Legal Information at Your Fingertips

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Navigating the legal system is difficult enough, but imagine how complex and overwhelming it can be if you are maneuvering through it on your own without the help of experienced and knowledgeable legal counsel. Sadly, according the Self-Represented Litigant Network, a coalition of legal and non-legal professionals who seek to close the justice gap and reform the justice system, an estimated 3 out of 5 people involved in civil matters go to court without an attorney. We at the Harris County Law Library try to do our part by promoting open and equal access to justice for all and providing access to relevant, current, and accurate legal information. If you are a regular follower of our blog, you know that we sing the praises of TexasLawHelp.org, which has a wealth of information for self-represented litigants. However, we would also like our readers to be aware of some other websites that have a good selection of legal resources and lots of good legal information.

State Bar of Texas

On the webpage for the State Bar’s Legal Access Division, users can find links to a referral directory for legal services available to low-income Texans, a legal aid directory, a lawyer referral service, and Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans, a State Bar program for military veterans. The State Bar also has available many free legal resources and pamphlets that cover a wide array of topics, such as the basics of the legal system, family law, immigration, and many more. Visitors can either download the pamphlet or request copies from the State Bar. Pamphlets are also available in Spanish.

The People’s Lawyer

Richard Alderman, author of Know Your Rights! and professor emeritus at the University of Houston Law Center, is known as “The People’s Lawyer,” and for good reason. Alderman is the force behind the popular website, The People’s Lawyer, which covers a wide array of legal topics from auto accidents to landlord/tenant law to small claims court. Users can find links to Texas consumer protection statutes and related federal consumer laws as well as links other useful websites relating to topics, such as lemon laws and product recalls, tax tips, and elder law. There is also an FAQ section with answers to common legal questions.

FindLaw

Another online resource for self-represented litigants looking for legal information is FindLaw, which is part of the Thomson Reuters family of businesses. FindLaw’s Learn About the Law section has informational articles about various topics including criminal law, employment law, family law, consumer protection, and so much more. Texas users can find links to Texas-specific laws and even some city-specific information, too. There are blog posts and podcasts about current legal issues that users may find interesting as well.

Send in the Clowns... For a Whole Week

We at the Harris County Law Library would be remiss if we failed to wish you a happy International Clown Week. People around the world spend the first week of August celebrating clowns. This most wonderful time of year has its roots right here in the United States of America, and is a fantastic example of citizen action turning a dream into a legal reality.

Though some debate surrounds its precise origins, American clowns began acknowledging August 1 through 7 as “Clown Week” at some point in the 1950s. In 1966, the then-President of Clown Club of America appointed Frank “Kelly the Clown” Kelly chairman of the organization’s Interational Clown Week initiative. Mr. Kelly encouraged membership to write to their legislators to request that National Clown Week become an official American holiday, and in 1969 a resolution was introduced through direct, targeted lobbying of Arkansas Senator John McClellan.

On October 8, 1970, Congress officially passed Public Law 91-442 requesting that the Executive Branch issue an offical proclamation that August 1 through 7 be adopted by the United States as National Clown Week in perpetuity. This dream became a reality on August 2, 1971, when President Richard Milhous Nixon officially proclaimed National Clown Week in Proclamation 4071. President Nixon would go on to resign three years later, almost to the precise day, on August 8, 1974. Perhaps he wanted to stick around for one more Clown Week.

Whatever Nixon’s motivations, this real American holiday was the result of patriotic clowns banding together to rally polticians to their cause at the highest levels. As we have written about before, despite their historic profession, clowns are not always covered by the legal protections one might expect. For example, with the status of their intellectual property unclear, clowns in the UK sought to protect their art through maintance of a registry known as “The Clown’s Gallery.”

Houston Evictions Assistance Coalition

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To address the legal needs of Houstonians facing evictions, the Houston Bar Association (HBA) has teamed up with Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL); Houston Lawyer Referral Service; Dispute Resolution Center; Lone Star Legal Aid; South Texas College of Law Houston; Thurgood Marshall School of Law Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy, Inc.; and University of Houston Law Center to form an Evictions Assistance Coalition. With the moratorium provided by the federal CARES Act having expired on July 26 and court proceedings beginning again, the need for help in landlord/tenant matters is great. Those requiring assistance with an eviction are urged to visit hba.org/eviction for information about free legal representation for low-income persons. Visitors can also find a self-representation toolkit, information about mediation and lawyer referrals, eviction, and many more resources.

Tenants seeking free legal assistance with HVL can apply by using HVL’s online intake form or calling HVL at (713) 228-0735. With certain exceptions, applicants are required to provide identification and proof of income as well as complete information about their case. If accepted, HVL will try to place the case with a volunteer attorney. For more information about HVL and its services, please visit its website at makejusticehappen.org.

If you are a lawyer and want to help, you are invited to contact HVL at evictionvolunteer@hvlp.org. HVL will provide the necessary training and mentoring for interested volunteers.

Click here to read the Evictions Assistance Coalitions press release.

Votes for Texas Women: 19th Amendment Centennial Symposium

Harris County Law Library is hosting a symposium in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the progress made by the women’s suffrage movement. Registration is now open for this important program, which be held on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, from 2 p.m.-4 p.m., via GoToWebinar. Attendees can receive 2.0 hours CLE, including 1.0 hours ethics in Texas, provided by the Harris County Attorney’s Office.

Law Library Director Mariann Sears, the first woman to serve as Director of the Law Library, will open the symposium by welcoming three notable women in the legal profession to discuss the history of voting rights for women and the importance of inclusion in law and government. The speakers include: Marie Jamison, a partner at Wright, Close & Barger, who will share her research into the history of the 19th Amendment and the progress that followed; Renee Knake Jefferson, a professor at University of Houston Law Center, who will discuss the research for her book, Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court, and Justice Frances Bourliot, a judge for the Texas 14th Court of Appeals, who will discuss the importance of inclusion on the bench and share her experience as an appellate justice.

The date selected for the symposium is the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920. On that day, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, which Congress passed on June 4, 1919, and Texas ratified on June 28, 1919. To learn more about the path of the 19th Amendment toward ratification and the history of the brave suffragists, like Jovita Idar, who pressed for the right to vote in Texas, visit the exhibit “Texas and the 19th Amendment” from the National Parks Service.

We hope you will join us on August 18 as we look back on this historic moment in our nation’s history and delve into what it means for all of us today.

Travel On Your Sofa

For millions of Americans, summer trips have become a thing of the non-COVID past. Even a day at the beach might be off-limits. International travel is even more of a pipedream, as currently only nine nations are open without restriction to US visitors.

Americans can work from home, shop from home, even go out on a date from home or adopt a pet over Zoom, so why not explore the world through the screen of a laptop?

GeoGuessr is a free, fun series of geography-based challenge games. Its basic premise is simple: you are dropped into a GoogleMaps StreetView, and then drop a pin on a conventional map at your best guess of the geographical location. Sounds simple, but it can be addictive, and you will become an expert on the differences between South African dirt roads and the Australian outback faster than you think.

From the comfort of your home, find yourself transported to Japanese fishing villages, and Scadinavian city squares. Check out GeoGuessr!