Attorney files complaint about consultant’s statements on Central Health

On Monday, attorney Fred Lewis filed a complaint alleging the unauthorized practice of law by Steve Herbst, the lead consultant on a contract with Forvis Mazars to review the performance of Central Health for Travis County. The complaint was based on the fact that Herbst told the Travis County Commissioners Court, “We are happy to report that there were no reportable conditions or violations of law that we found as part of our performance review” of Central Health.

Lewis has worked on a yearslong campaign to show that the $35 million per year Central Health gives the University of Texas Dell Medical School is illegal because it is not being used for the hospital district’s mission – providing health care for the poor. He expressed extreme frustration about the fact that Herbst’s contentions that there were no violations of the law was widely quoted and reported. As a non-lawyer, Herbst does not have the authority or the background to make declarations concerning violations of law, Lewis said.

The Austin Monitor reached out to Herbst for comment but received no response.

In the complaint, which was filed with the Texas Supreme Court Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, Lewis said that neither Herbst nor any of his team members are attorneys. “Therefore, they do not have the authority or the expertise to say whether the law has been violated,” he said.

Lewis added, “Mazars’ report only found the medical school’s expenditures appeared to comply with the Affiliation Agreement. No one doubted that; the medical school has carte blanche under its contractual provisions to spend our property taxes however it wishes. But as any competent Texas lawyer knows, the Texas constitution and statutes override any contract provisions in conflict with state law.”

After hearing the Mazars report last week, Travis County commissioners decided to postpone adopting Central Health’s Fiscal Year 2025 annual budget. That budget includes a 6.5 percent tax increase.

Lewis added, “It is time for commissioners to hire independent outside counsel with expertise in special purpose district law to advise them whether a gift of taxpayer funds is illegal under Texas law.”

Photo: Fred Lewis in 2017.

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