The Ombuds Blog: State Bar of Texas Unveils Ombuds Program

August 06, 2018

State Bar of Texas Unveils Ombuds Program

The administrative agency of the Texas Supreme Court has appointed Stephanie A. Lowe as its first Ombudsman for Attorney Discipline. Lowe serves as: 1. A source of information for the public; and 2. A monitor of the attorney discipline system. Her role is characterized by neutrality, independence, and confidentiality.

Lowe has been an attorney in Texas since 2010 and most recently was an Assistant General Counsel at the Texas Department of Banking. She graduated from UT Austin and earned her JD at the University of Texas School of Law. (Texas Judicial Branch Ombuds; LinkedIn.)

Related posts: Texas State Bar Considers Ombuds Office Texas Introduces Ombuds Shield Law; Job Posting.

2 comments:

Mark P.8/06/2018 1:49 PM
What a great inroad into the legal community! Now it's not just former lawyers practicing as ombuds for other organizations.
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Unknown8/08/2018 8:48 AM
Great for Texas Bar! This will be a great opportunity for another Alternative Dispute Resolution process to be utilized. Texas has been at the forefront with ADR especially in creating the ADR Section and opening it to non-lawyers.
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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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