The decision to get divorced is often not an easy one. But what happens when you don’t want a full-blown series of court cases surrounding this experience? Rather than seeking divorce advice from your friends and a DIY solution, you can turn to mediation. Mediation is a form of a divorce settlement that can work […]
Laudanum was a widely used medicine in the Victoria Era which contained opium and alcohol and was very addictive. The terms laudanum and tincture of opium are generally interchangeable. Laudanum is mentioned once in the Canon in The Man With The Twisted Lip: Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal of the […]
Every reader of Sherlock Holmes forms in his or her imagination an image of the sitting room at 221B, where almost every story begins. The Canon provides many details of what was in the rooms rented by Holmes and Watson, but relatively few clues about the design or layout of the building at 221B Baker […]
The Baker Street Bazaar was an early shopping center taking up most of the block bounded by Baker Street and Gloucester Place, Dorset Street to the south and King Street to the North. The business began as a horse bazaar and was owned, prior to his bankruptcy in 1832, by John Maberly, MP. The firm […]
Reprinted from the November 14, 2014 Mongoose newsletter. Some judge named “Pratt” was just reversed in Reddick v. Reddick, No. 01-12-00576-CV (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.] 10/23/2014). This case is an excellent reminder that not every parent who could in theory earn more should be found to be intentionally underemployed. Click here to read […]
Reprinted from the October 23, 2014 Mongoose newsletter. Typically, a temporary order expires with the entry of a final judgment. Coleman v. Texas State Dep’t of Welfare, 562 S.W.2d 554, 556 (Tex. Civ. App.–Tyler 1978, writ ref’d n.r.e.). However, the general rule is that the rendition of a divorce decree does not itself nullify any […]
Reprinted from the October 23, 2014 Mongoose newsletter. A business owner, including a shareholder of a closely held corporation, can testify as to the company’s value and does not have to be designated as an expert witness. Red Sea Gaming, Inc. v. Block Investments (Nevada) Co., 338 S.W.3d 562 (Tex. App. – El Paso 2010, […]
A lawyer cannot bill her client for the time spent preparing a motion to withdraw from the client’s case. Lee v. Daniels & Daniels, 264 S.W.3d 273, 278 (Tex. App.-San Antonio 2008, pet. denied). In that case, the attorney’s engagement letter said the client would,”pay for all time spent, costs and expenses incident to withdrawal […]
The next time a police officer tells you that a parent’s failure to return a child after visitation is “a civil matter,” remind the cop about Penal Code Sec. 25.03, which states: Sec. 25.03. INTERFERENCE WITH CHILD CUSTODY. (a) A person commits an offense if the person takes or retains a child younger than […]
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 […]
