lawyers association

Michael P. Heiskell (JD ’74) Named 2022 Baylor Lawyer of the Year | Law

Michael P. Heiskell (JD ’74) Named 2022 Baylor Lawyer of the Year


Baylor Lawyer of the Year, Michael Heiskell (center), with Ambassador Ron Kirk, Baylor Law Alumni Association President Cynthia Clack, Baylor University President Linda Livingstone, and Dean Brad Toben at the Fort Worth Club on Thursday, September 15, 2022.


WACO –

The Executive Committee of the Baylor Law Alumni Association has selected Michael P. Heiskell (JD ’74) as the 2022 Baylor Lawyer of the Year. Cynthia Clack (JD ’78), President of the Baylor Law Alumni Association, presented Heiskell with the award during a recognition luncheon at the Fort Worth Club on Thursday, September 15th.

Michael and Anita Heiskell

“Michael exemplifies every quality of a Baylor Lawyer. He is a fierce yet compassionate advocate for his clients and has an unswerving dedication to improving the quality of our justice system while maintaining the highest ideals of the legal profession,” stated Baylor Law Dean Brad Toben. “He is an outstanding lawyer and a truly authentic person. His career and life bear testimony to his richly deserving this honor.”

“I am honored, humbled, and grateful to be the recipient of the 2022 Baylor Lawyer of the Year Award,” Michael said. “To be listed among the most influential and iconic Baylor Lawyers—from Leon Jaworski, to Matt Dawson, to Bob Bullock, just to name a few—is a blessing that I will cherish for the rest of my life,” he continued. “Attending Baylor Law was a dream come true for me. I left it a lot wiser in ways I never imagined. I am proud to continue to associate myself with Baylor University and its great law school.”

Heiskell, who focuses his practice on criminal defense and representing civil rights litigants, is one of the three founding partners of the Fort Worth-based firm

Read the rest

Defense lawyers threaten job action over Legal Aid Alberta funding

The associations plan to meet on Wednesday night to discuss and vote on next steps, including the withdrawal of their services.  (Cort Sloan/CBC - image credit)

The associations plan to meet on Wednesday night to discuss and vote on next steps, including the withdrawal of their services. (Cort Sloan/CBC – image credit)

Three organizations that represent hundreds of defense lawyers in Alberta are threatening job action if the provincial government does not increase funding for Legal Aid Alberta.

The Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association of Calgary, the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association of Edmonton, and the Southern Alberta Defense Lawyers’ Association of Lethbridge sent letters to Justice Minister Tyler Shandro in mid-July requesting a funding discussion before July 29.

The associations say the government is refusing to properly fund Legal Aid Alberta (LAA), a non-profit organization that provides legal services to Albertans in family, domestic violence, child welfare, immigration and criminal defense cases.

The defense lawyers I Alberta lawyers who take legal aid cases are underpaid compared to those in Manitoba, British Columbia and Ontario and that many have become crown prosecutors to obtain better compensation.

“The most minimal provision of legal aid services in Alberta is at a breaking point,” the groups said in a joint press release Saturday.

The associations plan to meet on Wednesday night to discuss and vote on next steps, including the withdrawal of their services.

Submitted by Danielle Boisvert

Submitted by Danielle Boisvert

Danielle Boisvert, president of the CTLA in Edmonton, said the job action “would have a serious, direct and immediate impact on everybody else in the justice system.”

She said without legal aid lawyers, many more Albertans would try to represent themselves in court, leading to more work for crown prosecutors and judges and increasing the possibility of wrongful convictions.

Pay discrepancies

LAA, which is mainly funded by the province, served more than 34,000 clients last year.

Boisvert said legal aid cases make up about half of most defense lawyers’ workload, but the percentage

Read the rest

Alberta legal aid lawyers threaten job action over ‘perpetual funding neglect’

Article content

Alberta lawyers who represent low income clients are threatening to walk off the job over what they call “perpetual funding neglect” of Legal Aid Alberta.

Advertisement 2

Article content

On Saturday, three organizations representing criminal defense lawyers across Alberta issued an ultimatum to Justice Minister Tyler Shandro, months after Crown prosecutors made similar demands for additional funding

“The most minimal provision of legal aid services in Alberta is at a breaking point,” states the news release. “While we are prepared to collaborate with other stakeholders to solve this crisis, our cooperation is contingent upon a meaningful commitment by the government to adequate fund Legal Aid Alberta now.

“To ensure the government understands the immediacy of this crisis and the importance of this funding, our organizations are taking steps towards job action.”

The release is signed by the Edmonton-based Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association (CTLA), Calgary’s Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association and the Southern Alberta Defense Lawyers’ Association.

Advertisement 3

Article content

Unlike the public defender system in the United States, defense lawyers in Alberta are not employed directly by the government. Rather, they are paid to represent low-income clients through Legal Aid Alberta, an arm’s length organization that receives funding from the federal and provincial governments, as well as from interest earned on their trust accounts.

In July, the

Read the rest