elect, and immediate past president. (b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the officers shall...
• Texas Section 81.020 - Board Of Directors
  (a) The governing body of the state bar is the board of directors. (b) The board is composed of: (1) the officers of the state...
• Texas Section 81.0201 - Training Program For Board Members
  (a) A person who is elected or appointed to and qualifies for office as a member of the board of directors may not vote, deliberate,...
• Texas Section 81.021 - Open Meetings; Public Participation
  (a) Meetings of the board of directors of the state bar are subject to Chapter 551. (b) The board of directors shall develop and implement...
• Texas Section 81.0215 - Strategic Plan
  (a) The state bar shall develop a comprehensive, long-range strategic plan for its operations. Each even-numbered year, the state bar shall issue a plan covering...
• Texas Section 81.022 - Annual Budget; Public Budget Hearing
  (a) The executive director of the state bar shall confer with the clerk of the supreme court and shall supervise the administrative staff of the...
• Texas Section 81.0221 - Alcoholic Beverages
  None of the funds of the state bar collected from mandatory dues may be used for the purchase of alcoholic beverages. Added by Acts 1991,...
• Texas Section 81.023 - Audit; Financial Report
  (a) The financial transactions of the state bar are subject to audit by the state auditor in accordance with Chapter 321, Government Code. The state...
• Texas Section 81.024 - Rules
  (a) The supreme court shall promulgate the rules governing the state bar. The rules may be amended as provided by this section. (b) The supreme...
• Texas Section 81.0241 - Electronic Transmission Of Election Materials
  (a) The state bar may, with the approval of the supreme court, distribute by electronic transmission ballots and related materials and receive by electronic transmission...
• Texas Section 81.0242 - Participation In Elections
  The state bar, in the manner provided by the supreme court, shall: (1) promote and monitor participation of members of the state bar in elections...
• Texas Section 81.025 - Bar Districts
  (a) The board of directors shall from time to time reapportion the state into bar districts for electing directors from those districts or to perform...
• Texas Section 81.026 - Committees And Sections
  (a) The board may create committees, subject to the executive committee's approval under Subchapter I, and sections as it considers advisable and necessary to carry...
• Texas Section 81.027 - Removal Of Director
  (a) The board of directors may remove a director from the board at any regular meeting by resolution declaring the director's position vacant. It is...
• Texas Section 81.028 - Relationship With Trade Association
  (a) In this section, "Texas trade association" means a cooperative and voluntarily joined statewide association of business or professional competitors in this state designed to...
• Texas Section 81.029 - Executive Director
  (a) The board of directors, by a majority vote, elects the executive director. The executive director serves at the pleasure of the board. (b) The...
• Texas Section 81.030 - General Counsel
  (a) The board of directors, by a majority vote, elects the general counsel of the state bar. The general counsel holds office at the pleasure...
• Texas Section 81.031 - Conflict Of Interest
  (a) The executive director and the general counsel of the state bar are subject to Chapter 572. (b) A person may not serve as a...
• Texas Section 81.032 - Deputy Clerk
  (a) The clerk of the supreme court, with the permission of the court, may employ a deputy to assist the clerk in discharging the duties...
• Texas Section 81.033 - Open Records
  (a) All records of the state bar, except for records pertaining to grievances that are confidential under the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, and records...
• Texas Section 81.034 - Restriction On Use Of Funds
  Fees collected under this chapter and other funds received by the state bar may not be used for influencing the passage or defeat of any...
• Texas Section 81.035 - Information Regarding Requirements For Office Or Employment
  The executive director or the executive director's designee shall provide to members of the board of directors and to agency employees, as often as necessary,...
• Texas Section 81.036 - Information On Certain Complaints
  (a) The state bar shall maintain a file on each written complaint, other than a grievance against an attorney, filed with the state bar. The...

SUBCHAPTER C MEMBERSHIP

• Texas Section 81.038 - Use Of Technology
  The board of directors shall develop and implement a policy requiring the executive director and state bar employees to research and propose appropriate technological solutions...
• Texas Section 81.051 - Bar Membership Required
  (a) The state bar is composed of those persons licensed to practice law in this state. Bar members are subject to this chapter and to...
• Texas Section 81.052 - Membership Classes
  (a) A bar membership is one of four classes: active, inactive, emeritus, or associate. (b) Each licensed member of the state bar is an active...
• Texas Section 81.053 - Status Of Certain Membership Classes
  (a) An inactive member may not practice law in this state, hold an office in the state bar, or vote in any election conducted by...

SUBCHAPTER D ADMISSION TO PRACTICE

• Texas Section 81.054 - Membership Fees And Additional Fees
  (a) The supreme court shall set membership fees and other fees for members of the state bar. The fees, except as provided by Subsection (j)...

