For just the second time in its history, the State Bar of Texas yesterday began the process of verifying a petition candidate to run for president-elect.
Bar board member Steve Fischer filed his petition on Valentine’s Day, says Bar spokeswoman Holly Priestner.
“I brought a big box,” says Fischer, noting his petition includes 5,660 lawyers’ signatures. “I think it was exciting for everyone at the Bar. They were taking photographs and stuff. It was a piece of Bar history.” (Fischer is pictured giving his petitions to Bar Executive Director Michelle Hunter.)
The State Bar Act says any member of the Bar may run for president-elect if he or she files a petition with signatures from five percent of Bar members who are in good standing. The Bar’s executive director certifies the petition.
Priestner says the Bar’s membership department will enter each signature into a computer program that will help eliminate any duplicates and ensure each person is a member in good standing. The Bar policy manual says the Bar has five business days to complete the process.
“We are worried about accuracy and keeping in line with the policy manual,” Priestner says.
Fischer has been collecting lawyers’ signatures for nearly a year.
“It’s something I really believe in,” he says.
If the Bar certifies his petition, Fischer will run against Trey Apffel, a League City solo, and Larry Hicks, president and managing shareholder in Hicks & Llamas in El Paso.
-- Angela Morris
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