After the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Peeler v. Hughes & Luce, Texas criminal defense lawyers generally felt that they had immunity from malpractice claims. In that case, after being convicted and sentenced, Ms. Peeler sued her criminal defense counsel for malpractice because he had failed to communicate a plea-bargain to her under which she […]
Some of us remember the “good old days.” You could share your fees – i.e. pay or receive a referral fee – on almost any terms you wanted so long as both of you accurately reported your income to the IRS. There were times when I would receive a blind call on a personal injury […]
February 2020 – Inaugural Speech of Robert Tobey There is no more important time in American history to be a lawyer than right now. But there also is no more challenging time to practice law. The DBA is a critical source of support for Dallas lawyers—and my goal is to ensure that continues to be […]
Johnston Tobey Baruch co-founder is sworn in as DBA’s 111th president. DALLAS — Trial attorney Robert Tobey, co-founder of Johnston Tobey Baruch, was sworn in as the 111th president of the Dallas Bar Association (DBA) on Jan. 11. Founded in 1873, the Dallas Bar Association serves as the voluntary professional body for more than 11,000 […]
Almost anyone who has seen even a few episodes of Law & Order understands at least the basic principle of the rule against hearsay. And, most Texas lawyers know how to use the business records exception to that rule. Under that exception, certain business records are admissible as an exception to the general rule barring […]
January 2020 – An ‘Outsider’ No More Welcome to 2020! I am honored to serve as the 111th President of the best Bar Association in the country. In this, my first column, I’d like to share with you how I got here and also demonstrate how the Dallas Bar can do great things for you […]
One of the hardest and most expensive things we do as lawyers is deal with difficult clients. We all have dream clients who make our jobs easy and enjoyable. These clients listen to us, heed our counsel, interact pleasantly with us, and pay their bills in full and on time. But for every yin, there […]
To read the first part of this article, click here. In my previous blog, I outlined the risks that clients face when they terminate a lawyer whom they hired on a contingent fee basis. The Texas Supreme Court’s 1969 decision in Mandel & Wright is that a client who fires a lawyer employed on a […]
Clients routinely seek to change lawyers at some point during a lawsuit. It is usually not a problem—unless the first lawyer was retained on a contingent-fee basis. Because many clients who retain a lawyer on a contingent fee are unsophisticated consumers of legal services, they often stumble into risks that could have been avoided when […]
Attorney immunity doctrine is a hot topic in Texas law. The Texas Supreme Court of Texas has issued two opinions on the doctrine in the past four terms, and the Fifth Circuit has issued two opinions on it since January 2019. As a result of these opinions, we now have a much better idea of […]
