Judge Alicia Franklin gave the Family Bar an early Christmas present by announcing she has selected Meca Walker to replace Bob Newey as Associate Judge in the 311th. Franklin is generally getting really good reviews for her work as a judge and her selection of M.L. Walker is a brilliant choice. Judge Walker has served as Associate Judge for Judges Rynd, Dean and Hellums. It is great news that her experience and superb judicial demeanor will continue to serve the families of Harris County. I have given Franklin grief over her outrageous billing as a CPS attorney before she was appointed judge, but I will give her credit for making a really great selection as A.J. to replace Bob Newey. I know Commissioner Cagle is thrilled, but this decision smells more like a "what is good for the court and the families and attorneys we serve" sort of pick instead of the purely political selection some were dreading. Way to go Alicia! ... Read More >
Illegal Electronic Evidence and Family Law Part 1: Attorney Beware!
Lawyers can be sued, arrested and sent to prison and disbarred for mishandling illegal electronic evidence, such as recordings, e-mails and text messages. This article is the first in a series on what makes electronic evidence illegal, the many ways that electronic evidence is being obtained illegally these days, how law firms and clients can safeguard their computers and phones and what can happen to clients and lawyers who break the law. This first article focuses on what attorneys should never do with illegally obtained evidence.An attorney can face personal, criminal and civil liability for using or disclosing an illegal recording or illegally intercepted electronic communication (e-mail or text message) provided to the attorney by a client. For example, the following can be separate and independent federal and state wiretap act violations: (1) a client's disclosure to an attorney of an illegally obtained e-mail, (2) the attorney's disclosure to his staff, co-counsel or expert ... Read More >
Thank you Judge Janis Yarbrough
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 >
Ted Cruz Agrees With Greg Enos!
To my surprise, I actually have something in common with Senator Ted Cruz, the Republican Huey Long of our generation whom I predict will lose in an electoral college landslide to Hillary Clinton in 2016. Senator Cruz and I both really like the 2006 British movie Amazing Grace and admire a 19th Century British Parliamentarian, William Wilberforce. A story on Politico.com last week said the following (click here to read the entire story): During one of our conversations last year, I asked Cruz about his favorite movies, and in addition to a couple of classics - The Godfather, The Princess Bride - he mentioned Amazing Grace, a 2010 [actually 2006] drama about the effort to end the British slave trade that's become popular in Tea Party circles. "The abolition movie?" I asked. "Yes, about William Wilberforce," Cruz said. "It's an incredible story about a member of Parliament who fought for his principles, and when he began, he was almost entirely alone. And conventional wisdom in ... Read More >
306th Family District Court Race Gets Nasty
The race to pick a Republican to replace the excellent Judge Jan Yarbrough in the 306th Family District Court in Galveston County has taken a nasty and scary turn. It is now a nasty race because the two leading candidates are busy calling each other "liars" (only one is correct). The race is scary because most attorneys cannot imagine how it would be if one of those candidates were to get elected. Anne Darring, Wilfried Schmitz and Jennifer Burnett are seeking the Republican nomination and there is no Democrat even running. Darring has the support of virtually all of the attorneys who have taken a public position in the race (over 70) and Schmitz has not surprisingly become the darling of the Tea Party extremists. Ms. Burnett is a nice young attorney working in the District Attorney's office with no real experience handling divorces or custody cases in the private world and she lacks the resources to compete with Schmitz and Darring. Darring has been involved in Republican ... 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 >
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