Bright Spots of 2020

REFLEXÓNES

By David Evans, San Antonio Bar Association President

A recurring meme on the internet featured the year 2020 asking no one in particular to hold its beer while it showed us all how things could always get worse. At the risk of daring 2021 to humble me even further, I visited with our ever-cheery Executive Director June Moynihan to focus this President’s Message on several positive SABA developments that we can expect in the coming year as we bid adieu to the dumpster fire that was 2020.

Lawyer Referral Service Intake Fully Automated

The Lawyer Referral Service has seen tremendous growth and reach since its founding in 1966. Steady at the LRS helm for almost that entire time was Sylvia Hernandez, who retired in December with our tremendous thanks for a job so well and faithfully done. We now look forward to the leadership of Outreach Attorney Whitney Thomas, who will manage the LRS and the community resource portal that helps prospective clients find the right attorney for their legal issue. We will announce developments on that front as they occur, and we anticipate even more growth in the years to come for this wonderful program to which Sylvia devoted her professional life.

New Bar Offices – Designed With COVID Safety Protocols

We look forward to moving into new office space across the street from the old courthouse in the old Federal Reserve building. While a firm move-in date is still a moving target, state of the art surfaces and UV light air purifier systems will keep visitors safe once we move in. When complete, the space will make the lives of lawyers practicing regularly at the courthouse easier and serve as a hub for the legal community and volunteer lawyers. We are thankful to past President Bobby Barrera for leading the effort to secure these new digs, and I look forward to joining President-Elect Dawn Finlayson with a ribbon cutting at some point in the coming year. [Light Padre Pio votive candle.]

Technology Keeps Bexar County Lawyers Moving Forward

Virtual Jury Trials

You may have tuned in to the SABA Town Hall on December 8, when we visited with Judges Arteaga and Jiménez, along with San Antonio attorneys Ron Sprague, Kelly Kelly, Wesley Williams, and Tabor Dorsey about their respective experiences with the first virtual jury trials held in Bexar County. Whether or not virtual jury trials will continue to be held once the effects of the pandemic subside, it is exciting to see our judiciary and members of the bar come together to navigate these uncharted waters and share their experiences with all of us.

Bexar County to Launch New Case Management Tool

Bexar County entered into a five-year, $20-million agreement with Tyler Technologies, Inc. and has been onboarding the new Odyssey case management system since March 2020. This is the same system used by Harris County and is presently installed or onboarding in twenty of the largest counties in Texas. Odyssey is primarily back-office case management software for judges and clerks. The civil court module will launch in April 2021. According to Tyler Technologies, the new system will reduce the time needed to move a document to the court’s portal after submission to the clerk; streamline the hearing notification process; and and make information entered during a court proceeding immediately available at the clerk’s office. Counsel (not the public) will also have the ability to access electronic case files and documents.

Bexar County Clerk Lucy Adame-Clark is extremely excited about how much easier she anticipates things will become once these solutions are integrated. She says there are also prototypes for Bexar to have “kiosks at the courthouse that will allow attorneys to check on the status of their cases easily and efficiently.”

And a last little shout out to the Bexar County Clerk’s Office, which was recently recognized by the Texas Association of Counties with the 2020 County Best Practices Award for the Records on the Run initiative. Records on the Run, a first of its kind mobile satellite County Clerk’s office, allows county residents to record, register, buy, or request copies of vital documents such as military discharge papers, real property records, marriage licenses, and more, by visiting the office, which rotates locations throughout Bexar County. You can view the Records on the Run locations and dates on the county website, or follow the Bexar County Clerk’s Office Facebook page (facebook.com/ countyclerkbc). And while you are there, congratulate the County Clerk’s Office for the award!

Until next we visit, onward and upward and keep the faith.

David Evans

photo by Nathan Baerreis