I am a divorce lawyer now, but once I was a young father battling for custody of my two children. I still can feel the worry and dread such a court case creates. It seems to the parents that everything important to them in the universe is at stake. Parents in such situations feel helpless because so much rides on the lawyers and the judge and jury. No matter who "wins" or loses in a child custody case, both parents should at least leave the courthouse feeling they were treated fairly and that neither side had some sort of inside connection or political advantage. Lawyers and judges who allow it to appear that political clout is influencing a case are damaging the integrity and stability of the justice system we all work and believe in. I have spent many hours on this story and I have tried to be as accurate and fair as possible. I will publish any responses from those involved if they feel their side of the story needs to be told differently than what I have written. Greg ... Read More >
Draft 2017 Family Law Directory is Ready to Review
Click these links to download in PDF a draft of the 2017 Harris County Family Law Directory attorney listings . The PDF file is large so this draft is divided alphabetically by attorney's last names in three groups for easier downloading: Last names A through G: 2017 Harris Co Fam Directory Draft - A - G Last names H through O: 2017 Harris Co Fam Law Directory Draft - H - O Last names P - Z: 2017 Harris Co Fam Directory - Draft - P - Z Click this link to download the correction form you can e-mail or fax to fix your listing or add or delete an attorney: Directory Correction Form Lawyers move, retire, and change names, so I need your help with corrections. Look at your listing and send me any needed corrections by fax or e-email on the form provided. The complete directory will list over 1,300 lawyers and have handy listings of courts in Harris County and surrounding counties, custody evaluators, business appraisers, translators, etc. Please make sure your ... Read More >
A Step Closer to the Truth about Lucrative Court Appointments – Part One
A very small, select number of attorneys make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year because they are appointed by family and juvenile court judges to be amicus attorneys representing children in private custody cases where the parties can afford to pay very large fees. The law that requires random appointment of lawyers for most positions (infamously called the "wheel") specifically does not apply to amicus attorneys or discovery masters. Each judge has the unfettered, and largely secret, ability to reward certain lawyers with these very lucrative appointments. There is no way to really track who gets these appointments, which judges make the appointments or how much the appointees are paid. Public transparency and accountability has been sorely lacking for years. Now the Harris County Family District Judges are requiring a new reporting form to bring transparency to this issue. I applaud the judges, but more is needed. In a case where wealthy parents are fighting over ... Read More >
Expect Delays Getting to the 15th and 16th Floors
Harris County voters in 2007 approved bonds to fund construction of a new family law center, but instead the family courts were moved to the Civil Courthouse. Suddenly, the number of visitors to the Civil Courthouse quadrupled. Worse, all but two of the family courts were put at the top of the building, on the 15th and 16th floors. Now, we are all going to pay the price for this poor planning for months because of elevator problems. Six elevators serve floors 8 - 17 and six elevators serve floor 2- 8. All public elevators and the one freight elevator serve the basement and the first floor. The one freight elevator serves all floors. Judges and court staff have private elevators. Recently, three of the six public elevators that serve the upper floors where most of the family courts are have been out of operation. This week, even the freight elevator went out. Judge David Farr sent this announcement out last week: I know that there has been tremendous frustration with the ... Read More >
Automatic Child Support Increases Can Work
Court orders in Texas almost always provide for automatic decreases in the event one child turns 18, graduates high school, etc. A few cases have upheld automatic future INCREASES in child support. In re D.S., 76 S.W.3d 512 (Tex. App. - Houston [14th Dist.] 2002, no pet.) involved two parents who were physicians. The parents entered into an agreed order that provided that the father would pay $500 a month child support during his three years of medical residency and then pay $1,500 a month beginning on the date he would be expected to enter private practice. The father decided to take a fellowship after his three years of residency and he argued that his pay was a lot less than anticipated and he sought to reduce his $1,500 per month child support obligation that had automatically kicked in. The trial court refused to modify the prior order and the father appealed. The Houston Fourteenth Court of Appeals held: Automatic increases in child support are generally unenforceable ... Read More >
