LUBBOCK (AP/CBSDFW.COM) — Opening statements have been scheduled in a case the State Bar of Texas has brought against an attorney who has helped wrongly convicted ex-inmates get state compensation.

Lubbock attorney Kevin Glasheen faced trial Monday afternoon.

The bar says Glasheen committed professional misconduct by charging fees that were illegal and unconscionable. Glasheen has said he acted appropriately in charging his clients a 25 percent contingency fee.

Glasheen has been credited by lawmakers and advocates as the driving force behind a 2009 law that made Texas the most generous state in the nation in compensating the wrongly convicted.

If a court determines Glasheen committed misconduct, he could face punishments ranging from a public reprimand to disbarment.

Forty-two Texas inmates have been exonerated because of DNA testing.  That’s more than any other state.

Copyright 2012 CBS Local.  The Associated Press contributed to this report.