SUBCHAPTER E DISCIPLINE

• Texas Section 81.061 - Supreme Court Jurisdiction Exclusive
  Rules governing the admission to the practice of law are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the supreme court. The officers and directors of the state...
• Texas Section 81.071 - Disciplinary Jurisdiction
  Each attorney admitted to practice in this state and each attorney specially admitted by a court of this state for a particular proceeding is subject...
• Texas Section 81.072 - General Disciplinary And Disability Procedures
  (a) In furtherance of the supreme court's powers to supervise the conduct of attorneys, the court shall establish disciplinary and disability procedures in addition to...
• Texas Section 81.073 - Classification Of Grievances
  (a) The chief disciplinary counsel's office shall classify each grievance on receipt as: (1) a complaint, if the grievance alleges conduct that, if true, constitutes...
• Texas Section 81.074 - Disposition Of Inquiries
  The chief disciplinary counsel shall: (1) dismiss a grievance classified as an inquiry; and (2) refer each inquiry classified under Section 81.073(a)(2)(A) and dismissed under...
• Texas Section 81.075 - Disposition Of Complaints
  (a) The chief disciplinary counsel shall review and investigate each grievance classified as a complaint to determine whether there is just cause, as defined by...
• Texas Section 81.0751 - Appeals
  (a) The commission or a respondent attorney may appeal: (1) a finding of a panel of a district grievance committee under Section 81.075(e) only to...
• Texas Section 81.0752 - Confidentiality
  (a) All types of information, proceedings, hearing transcripts, and statements presented to a panel of a district grievance committee are confidential and may not be...
• Texas Section 81.0753 - Rules Regarding Grievances
  The supreme court shall promulgate rules regarding the classification and disposition of grievances, including rules specifying time limits for each stage of the grievance resolution...
• Texas Section 81.076 - Commission For Lawyer Discipline
  (a) The Commission for Lawyer Discipline shall review the structure, function, and effectiveness of the disciplinary and disability procedures implemented pursuant to this chapter and...
• Texas Section 81.077 - Disbarment Proceedings
  (a) The supreme court may not adopt or promulgate any rule abrogating the right of trial by jury of an accused attorney in a disbarment...
• Texas Section 81.078 - Disciplinary Proceedings
  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), until an attorney has been convicted of the charges for disbarment pending against the attorney in a court...

SUBCHAPTER F COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

• Texas Section 81.079 - Public Notification And Information
  (a) To provide information to the public relating to the attorney grievance process, the state bar shall: (1) develop a brochure written in Spanish and...
• Texas Section 81.091 - Committee On Professional Ethics
  (a) The professional ethics committee consists of nine members of the state bar appointed by the supreme court. (b) Members serve three-year terms with the...
• Texas Section 81.092 - Committee Opinions
  (a) The committee shall, either on its own initiative or when requested to do so by a member of the state bar, express its opinion...
• Texas Section 81.093 - Panels
  The committee may meet in three-member panels to express its opinion on behalf of the whole committee, but an inquirer who is dissatisfied with the...
• Texas Section 81.094 - Certain Committee Duties
  The committee shall: (1) periodically publish its issued opinions to the legal profession in summary or complete form; (2) on request provide copies of its...

SUBCHAPTER G UNAUTHORIZED PRACTICE OF LAW

• Texas Section 81.095 - Expenses
  The state bar shall pay all necessary and actual expenses of the committee out of the state bar budget. Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg.,...
• Texas Section 81.101 - Definition
  (a) In this chapter the "practice of law" means the preparation of a pleading or other document incident to an action or special proceeding or...
• Texas Section 81.1011 - Exception For Certain Legal Assistance
  (a) Notwithstanding Section 81.101(a), the "practice of law" does not include technical advice, consultation, and document completion assistance provided by an employee or volunteer of...
• Texas Section 81.102 - State Bar Membership Required
  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person may not practice law in this state unless the person is a member of the state...
• Texas Section 81.103 - Unauthorized Practice Of Law Committee
  (a) The unauthorized practice of law committee is composed of nine persons appointed by the supreme court. (b) At least three of the committee members...
• Texas Section 81.104 - Duties Of Unauthorized Practice Of Law Committee
  The unauthorized practice of law committee shall: (1) keep the supreme court and the state bar informed with respect to: (A) the unauthorized practice of...
• Texas Section 81.105 - Local Committees
  This chapter does not prohibit the establishment of local unauthorized practice of law committees to assist the unauthorized practice of law committee in carrying out...

SUBCHAPTER H MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 81.106 - Immunity
  (a) The unauthorized practice of law committee, any member of the committee, or any person to whom the committee has delegated authority and who is...
• Texas Section 81.112 - Fee Dispute Resolution Procedure
  The state bar shall establish a standard fee dispute resolution procedure that may be used by a bar committee or other organization as a model...
• Texas Section 81.113 - Continuing Legal Education
  (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), the state bar shall credit an attorney licensed in this state with meeting the minimum continuing legal education...
• Texas Section 81.114 - Attorney Instruction Related To Guardianship Issues
  (a) The state bar shall provide a course of instruction for attorneys who represent parties in guardianship cases or who serve as court-appointed guardians. (b)...

SUBCHAPTER I EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

• Texas Section 81.115 - Online Attorney Profiles
  (a) The state bar shall create a profile of each attorney licensed by the state bar. The profile must: (1) include the information required by...
• Texas Section 81.121 - Executive Committee
  (a) The executive committee consists of: (1) the president, the president-elect, and the immediate past president of the state bar; (2) the chair of the...
• Texas Section 81.122 - Duties Of Executive Committee
  The executive committee shall: (1) on the recommendation of the president of the state bar, approve the creation of additional standing and special committees of...
• Texas Section 81.123 - Approval Of Committees
  Before the executive committee may approve the creation of an additional standing or special committee of the state bar, the committee must: (1) study and...

Last modified: September 28, 2016