Judge Julia Maldonado: Words Matter, Not Money
I was prepared to write the headline, "Houston, We Have a Problem" during the second week of newly elected Judge Julia Maldonado's term, but I truly think things have turned around in the 507th. I am ready and willing to criticize a Democratic judge if the facts warrant, but I am starting to be impressed by what I am seeing. Judge Julia Maldonado cannot raise campaign funds for a while as she is not up for re-election until 2020. Usually, once a lawyer is elected judge, attorneys swarm to contribute money after the fact. However, Maldonado’s post-election fund-raising was surprisingly anemic, despite the fact that a large number of family law attorneys are progressive and really Democrats. Maldonado had to stop raising funds on March 8 and I think that some of the unusual and concerning procedures she initially adopted upon taking office discouraged many lawyers and dampened financial support for her. Currently, the 507th is not, thank goodness, requiring the filing of sworn ... Read More >
Judges & Money: The Races for 2018 – Part One
Our family law judges can start fund-raising in May if they are up for election in 2018. Lawyers can expect to be hit up from many of different directions for contributions during the next year and a half. Democrats sense that the unpopularity and incompetence and policies of the Trump administration may change the usual voting patterns in Harris County, where Republicans usually win in non-presidential election years. It is easier to motivate voters with anger and fear than it is civic duty. It is well known that demographic changes in Harris County will mean that sooner or later all of our judges will be Democrats. The Legislature is considering eliminating straight ticket voting for trial judges, but it is not clear to me which side that will really help. Judge Roy Moore is far ahead of the judicial pack in organization and he has a fund-raiser planned for Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at B&B Butchers, located at 1814 Washington Avenue. Judge Moore has for months been sending out ... Read More >
Rebecca Parker Joins Enos Law Firm as Associate Attorney
The Enos Law Firm welcomes a new lawyer: Rebecca "Becky" Parker. Becky worked as a family law paralegal for 26 years before going to law school at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Three of the attorneys Ms. Parker worked for are now judges! Becky is a mother of three and she has helped hundreds of clients through the emotional and financial challenges of divorce. We are so lucky that she has joined our team! ... Read More >
Presidents DO make Supreme Court nominations in their last year in office
The always excellent daily blog www.electoral-vote.com tore apart the GOP claim of a "tradition" of lame duck presidents not submitted Supreme Court nominations in their last 18 months of office. Here are a few salient observations: - 47 of the 112 justices in Supreme Court history were submitted in the last 18 months of a presidential term. - Of those 47, 28 were confirmed, six were withdrawn, three declined the offer, two were rejected, and for eight no decision was made. - Just over half of those 47 were placed into nomination by a president whose lame duck status was official. - For official lame ducks, it is 11 confirmations, four withdrawals, three declines, one rejection, and five where no decision was made. - The average length of time for a decision to be made is 37 days; the longest a nominee has languished is 261 days. There are 342 days left in Barack Obama's term. Late-term appointments were vastly more common in the 19th century ... Read More >
It is Not Too Late To Buy Judge Franklin (a wedding gift)
There is still time to buy a wedding gift for Judge Alicia Franklin before her April 4 wedding. Whether you are motivated out of friendship or more practical purposes, Franklin made it very easy for you to buy her a gift on-line. Until Tuesday, anyone on the planet was able to see her Honeymoon Pixie site and quickly order her gifts for her honeymoon. Suddenly, after a very critical article was posted on the Republican blog Big Jolly about this unseemly situation, the links disappeared. Then, the site required a password then within hours the public could again see the couple's gift wish list and buy them gifts. Try clicking this link to possibly see it for yourself. A Google search for "Alicia Franklin Doug York" pulls up this gift registry website and several others. Here is part of what you were able to see until this week about the Franklin - York wedding: Judge Franklin and Mr. York are also registered on a variety of sites for gifts, including The Knot and ... Read More >
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