Message From the Chair | Officers and Council | Committees | Bylaws
Strategic Plan | Honors & Awards | Membership Application | CLE

by

Thomas L. Ausley

Chair, Family Law Section

The Family Law Section which was created in 1960 is one of the most active and successful sections of the State Bar of Texas, as well as one of the largest sections with over 5,000 members. It is an honor to work with the Section leadership, the Family Law Council, which consists of five officers and twenty-five directors who have a long tradition of being dedicated and committed to improving Family Law in Texas for not only family law attorneys, but also their clients and families.

The Section regularly co-sponsors the annual Advanced Family Law, New Frontiers, Ultimate Trial Notebook, and Marriage Dissolution courses. This year’s Advanced Family Law Seminar is scheduled for August 1st – 4th in San Antonio where a record number of attorneys are expected to attend. Cindy Tisdale and I are privileged to be this year’s course directors and have planned an exceptional seminar with a complete overview of Texas Family Law and practice tips for both beginning and seasoned family law practioners. I think you will be professionally and personally rewarded and hope you will join us in San Antonio.

Additional upcoming CLE seminars include:

• NEW FRONTIERS IN MARITAL PROPERTY LAW: October 13 – 14, 2011 at the U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego, California, led by course directors Janet McCullar and Brian Webb.
• THE ULTIMATE TRIAL NOTEBOOK: December 8 – 9, 2011 at the Dallas Fairmont, led by course director Cindi Barela Graham.
• MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION: April 28 – 29, 2012 with details to be posted on the website at a later date.

By being a member in the Section, you are entitled to a number of enhancements to your practice. For example, the Section Report, a timely digest of every family law case that is decided by our Courts of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court, is published four times a year, along with an annual Bibliography and a Special Legislative Edition that is published after each session of the Texas Legislature. Every Section member also receives, free of additional charge, the current edition of the Tool Kit which is a quick reference that can be taken to court and depositions and includes such subjects as current child support tables, calendars, objections, predicates, expert witness testimony, contempt and other relevant subjects.

As this 2011 session of the Texas Legislature ends, I thank Gary Nicholson, chair of the Family Law Foundation, and his team for a successful session.

Membership in the section is essential to attorneys who handle the occasional family law matter, as well as to those attorneys who practice family law extensively or make family law their sole area of practice. Please join us and enrich your practice!

Thomas L. Ausley - chair, Family Law Section