Sixty-one speakers, 1,100 letters, 1,200 viewers and more than 3,800 comments before lunch.

The numbers show the overwhelming response by Texas lawyers over the recent controversial online comments by president Larry McDougal. The first two and a half hours of a specially called State Bar of Texas board meeting were spent listening to the attorneys who signed up to speak about the online comments. Some of them were also among the 1,100 people who submitted written comments for the meeting. The bar board may take action later in the meeting Monday.

"Today, we listen to the members of the public and the attorneys we serve. We hear them and we begin the process of healing," said board chairman Charlie Ginn. "I don't think healing happens in a day. To heal requires understanding. I think understanding requires acknowledgement. We need to do that today."