State Bar of Texas
Annual Report 2023 -
2024
It is my pleasure to present to you the 2022-2023 State Bar of Texas Annual Report.
Welcome to the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the State Bar of Texas.
This year, thanks to the hard work of our volunteer leaders and professional staff, the State Bar found new ways to advance its role of regulating the profession and improving the quality of legal services. Under the leadership of 2023-2024 President Cindy Tisdale and our board of directors, we tackled issues including artificial intelligence, lawyer well-being, attorney vacation letters, and new disciplinary rules—all with the goal of helping lawyers better serve their clients.
By proposing clear guidelines and promoting best practices, the Taskforce for Responsible AI in the Law (TRAIL) is working to ensure that AI enhances, rather than diminishes, the role of lawyers, while also demonstrating that technology and ethics can work hand in hand. And speaking of ethics, President Tisdale led the way with her dozens of presentations across the state on what the TV character Ted Lasso can teach us about ethics in the practice of law. Meanwhile, as part of the 2024 rules referendum, the bar membership overwhelmingly approved a collection of new and amended disciplinary rules designed to protect the public while also making the rules clearer for lawyers to follow.
The board took an important step to invest in our bar and safeguard its long-term financial stability by approving the first increase in membership dues rates since 1991. The increase—$23 a year for most lawyers—will take effect June 1, 2025, and will help counter the rising costs of conducting bar business due to inflation. Even with the pending rate increase, bar dues in Texas will remain among the lowest in the country.
At the same time, the State Bar expanded our best-in-the-country member benefits program to provide all Texas lawyers access to free billing and trust accounting software and one month of free online mental health therapy. Discounted therapy is available to bar members who choose to continue after the first month. A priority of President Tisdale’s, the therapy benefit provides our members with additional tools to improve their performance and deal with the grief, anxiety, depression, and other common mental health difficulties that may impact their ability to serve clients.
As we move ahead, our goals are clear: embrace innovation, equip lawyers with tools to enhance their practices, invest in our bar, and uphold the highest standards of professionalism. To our many volunteer leaders and our staff, thank you for your hard work and dedication to these goals. Here’s to another year of excellence.
Sincerely,
Trey Apffel
Executive Director, State Bar of Texas
