INTRODUCTION

    The papers of Clinton Cross document the creation and growth of the national Legal Services Corporation (LSC) as well as of legal services in Texas.  The documents reflect the support of and opposition to the Legal Services Corporation Act (LSCA) in the early 1970s.  Cross’ collection also demonstrates hostility to legal services between 1970 and 1980 in Texas, containing memos and articles that discuss whether legal services should receive public funding and whether the state or federal government should retain control of legal services.  For example, Cross, as director of West Texas Legal Services (WTLS), faced resistance by the Palo Pinto Country Bar Association which filed a complaint, alleging that WTLS had no standing to practice in Palo Pinto County and was violating the LSCA.

    During most of the 1970s, Cross was regional Vice President of the Texas Consumer Association of El Paso (TCA) and attorney for the El Paso Legal Assistance Society (EPLAS).  Another controversial topic with regard to legal services in Texas was whether legal services should help illegal aliens, specifically migrant workers, to improve their working and living conditions.  As attorney for the Society, Cross represented a minor illegal alien who had been arrested in the United States.  Cross obtained the child's release and the child was allowed to return to his home in Mexico.

    In 1976, the Texas Legal Services Center (TLSC) was established to coordinate the efforts of the then ten existing legal services centers in Texas.  In the following year, Cross became director of TLSC.  From 1979 to 1981(?), Cross was Vice Chairman of the Texas State Bar Committee on Legal Services to the Indigent in Civil Matters.
 

SCOPE & CONTENTS

Contents include case and organizational files, intermingled.

Dates: 1969 – 1991, with the bulk of the material in the 1970s

Size: Approximately 10-1/2".

Location: NEJL Archives shelves, boxes entitled Clinton Cross

FOLDER LIST

BOX 1

1. Clinton Cross Material on Travis County Legal Aid (1969)
2. Talk by Frank Scurlock to Board of Directors of the State Bar of Texas (4/27/1973)
3. Justice for All, Legal Services for the Poor by Christine Petry (1982)
4. Letter establishing liaison with the American Bar Association's Special Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services (October 1975)
5. Bexar County Legal Aid Association deals with personnel and political issues (1979-1980)
6. Bexar County Legal Aid Association deals with personnel and political issues (1980)
7. TLSC program evaluation (1976-1981)
8. TLSC program evaluation (1981-1988)
9. TLSC program evaluation (1979-1984)
10. Speeches by Chris Dougherty and Frank Scurlock Award information (1980-1982)
11. Letter of resignation by Hamilton Lowe, Executive Director of Legal Aid & Defender Society of Travis County, to Lloyd Lochridge, President of Travis County Bar Association (1970)
12. Clinton Cross letter to President Ford (1974)
13. Memos of EPLAS (1975)
14. Board Meeting minutes of EPLAS (6/18/1975)
15. Letter from Lucas Herrera, Committee Chairman of EPLAS, to Board of Directors of Society (4/3/1975)
16. Minutes of Government Applications Review and Comment Committee of the West Texas Council of Governments (10/10/1974)
17. Letter of recommendation for Mark Howell to be elected to the Board of Directors of the EPLAS (10/2/1974)
18. Board Meeting of EPLAS (8/21/1974)
19. Memo to call special meeting of EPLAS (8/6/1974)
20. Meeting announcements of EPLAS (February to May 1974)
21. Board meeting of EPLAS (12/12/1973)
22. Board meeting of EPLAS (9/5/1973)
23. Board meeting of EPLAS (8/9/1973)
24. Photographs of Legal Services activities in El Paso (1982-1983)
25. TCA Newsletter (12/71)
26. Miscellaneous new articles about Cross and the Texas Consumer Association (1972)
27. Correspondence regarding TLSC’s newsletter, Alert (1989; 1991)
28. TLSC brochures
29. Consumers Union brochures

BOX 2

1. Legal Services Bar Commission
2. Legal Services Bar Commission
3. Origins of Texas Lawyer Case
4. Resolution Against Financing of LSC
5. Complaints about WTLS
6. Legal Services in Texas
7. Legal Services in Texas
8. EPLAS
9. EPLAS
10. Hidalgo v. Surety Savings & Loan Association
11. Quarterly Report of EPLAS (May – July 1975)
12. Board Meeting Materials (10/9/1975)
13. Board Meeting Minutes (5/12/1975)
14. Board Meeting Minutes (10/21/1975)
15. Board Meeting Minutes (9/3/1975)
16. Galindo & Rodriguez Personnel Material
17. Board Meeting Minutes (4/26/1975)
18. Board Meeting Minutes (12/4/1974)
19. Résumés
20. Tally Sheets
21. Salaries (1974-1975)
22. State Bar Grievance Letter
23. Board of Directors & Client Representatives of EPLAS
24. Board Meeting Minutes (3/19/1975)
25. Board Meeting Minutes (12/4/1974)
26. Board Meeting Minutes (11/6/1974)
27. Board Meeting Minutes (9/11/1974)
28. Boundary map
29. Memo to Board (8/15/1974)
30. Board Meeting Minutes (6/5/1974)
31. Board Meeting Minutes (3/6/1974)
32. Robert Millard
33. Board Meeting Minutes (12/12/1973)
34. Board Meeting Minutes (1/11/1974)
35. Board Meeting Minutes (11/15/1973)
36. Board Meeting Minutes (9/26/1973)
37. Board Meeting Minutes & Director Applications (1973)
38. Bylaws
39. Board Meeting Minutes (5/30/1973)
40. Board Meeting Minutes (4/17/1973)
41. Board Meeting Minutes (3/6/1973)
42. Board Meeting Minutes (2/1/1973)
43. Board Meeting Minutes (1/20/1973)
44. Board Meeting Minutes (1/3/1973)
45. Board Meeting Minutes (12/13/1972)
46. Notes on Candidates
47. Articles by & from Clinton Cross