As you are interviewing Texas personal injury attorneys to hire for your personal injury case, it’s very important to verify if he or she has been censured or disciplined in the past.
You’ll want to determine also what caused the disciplinary action. For example, if an attorney has ever failed to pay an expert for his or her testimony, he could have been disciplined.
Good news is, it’s simple to find out in Texas if an attorney has gotten in hot water before. Just follow these easy steps to find out about any problems:
- Visit the State Bar of Texas website.
- On the home page you will see the Find a Lawyer feature on the top of the page.
- Type in the name of the first and last name of the attorney, and law firm, if available.
The profile for that Texas-licensed attorney should appear. Under Section 81.115 of the Texas Government Code, this attorney profile information is required to be provided to the public. Information that appears on each attorney’s profile includes:
- Name
- Firm Size
- Specialty
- Law school and year graduated
- Public disciplinary history for Texas and other states
The website states that Texas disciplinary sanctions within the last 10 years are shown. For sanction or disciplinary information beyond 10 years, you need to contact the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel: (877) 953-5555.
There is a $20 charge for a certified copy of a disciplinary judgment for a Texas attorney.
Still need more information about discipline and censure of an attorney in Texas? The Texas Center for Legal Ethics lists the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that details all of a licensed Texas attorney’s responsibilities to clients.