State Bar offers hotline to help North Texas tornado victims

(AUSTIN, TX – Dec. 29, 2015) The State Bar of Texas legal hotline — (800) 504-7030 — is available to help connect victims of the December 26 North Texas tornadoes with legal aid providers in their area.

The toll-free hotline — answered in English and Spanish — is designed to connect low-income people with local legal aid providers who can help with such issues as replacing lost documents, insurance questions, landlord-tenant problems, and consumer protection issues such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams during the rebuilding process.

Callers can leave a message at any time. People who qualify for assistance will be matched with Texas lawyers who have volunteered to provide free, limited legal help.

Additional resources are available at texasbar.com/disasters and texaslawhelp.org.

The State Bar of Texas reminds the public that solicitation of a potential legal case is a crime unless the lawyer has a family relationship with you or you have been a client of the lawyer in the past or are currently a client. Solicitation of you is also a crime if perpetrated by a non-lawyer employee or representative of the lawyer, unless the previous conditions exist. Please report any prohibited contacts by lawyers or their representatives, whether in person, telephone, or otherwise, to your local law enforcement authority or the State Bar of Texas at (877) 953-5535.

— — —

The State Bar of Texas is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Texas that provides educational programs for the legal profession and the public, administers the minimum continuing legal education program for attorneys, and manages the attorney discipline system.

By Amy Starnes, Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas.

The Blue Ribbon News print edition is delivered free to more than 18,000 homes throughout Rockwall and Heath.