Law firms are typically based on tradition. They are not usually on the cutting edge of technology. In fact, for most people the image of a successful attorney is one sitting behind a broad, sturdy, century-old desk, with a wall of law books as the backdrop. But the...
Picture this. You're at a cocktail party. You are pushing the filberts around your glass with your straw. Someone strikes up a conversation with you. You, as is requisite, ask them what they do. "Oh, I'm a city planner," they say. What comes to mind? More than just...
When it comes to municipalities, not everyone understands the difference between a town or area being incorporated or unincorporated. So, what's the difference? The three types of general law municipalities Towns (larger than villages and smaller than cities) are...
Amarillo has been mentioned in songs by a wide range of musical artists, including Nat King Cole and Bob Dylan, and by George Strait, Jason Aldean and Neil Sedaka, among others. It seems unlikely that an ongoing Amarillo legal battle will ever be the subject of song,...
Shareholder Announcement The law firm of Denton Navarro Rocha Bernal & Zech is proud to announce that as of January 1, 2021 Clarissa M. Rodriguez, Robert Drinkard, Scott M. Tschirhart, Rebecca S. Hayward, and T. Daniel Santee. II and have been promoted to...
Cities and counties in Texas rely on several revenue streams to finance their operations, including property and sales taxes, user fees and funding from the state and federal governments. Former state representative Joe Pickett says the city of El Paso has come up...
Sometimes legal disputes involving Texas cities and counties jump around the map. The Hidalgo County city of McAllen has filed a lawsuit in Travis County over a state law passed in Austin to resolve a problem in Progreso (another Hidalgo County city). Pharr – also in...
Drug testing is common among private businesses. A clean test is often a prerequisite before a person can start a job. But what about public entities? Can a city or municipal government require drug testing of all its employees? Generally speaking, the answer is “no,”...
In a democracy, citizens need to be informed about what actions their public officials take. This concept applies not only at the national and state level, but in local governments, school boards and even other entities. Several are required to abide by Texas’ Public...
The people of Texas believe in government transparency. The state’s Open Meetings Act is designed to give the public an unobstructed view of how their government works. In an era of social distancing, transparency has its challenges. Fortunately, the Open Meetings Act...
