Texas Supreme Court Okays Divorce Forms: Get a Texas Divorce Without Paying a Lawyer

Interesting thing happened recently here in Texas:  the Texas Supreme Court issued an Order that approves certain forms for use by individuals wanting a divorce -- no need for lawyers.

That's right.  In certain situations, married folk here in the Lone Star State can split their matrimonial blanket without the need to spend one dime on attorneys' fees.  The Texas Supreme Court has provided the forms for them to use, it's so easy peasy.

You can read the Texas Supreme Court Order here.  There's a majority opinion as well as some dissenting arguments if you want to delve into the rationale behind this new twist in Texas law.

This does take money out of some lawyer pockets.  It's my understanding that the intent behind this development is to help couples who cannot otherwise afford a family law attorney to get a divorce and move on with their lives.

Will savvy and sneaky couples try and find ways to use these forms and avoid a lawyer, even if they can afford one (and maybe need to have a lawyer check things over)?  Time will tell. (Of course they will!)

The Family Law Bar isn't pleased.   Surprise.

Nonlawyer Firm Ownership – I Think It’s Scary and Wrong.

Read today over at Law.com about a growing trend in having law firms owned by NON-lawyers.  Wow. 

To read the article, originally published by Corporate Counsel, check out “IBM General Counsel Robert Weber on Nonlawyer Firm Ownership.”

I agree with Mr. Weber.

Perhaps this is the final nail in the coffin of law being a profession and not a business.

Long ago, when all those challenges to solicitation regulation began hitting the U.S. Supreme Court right along with the local and state bars and there was an outcry that “country club solicitation” was unacceptably elitist … and the doors were opened to lawyer advertising and such, well I thought I got it.

Law practices were profit-making enterprises, after all. 

We would lose our professional status, our integrity, if this dam broke, I remember some of the elder statesmen (and stateswomen) of the local bar warning during bar cocktail parties.  How old school I thought.

Now, I remember what they said.  And I think they were right.  It makes me sad.  And it makes me wonder about our country and our society if lawyers don’t own law firms anymore.   Remember Shakespeare’s line about first thing, kill all the lawyers? 

It wasn’t because lawyers are shady or slimy or manipulative or greedy.  It was because lawyers and the legal system hold the society together like a steel skeleton in a skyscraper. 

Where are we going here?  Are we killing all the lawyers here with the concept of nonlawyer firm ownership?

Third Party Litigation Funding: Outside Investors Fund Litigation for a Piece of the Pie

Companies opening their checkbooks to pay for lawsuits? Yepper, looks like Third Party Litigation Funding has crossed over the pond. Attorneys in the United States appear to be following the trend set by litigators in Great Britain and Australia with Third-Party Litigation Funding. Seems there are a couple of companies already offering to finance American business lawsuits in exchange for a cut in the settlement proceeds or judicial award. (They also share the risk of loss if their side loses the case.)

It's reasonable to think that there will be other financiers entering the fray. After all, Great Britian has been testing the waters on this lawsuit funding investment option for several years now (albeit not without controversy).

Two Front Runners: Juridica Investments Ltd and Burford Capital

Juridica Investments Limited explains that its goal is to "make the legal system better for business claims." And its risk analysis is simple: Juridica has funding for business claims only -- it's not interested in personal injury matters, toxic torts, or the like. Ewww.

Burford Capital is a British company that is also ready to invest in business litigation, both in the United States and across the globe. Burford is traded on the London stock exchange as BUR, in case you'd like to check the company out. These aren't fly by night organizations by a long shot.

What are they looking for? In one interview with Juridica CEO Richard Fields, it was suggested that the British third party financier (TPF) was interesting in disputes ranging between $15 and $25 million involving business causes of action.

Can torts be far behind? Just think of the Toyota class action litigation, ponder the inevitable Oil Spill claims .... I'm thinking that the question of when Third Party Litigation Funding enters into the American Tort arena is sooner rather than later.

They Settled Virginia Tech Today

They've reached a settlement in the Virginia Tech killings, and the Judge approved the agreement today. I'm not sure how I feel about this, or what I think.

I hope that these 24 families get some closure from today's ruling. What happened on that campus was such a horror, with so many of the victims, so young. So many years stolen from them.

I think about the legal fees. I wonder what the cut was. Forty percent - fifty? Plus expenses before the families see a dime? That's not unreasonable, that's sorta standard these days. How much of that $11 million will the 24 families really get?

I think about litigation from a legal perspective, and how being an attorney turned into a business somewhere in the past 30 years or so, and reading this newstory today makes me sad.

Did anyone sue the University of Texas after the sniper, Charles Whitman, shot students at random from the Tower? Did anyone ever seriously think to do so?

How responsible can any university truly be when someone with a severe mental illness turns violent?

Do we, as a society, really think money is this powerful and important?

Just some of the things I'm pondering this evening. My condolences to everyone who was harmed by the Virginia Tech Tragedy, as well.