The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday issued its 38th Emergency Order of the COVID-19 pandemic. In it, the court permits the modification or suspension of court deadlines and procedures through August 1, 2021. The order permits all courts to hold in-person proceedings, including jury trials, after the adoption of health and safety standards, but encourages all courts to continue to use reasonable efforts to hold proceedings remotely.
The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday issued its Final Approval and Adoption of Amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure. The rule amendments will take effect July 1, 2021.
Texas lawyers voted to approve eight rule change proposals earlier this year. To see the results of that vote go to texasbar.com/rulesvote. The court’s order approves and adopts each of those proposals, as well as interpretive comments, as set forth in the order.
Among other changes to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, the court’s order adopts amendments to Part VII (lawyer advertising and solicitation) and Rule 1.05 (confidentiality of information), and adopts new Rules 1.16 (clients with diminished capacity) and 6.05 (conflict of interest exceptions for nonprofit and limited pro bono legal services).