Law Offices Of Greg Enos

Galveston divorce lawyer | Galveston divorce attorney | Child custody lawyers Galveston

281-333-3030

Divorce and Child Custody

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • PAYMENT
  • About
    • Greg B. Enos
    • Paul Enos
    • Shandon Tonry
    • Contact Us
    • Map
    • Galveston Divorce Attorneys
  • Divorce
    • Uncontested Divorce
    • Divorce Process
    • Divorce FAQS
    • Divorce for Business Owners
    • Divorce for Physicians and Dentists
    • Property Division
    • The Family House
    • Taxes & Divorce
    • Alimony
    • Adultery
  • Custody
    • Child Custody Questions
    • Child Support
    • Custody Evaluation
    • International / Interstate Custody Disputes
    • When a Child Can Choose?
  • Mongoose
  • Blogs
  • Links
    • Links
    • Contact Us
    • Map
    • The Mongoose
    • School Districts
    • Galveston Co. Courts
    • Harris Co. Courts
  • Videos

Nov 5

Houston Chronicle: Letter a rallying cry to oust embattled district judge

Click here to read the November 4, 2013 Houston Chronicle story about the letter from Houston attorneys calling on District Judge Denise Pratt to resign.

Letter a rallying cry to oust embattled district judge

Posted on November 4, 2013 | By Kiah Collier

A letter sent to hundreds of Houston-area lawyers on Monday asks them to support a call to oust an embattled state district court judge by signing a petition, withholding election endorsements and contributions and reporting any criminal wrongdoing to the Harris County District Attorney’s office.

Family Court Judge Denise Pratt of the 311th District has come under fire for altering court records to mask tardy rulings, as well as a host of other doings that many lawyers have described in interviews as not criminal but highly unusual, unprofessional or unethical, including rampant absenteeism and communicating with lawyers on one side of a case without the other side knowing.

Pratt, a Republican judge first elected in 2010, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The letter, signed by 32 prominent Houston-area family lawyers was penned by Webster family lawyer Greg Enos, whose criminal complaint sent last month to the district attorney’s office has sparked an investigation, according to county and courthouse sources.

The complaint also led to an internal investigation by the Harris County District Clerk’s office, the keeper of all court records, which led to the resignation late last month of Pratt’s lead clerk.

The Monday letter asks colleagues to support “our effort to get Judge Denise Pratt off the bench for the good of the family bar, the families and children of Harris County and the many excellent family court judges whose re-elections might be endangered with Judge Pratt on the same ballot with them.”

“We are all too familiar with the problems caused by Judge Pratt’s work ethic, her refusal to accept agreements made by parents regarding their children and her rulings which are so frequently delayed or contrary to the law or facts presented in court,” the letter says. “We are ‘sticking our necks out’ to stand up for what is right and asking you to do the same.”

One of the signatories, longtime divorce lawyer Joan Jenkins, said she would have signed the letter just based on all the complaints against Pratt she has heard from reputable lawyers. She said she has, however, experienced problems with Pratt on a case this year that led her to draft a complaint that she sent to Enos for consideration.

“I have never in my entire career experienced a judge that I felt was more corrupt with less actual knowledge of the law and with a poorer work ethic than Judge Pratt,” Jenkins said. “There is really nothing I can say about her that I consider to be representative of a good judge.”

That sentiment is reflected in the results of the Houston Bar Houston Bar Association’s latest judicial evaluation, in which Pratt rated abysmally.

Enos said more than 50 lawyers have signed the petition so far. He said he does not want Pratt “get in trouble, I just want her off the bench.”

“These apparent instances of backdating orders really are not the main problems attorneys and families have with her; it just happens that this behavior might be criminal,” Enos wrote in an e-mail.

Leaders of the Harris County Republican Party have convened to discuss whether the allegations are serious enough to ask Pratt, who has filed to run for re-election next year, to step aside.

Category:Crimes in the courtroom, Judge Denise Pratt, Judge Problems, Local Legal News |

Recent Posts

  • Who Moves Out of the House During Divorce?
  • How to Prepare for Your First Divorce Mediation Session
  • Donors Hold Off on Donation Until Beto O’Rourke Decides to Run
  • Laudanum
  • Election 2018

Categories

  • Agreement Incident to Divorce
  • Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
  • Amicus Attorneys
  • Attorney Disqualification
  • Attorney's Fees
  • BAKER STREET BAZAAR
  • Book Review
  • Business Valuation
  • Characterization
  • Child Custody
  • Child Support
  • Community Property
  • Constitutional Rights
  • Court Appointment Abuse
  • Crimes in the courtroom
  • Criminal law and family law
  • Default
  • Discovery
  • Dismissal summary judgment
  • Divorce
  • Domestic Violence
  • Doug York
  • E-Filing
  • E-Filing and Service
  • Election 2018
  • Electronic Evidence
  • Enforcement
  • Enos Legal Directories
  • Evidence
  • First Divorce
  • Galveston County
  • Gary Polland
  • Good Judges
  • Grandparents' custody and visitation
  • Harris County
  • Hearsay
  • Illegal Evidence
  • Injunctions
  • Injury Settlements in Divorce
  • Intervention
  • Judge Alicia Franklin
  • Judge Denise Pratt
  • Judge Problems
  • Judgment Nunc Pro Tunc
  • Julia Maldonado
  • Jury Trial
  • Law firm billing
  • Local Legal News
  • Mandamus
  • Modification
  • Mongoose Blog
  • Orders entry nunc pro tunc
  • Pleadings
  • Poetry and Prose
  • Politics and elections
  • Possession and visitation
  • Property Division
  • Recusal
  • Reimbursement
  • Religion and Philosophy
  • Rules of Civil Procedure
  • Separate Property
  • Spousal Maintenance (Alimony)
  • Ted Cruz
  • Temporary Orders
  • Tracing Separate Property
  • Trial
  • trial by consent
  • TRUMP REALITY
  • Uncategorized
  • Undivided Assets
  • US Supreme Court
  • Useful forms
  • Valuation
  • Venue and Transfer
  • Visitation and Possession
  • Waste / Fraud
  • Witnesses

Archives

  • April 2022
  • April 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • February 2016
  • March 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • September 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
    • Home
    • Blog
    • Contact Us
    • Map
    • Site Map
    facebook twitter

    17207 Feather Craft Lane, Webster, Texas 77598

    © 2013 The Enos Law Firm, PC. All rights Reserved.

    Popup Content