The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility

A business bankruptcy attorney and recipient of Houstonia magazine's Top Lawyer award, Hugh M. Ray III has been a long-time advocate of professionalism in legal practice. As a result of his outstanding legal work and dedication to the legal profession's highest principles, Hugh Ray III was inducted as a Life Fellow of the Fellows of the American Bar Association.

The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility was established over a century ago to set ethical standards for attorneys and judges across the United States. The ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct is used to develop standards for ethical legal practice and conduct. Further, the opinions of the committee serve as guidelines for court decisions involving the interpretation of the rules. 

Most recently, the committee has drafted a proposal revising the ethical standards for communications advertising legal services. The draft outlines the requirements of any communication associated with a lawyer or law firm to be truthful and free of misleading information. The proposal also identifies circumstances where attorneys can pay for recommendations or references.

ABA, CloudLaw, and State Bars Join to Improve Public Access to Lawyers

Texas-based attorney Hugh M. Ray III serves as a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP. In this capacity, he handles commercial litigation, complex reorganization, and bankruptcy cases through the firm’s insolvency and restructuring practice. Active in the professional community, Hugh Ray III belongs to the American Bar Association (ABA).

In January 2018, the ABA, one of the largest voluntary professional organizations in the world, announced that it had partnered with CloudLaw Public Benefit Corporation and several state bar associations to develop online legal directories for lawyers and the public. Through this partnership, the organization plans to create an easy-to-use network that promotes connections with and between legal professionals, host a lawyer search, and provide users with important legal information.

To ensure this network accomplishes all its goals, each partnering organization has a specific role to play. The state bars are responsible for developing an online public legal directory that is more personalized and capable of serving the needs of the public. Meanwhile, CloudLaw and the ABA will work together to create an online lawyer-to-lawyer directory. Serving as a central hub, this directory would allow lawyers to connect with one another for consultations, co-counsel work, and projects.