We say "good bye" to many fine judges who are retiring and leaving the bench on December 31. We will all miss the friendly and hard working Judge Jim York, even as he passes his mantle of the most pro-mother judge in custody cases on the planet to Galveston County Associate Judge Steve Baker. Bonnie Hellums was an amazing breath of fresh air and reform when she was first elected in the 1994 Republican sweep that knocked off all of the Democratic incumbent judges. It was revolutionary then to think that a family court judge would rule based on the law and the facts and what was best for children instead of who the lawyers were. Now, thanks to judges like Bonnie Hellums, that is the least we expect in our family courts. Harris County is also losing some amazing associate judges: Robert Newey and Michael Hay. The family judge that has meant the most to my life and professional career has been Galveston County Family District Judge Jan Yarbrough, who is retiring after twelve years as ... Read More >
An Attorney Ad Litem Is Not a Law Firm: Only The Fees of the Person Appointed Ad Litem Should Be Paid by the County
Attorneys appointed to represent abused children and their parents in CPS cases as attorneys ad litem are routinely billing Harris County for work done by associate attorneys and non-lawyers who work for the person appointed ad litem. This is wrong and violates the law. Click this link to download this article in PDF: Ad Litem is Not a Law firm. In a regular divorce or child custody case, a law firm can represent the client and an attorney in charge is designated. However, any authorized attorney can work on the case or appear in court for the client. So, for example, Mr. Smith can hire The Enos Law Firm to represent him in his child custody case and perhaps Greg Enos or Christina Tillinger might appear in court for the client or maybe even an outside attorney would be asked to make an appearance for Mr. Smith, as long as the client consented. A wise, ethical and experienced family judge explained to me how attorney ad litems in CPS cases are different than private ... Read More >
Law Firm Rules for Fair Billing
A lot of attorneys, including me, are looking at their own billing practices after my articles on the outrageous and apparently false billing in CPS cases by Alicia Franklin. I have written ten simple rules for honest billing that I have now adopted as my law firm's policy. 1. Bill accurately and fairly and follow the “Golden Rule” – how would you want to be billed if you were the client? 2. Bill actual time spent and round up only a little. If you spend 3 minutes on a phone call, bill 0.10 instead of 0.25. If you literally were on the phone for 30 seconds with the client, do not bill for the call at all. 3. If you travel to court or elsewhere for more than one case, divide the travel time between the clients. 4. Do not bill for more than one client at once. If you are editing a pleading while sitting in court waiting to be called on another’s client case, only bill for one client during that period of time and do not ‘double ... Read More >
Did Alicia Franklin Work as a Lawyer and Charge Harris County for CPS Work After She Became Judge?
Click this link to download in PDF my full article, with documentary evidence, which establishes that Alicia Franklin billed Harris County for CPS legal work she did as a lawyer after the date when she was sworn in as a judge: Franklin billed for lawyer work after she became a judge. ... Read More >
Alicia Franklin accepted a Campaign Contribution from a Party to a Case When Franklin Was The Amicus on his Case
I highly recommend that you click the following link to download this article in PDF, which includes copies of the court documents and campaign contribution report: Franklin accepted a contribution from a party to a case she was amicus on. This PDF article contains images of the court order, motion and contribution report. As a lawyer, Alicia Franklin mostly worked on cases in which she was appointed an attorney ad litem or amicus attorney by a judge. Some of those cases involved the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (CPS) and some were private child custody cases. In CPS cases, the county pays the appointed attorneys. In private child custody cases, the parents or other people seeking custody or visitation of the child are ordered to pay the amicus attorney. An amicus attorney is supposed to be a neutral attorney who represents the child’s best interests. Ms. Franklin was appointed an amicus attorney for a young boy in a hotly contested custody case by ... Read More >
E-Filing Tips – Part 2
E-fling continues to aggravate and confuse attorneys and legal assistants. Here is an important tip I am getting from the clerks in all surrounding counties (they just will not say it on the record): DO NOT USE PRO DOC AS YOUR E-FILING SERVICE PROVIDER. The clerks confirm that the majority of their e-filing problems involve ProDoc. My office has switched to efile.txcourts.gov, which is free and seems to create far fewer errors. Click here for the comparison chart of e-filing service providers. I arranged a meeting for legal assistants from several different law firms to meet with Galveston County District Clerk John Kinard and his staff to discuss e-filing. I give Kinard and his people credit - they are trying everything they can to make this transition to e-filing work. Communication is a big issue and is being worked on. For example, Galveston County a few weeks ago stopped accepting American Express to pay e-filing fees but did not tell anyone. My office went crazy for a ... Read More >
Meca (M.L.) Walker Returns Illegal Contributions But Keeps The Shady Cash
M.L. (AKA "Meca") Walker's campaign says it has returned $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions but has kept $25,000 given under very suspicious circumstances. Click here to read last week's story about how Walker accepted $45,000 in contributions on one day from nine people associated with a rich car dealer with a divorce in Walker's court. Once I pointed out to Walker that some of those contributions exceeded the $5,000 per person (or married couple) contribution limit, Walker checked with the Texas Ethics Commission. Once the Commission confirmed that the law actually says what it says, Walker claims she returned $20,000 of the contributions. Click here to read the Houston Chronicle story that went way too easy on Walker, who should have never accepted any of those contributions in the first place. If my teenager comes home from school with an expensive gold Rolex watch, I am going to ask where he got it from. If the kid tells me some dude he doesn't know sold it to him ... Read More >
The Dynamic Duo of Houston Radio Blast Judge Denise Pratt
Rob Clark and I appeared on the Matt Patrick Radio Show on 750AM last week to rebut some of the blatant falsehoods Pratt said on the show the week before. Click here to hear this new "Dynamic Duo" of Houston radio explain why Pratt is such a disaster from the points of view of a liberal Democrat (me) and a life long ardent Republican (Clark). The discussion about Pratt starts at about the 11:00 minute mark. Yes, I did call an incumbent judge a "liar" on the radio. Toward the end, you will hear me praise some of the great Republican family judges we are so lucky to have, such as Judges Farr, Moore and Dean (I must occasionally kiss a little arse in hopes I can practice in at least a few courts). ... Read More >
More Bad News for Judge Denise Pratt
(1) The Harris County GOP Judicial Screening Committee evaluated the candidates for the 311th and not a single member of the committee rated Judge Pratt positively (half were Neutral and half were Negative). In contrast, 100% of the committee gave Donna Detamore a "Positive" rating. (2) 72% of Republican precinct chairs did not support Pratt in a just-completed "straw vote." Donna Detamore came in first with 42% and Anthony Magdaleno received 36%. Pratt was the choice of 28% and Alicia Franklin got 5%. Remember, 85% of attorneys in the Houston Bar Association Judicial Qualifications Survey rated Judge Pratt as "Not Qualified." ... Read More >
A Republican Appellate Lawyer Destroys Judge Denise Pratt With This Article
A conservative Republican appellate attorney, Leif Olson, has written a lengthy and absolutely devastating article explaining why Denise Pratt is a disaster as a judge. Pratt cannot blame this blog on liberal Democrats or even disgruntled family law attorneys, since Mr. Olson does not practice in our field. Click on this link to read the most complete encyclopedia of what is wrong with Denise Pratt ever written: Attorney Leif Olson on Judge Denise Pratt . ... Read More >
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