AUSTIN – The State Bar of Texas gave its proposed budget presentation to the Texas Supreme Court today.
Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, via Zoom, started the presentation off. “These are hard times and we are trying to do our best to meet the challenges that confront us and I’m so grateful that the bar has been helping every time we’ve needed counsel or assistance.”
Hecht said the court sustained a “serious cyber attack” over the weekend and was recovering from the incident.
Bar president elect Larry McDougal spoke about the budget, saying this year the Bar has a 3 percent increase. He said the Bar currently has an $11 million surplus.
The Texas Supreme Court was told the Bar has remained fully operational during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Toward the end of the presentation, Justice Jeffrey Boyd asked questions about the Bar’s excess figures, as the Bar has come in under budget every year for the past decade.
Justice Jimmy Blacklock inquired about the status of a lawsuit in federal court over mandatory dues and how the Bar goes about spending those dues.
As previously reported, former Bar President Joe Longley requested an attorney general opinion on whether the collection of mandatory dues is constitutional.
Blacklock was told the lawsuit was still in a “holding pattern.”