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News Release
Texas Access to Justice Foundation
August 29, 2011
Richard L. Tate Reappointed Chair of the Texas Access to Justice
Foundation Board of Directors
AUSTIN, Texas - The Supreme Court of Texas has reappointed
attorney Richard L. Tate of Richmond, to chair the board of directors of
the Texas Access to Justice Foundation (TAJF). Tate was reappointed to a
three-year term as chair through August 2014. He is a founding
partner in the
Richmond law
firm of Tate, Moerer & King, L.L.P.
Tate was appointed to the board of directors
of TAJF in 1993, and was first appointed chair of the board in 1999.
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation is the largest state-based funding
source for civil legal aid in
Texas, and has awarded more than $300 million since
its inception. The Foundation board of directors
consists of 13 attorney and public members, seven of
whom are appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas and six
by the State Bar of Texas.
"We are pleased to have the leadership of Mr.
Tate in this Foundation that helps thousands of disadvantaged Texans receive
the legal services they desperately need,” Justice Nathan Hecht, the Supreme
Court’s liaison to the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, said. “As we
continue to face the economic challenges of providing more basic legal
services for more people in need, we are confident the experience and
commitment of Mr. Tate will help us meet those fiscal challenges responsibly
and conscientiously.”
Tate is a former president
of the Fort Bend County Bar Association and has been in private practice for
32 years, with a principal concentration in civil litigation. He
earned his law degree from the University
of Houston, his undergraduate degree from Pan American
University, and a master’s degree from
the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Supreme Court of Texas created the Texas
Access to Justice Foundation in 1984 to provide funding for the civil legal
needs of poor and low-income Texans. The Foundation annually awards grants
to approximately 40 nonprofit legal aid organizations throughout the state
that help struggling Texans in matters involving foreclosures, employment,
domestic violence and family law issues.
The Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts
(IOLTA) program is a primary funding source for the Foundation and for civil
legal services to Texans in need. IOLTA funding has decreased nearly 75
percent since 2007 due to an overall decline in interest rates. In addition
to IOLTA, the Foundation collects and administers other private and public
funding and works closely with partners in the banking industry to manage
and increase the funding for IOLTA.
# # #
The Texas Access to Justice Foundation (www.teajf.org),
created by the Supreme Court of Texas in 1984, is the primary state-based
funding source for the provision of civil legal aid in
Texas. The organization is committed to the vision that
all Texans will have equal access to justice, regardless of their income. The
Foundation administers a variety of funding sources, which are earmarked to
assist nonprofit organizations in providing legal aid to approximately 100,000
Texans each year.
Contact: Kimberly Schmitt
512-320-0099, ext. 104
kschmitt@teajf.org
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