Inadmissible

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Sept. 8 approved the nominations of four lawyers in line to become U.S. attorneys in Texas. With the committee’s approval of President Barack Obama’s four Texas nominees, the nominations will move on to the U.S. Senate for confirmation. The nominees are Kenneth Magidson in the Southern District of Texas, Robert Lee Pitman in the Western District of Texas, J. Malcolm Bales in the Eastern District of Texas and Sarah Ruth Saldana in the Northern District of Texas. Magidson, currently an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District, says, “I’m honored by the president’s nomination and look forward to serving.” Saldana, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District; Bales, interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District; and Pitman, a U.S. magistrate judge in Austin, each did not return a telephone message seeking comment. The nominees have support from the two U.S. senators from Texas: U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn issued a joint statement “applauding” the Senate Judiciary Committee’s approval of the president’s nominees. Obama nominated the four Texas lawyers in June.

Pocket Power

A smartphone app that allows lawyers to search statutes on the fly and email snippets to judges or opposing counsel is available for a free trial starting Sept. 15. But there’s a catch: If a lawyer wants the Texas Legal App after the trial period ends on Oct. 15, she must join the State Bar of Texas Computer and Technology Section. To download the app during the free trial, visit http://webapp.sbot.org and type username “texas” and password “lawyer.” At $25 per year, a membership in the section includes the app, which works on the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Blackberry users can access a Web-based version, which also works on computers. Section Chairman Ralph H. Brock says the app has a little bit of everything: It catalogs more than 50 Texas statutes and codes such as the Family Code, Civil Practice & Remedies Code, Penal Code and more. The app also makes federal and state rules of procedure searchable. “We can’t put the whole body of codified law in there, because there’s just not room, but we can put the things most practitioners would probably use,” says Brock, a Lubbock solo. The section currently includes more than 1,700 members, he says, and leaders hope the giveaway will attract even more. Members must renew each year to continue using the app. “We’re just trying to get the word out,” says Brock.

Bench Battle