Dallas Bar Association
HEADNOTES
Focus Employee Benefits/Health Law
February 2018 Volume 43 Number 2
Jo Anna Moreland Longtime DBA Endowment Ensures the Future of Access to Justice in Dallas Executive Director Passes Away BY MICHELLE M. ALDEN
STAFF REPORT
Jo Anna Moreland served as the third Executive Director of the Dallas Bar Association from 1962 until her retirement in 1990. During her 28 year tenure she led the organization with energy and commitment that was unmatched. After 28 years of a wonderful retirement she passed away on January 18, 2018. In 1962, the Dallas Bar Association President was Morris Harrell and Jo Anna worked with 27 more Presidents to carry out the mission of the Dallas Bar Association. She held each President up individually so that each shone. The DBA’s office in 1962 was in the Adolphus Hotel and Friday Clinics were held in the dining room. After many years of exploring the idea of the Association owning Jo Anna Moreland its own headquarters, the DBA Board made the decision in 1977 to purchase the Belo Mansion. Jo Anna was instrumental in coordinating this effort and the Association moved its headquarters to the Belo Mansion in 1979.
She was very proud of the new building and always carefully preserved the history of the building and the association by maintaining files and files of old photos, copies of invitations and board minutes dating back to the 1930’s. Today, the staff continues to carefully maintain the rich history of the organization. The Dallas Bar Association grew from 1,466 in 1962 to 6,550 in 1990. Jo Anna welcomed new members with a smile and got them involved in the DBA immediately. Many of those members were groomed by Jo, became section and committee leaders, board members and later served as presidents of the Association. Upon her retirement, the Board of Directors instituted the Jo Anna Moreland Committee Chair Award, which is the most prestigious award given to a Committee Chair and its members who have gone beyond the call of duty for the Association. Jo Anna served as the Association’s third Executive Director following Eula Cates (19371948) and Evelyn Conway (1948-1962). HN
Ensuring Equal Access to All BY MICHELLE M. ALDEN
There but for the grace of God go I. This is a phrase we hear people say all the time, and it encapsulates the uncertainty of our world—a world where we can work hard, lead a healthy life, try to do all the right things, but still hard times befall us. Many would be hard pressed to say that quote never passed their minds when working with someone less fortunate, who lost a job, whose spouse left them, or someone struggling with health problems or addiction. The list goes on. This phrase was at the forefront of one volunteer attorney’s mind when she represented “Marilyn” and helped her keep her home. Eighty-
one-year-old Marilyn was behind on her mortgage payments and the mortgage company was threatening to foreclose on her longtime home. She had been making payments on her mortgage for 30 years, and if she had remained current the entire time, the loan would have been paid off. However, due to financial hardship, Marilyn fell behind on her payments in 2009. She eventually caught up, only to fall behind again in 2014. During the times Marilyn was in default, the mortgage company charged excessive amounts of interest and penalties, so that even after 30 years of making payments, she still owed $12,000. Marilyn hired a private attorney to represent her in continued on page 17
Inside 8 DBA Board Elects Chair and Vice Chair 10 Inaugural of Michael K. Hurst 14 The Tax Man Comes For The Tax Man 17 Tips for Statistics in Health Care Enforcement Cases
When Michael Hurst, of Lynn Pinker Cox Hurst LLP, heard about the threats to funding for civil legal aid in Dallas County last year, he got to thinking. The new administration was threatening to eliminate the Legal Services Corporation, which funds legal aid nationally. State funding through the Texas Access to Justice Foundation is dependent on approval from the legislature every two years. Even if funding is approved for the current year, what about next year? The instability created by these funding cycles just didn’t seem right, and Michael decided to do something about it. The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP) is a joint initiative of the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas. Since its founding in 1997, DVAP has become the largest and most comprehensive provider of free legal aid to the poor in Dallas. DVAP provides access to justice by recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer attorneys to provide pro bono legal aid to lowincome people in Dallas County. A 16-member staff supports over 3,000 volunteers annually in providing these services. Legal aid programs around the nation face a crisis over how to pay for the legal aid services they provide. Committed volunteers provide their legal services free of charge; however, funds are needed to coordinate clinics, recruit volunteers, train and mentor volunteers, and oversee the thousands of cases DVAP handles each year. Rather than waiting for the next round of funding cuts, Michael led the charge to establish a DVAP Endowment, which strives to seek and maintain long-term funding to secure legal aid to the poor in Dallas. The DVAP Endowment will be used solely to support DVAP so that pro bono legal aid services to the poor in Dallas will continue should traditional funding methods shrink or cease to exist. After the new DVAP Endowment was created, Lynn Pinker Cox Hurst/Jane and Michael Hurst committed to contribute $50,000, and Michael began reaching out to community-minded friends and leaders in Dallas to obtain initial funding. Michael is well-positioned to lead the charge as the
2018 President of the Dallas Bar Association. So far, $405,000 has been pledged! “I believe that Michael is going to be an extraordinary leader of the Dallas Bar Association, and, with his vision and leadership, the DBA will continue to build on its heritage as a pillar of the Dallas community. We at Hunt are thrilled to be able to support Michael’s vision to create an endowment for DVAP that will provide a much more stable funding source for the crucial services that DVAP delivers every year. We hope that the momentum being created through great leadership in the business and legal community will continue to grow the endowment now and in the future,” said David Hernandez, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. Hunt Consolidated, Inc., through the leadership of Ray Hunt, Mr. Hernandez, Hunter Hunt, and Chris Kleinert, is contributing $50,000. David and his wife Michele Hernandez are contributing an additional $10,000. AT&T and Vistra Energy also joined the ranks of initial supporters of the Endowment. “AT&T has a proud history of supporting DVAP through lawyer volunteers and annual contributions, so we did not want to miss out on the chance to help launch an endowment that will empower DVAP to do even more in the years to come,” stated David R. McAtee II, Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel. AT&T, through David’s leadership, is contributing $50,000; and David and his wife, Cristy, are contributing an additional $10,000. “The legal department at Vistra Energy, which includes our subsidiaries TXU Energy and Luminant, places significant emphasis on pro bono work and community service. We were pleased to contribute to funding the endowment and hope that it will serve as a backstop that safeguards funding for DVAP in the event state and federal funding for legal aid decreases,” said Dan Kelly, Vice President and Associate General Counsel. Vistra Energy, under the leadership of Stephanie Moore and Dan Kelly, is contributing $50,000. So is Highland Capital Management. “We are proud to help provide legal continued on page 16
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