Annually, the international organization Association for Continuing Legal Education (ACLEA) offers “best” awards in five categories that recognize the contributions of its professional member organizations. TexasBarBooks has received three of only 18 awards granted to competitors representing more than 300 organizations.

TexasBarBooks was chosen for the Award for Professional Excellence in the Marketing Category for enhancing our online presence in order to provide easily accessible information about our products and services to customers through the TexasBarBooks.net website. The award for Professional Excellence is the top prize; only one is awarded in each category of prizes.

TexasBarBooks was chosen for an Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Publications Category for Essentials of Texas Water Resources. Published in October 2009, Essentials of Texas Water Resources brings together a number of experts, including experts outside the legal profession, to address the subject of water resources from a variety of perspectives.

Finally, TexasBarBooks was chosen for an Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Public Interest Category for our “TexasBarBooks’ Books 4 Pro Bono” initiative, which offers free and deeply discounted Texas Family Law Practice Manuals to lawyers who attend the “Family Law Essentials for $200 or Free” seminar and agree to take on pro bono cases in underrepresented areas of the state.

The awards will be presented at ACLEA’s 46th Annual Meeting, which will take place in New York City at the end of July.

We are excited to announce that TexasBarBooks is making the transition from CD-ROMs to downloadable digital products. Not only will this allow us to release our titles more quickly, but it is another way we can reduce our environmental impact.

This transition means:

• Easier Access. You can stop lugging your CD-ROMS around with you. You’ll be able to access your library of digital titles from anywhere you have a computer with an internet connection.
• Availability on Demand. When you purchase TexasBarBooks products online, you will be able to instantly download the digital product—no more waiting for your CD-ROM to be shipped.
• Faster Publication Time. By eliminating the CD-ROM production time, we can now publish titles and get them into your hands much faster.
• Up-To-Date Information. Downloadable products allow us to more efficiently provide you with updates.
• Less Environmental Impact. By eliminating CD-ROMs fewer materials are consumed during production, and no outdated CDs will be sent to landfills when the book’s next edition is released.

The digital products will contain all of the great content that you’ve come to expect from TexasBarBooks in a format that’s faster, easier and greener. (And if you really miss shiny plastic discs, you can easily burn your own CD-R from the digital files!)

Look For This Symbol…

Any products that are marked with this symbol are available as a digital product and can be purchased and downloaded immediately!

The Supreme Court of Texas has posted revised proposed amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct on its website (Click here and scroll down for April 2010 revisions and related documents). The State Bar expects to conduct a referendum of its members this fall on these proposed changes.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Ray Cantu (ray.cantu@texasbar.com).

The newly updated Texas Collections Manual provides everything you need for your debt collection law practice. The 2010 supplement reflects the statutory changes made by the 2009 legislative session and relevant case law decided since publication of the 2008 supplement.

And here’s a free download from the manual: the Bankruptcy Checklist takes you through a list of questions you should be asking if you find that bankruptcy has become an issue for your client.

TexasBarBooks is proud to announce the release of our newest book: Bankruptcy Road Map: Navigating the Landscape, Avoiding the Pitfalls.

Bankruptcy Road Map is designed to guide you through the bankruptcy process for both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases. Mapped to assist the nonbankruptcy practitioner faced with bankruptcy issues, the journey begins with representation strategies for both debtors and creditors at the time of filing of the bankruptcy petition and ends with the treatment of dischargeability issues. Stops along the way include the automatic stay, means testing, proofs of claim, and avoidance action.

Click here for more information or to purchase your copy today!

From Essentials of Texas Water Resources:

In Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, 274 S.W.3d at 742 (Tex. App.—San Antonio 2008, pet. filed), the court reviewed, among other issues, a summary judgment in favor of the authority on Day and McDaniel’s claim that the operation of the Edwards Aquifer Authority legislation and its decision denying Day and McDaniel’s permit application constituted a taking under Tex. Const. art. I, § 17. The authority has argued that the takings claim failed because the landowner “did not have a constitutionally protected
vested interest in the groundwater.” Day, 274 S.W.3d at 756. The court cited its decision in City of Del Rio v. Hamilton Trust and held that landowners have ownership rights in the groundwater and therefore have a vested right therein. The court further held that the landowner’s “vested right in the groundwater beneath their property is entitled to constitutional protection.” Day, 274 S.W.3d at 756.

Either or both of these cases could be reviewed by the Texas Supreme Court. For now they represent the most definitive treatment of the nature of the real property groundwater right.

Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day was reviewed by the Supreme Court of Texas last week. One of the Amicus Curiae briefs for this case was filed by Russell S. Johnson on behalf of the Texas Wildlife Association. Mr. Johnson is also the author of the chapter, “Groundwater Law and Regulation” found in Essentials of Texas Water Resources.

Read the history of the case.

Read the briefs.

This week Casemaker announced CaseCheck+, a powerful new service that goes beyond the features of its current CaseCheck service. CaseCheck lets you know whenever your case has been referenced by another case, but CaseCheck+ gives you the precise manner in which a particular case affects the case you are reading. You can get a free 14-day trial of the service by clicking here.

Texas attorneys still have access to free legal research through Casemaker. This service, supported exclusively by TexasBarCLE and TexasBarBooks, gives you access to the laws of all fifty states, including Texas, plus to federal case law and statutes, all at no charge. And anytime you use the electronic version of a TexasBarBooks publication, like any of the Texas Pattern Jury Charges volumes, you’ll find links to the cases and statutes cited in the text. To give it a try, download this free excerpt from Texas Criminal Pattern Jury Charges—Intoxication and Controlled Substances.

At the beginning of a new year and a new decade, Texas lawyers find themselves in the midst of a sea change in the way lawyers, law firms, and clients use technology. How do you navigate through the perils and make the most of the opportunities offered by social networking? Take a look at these posts for some ideas:

• Ten Ways to Improve Your Facebook Marketing Efforts
• Should your Firm Ban Facebook?
• Online social networking at work
• Firms should embrace social networking technology
• Ins and Outs of Social Networking for Lawyers: How Tough Is It to Cast Your Profile into Infinity?
• Ethical Issues for Lawyers, Judges Using Social Networking

With our instant download feature, you can download electronic versions of selected publications (including our Texas Pattern Jury Charges series) immediately upon purchase.

Simply make your online purchase, and then follow the easy instructions to download the electronic product, which contains the entire book in a fully hyperlinked and word-searchable PDF file. The download contains everything you need while you wait for your softbound book to be shipped to you, free of charge.

This feature is available when you purchase any of the following publications:

• Arbitration Road Map: A Guide to Clauses, Procedures, and Hearings
• Contingency Planning: The Texas Practitioner’s Guide to Powers of Attorney and Other Alternatives to Guardianship
• Essentials of Texas Water Resources
• Texas Criminal Pattern Jury Charges—Intoxication and Controlled Substances
• Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Business, Consumer, Insurance & Employment
• Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Family
• Texas Pattern Jury Charges—General Negligence & Intentional Personal Torts
• Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Malpractice, Premises & Products

By downloading any of the publications’ files, you waive refund privileges for the purchase.

Sherry Priest, Publications Attorney and Mary K. Sahs, Editor

On December 9, TexasBarBooks hosted a luncheon to honor and congratulate the more than 30 authors that contributed to Essentials of Texas Water Resources.