From the Editor’s Desk
By Charla Bradshaw Conner
If you missed the TAFLS Trial Institute, which was held in New Orleans, LA in January, you missed a great time and a great course! And, we missed you! Several legal assistants attended the seminar and commented it was a great seminar for them. Bubba DePlaza and Chris Wrampelmeier did an awesome job as course directors. The course will be held next hear in New Orleans, Louisiana, in January, 2004. The course directors will be Ellen Yarrell and Heather King. WE NEED YOUR SAM EMISON AWARD NOMINATIONS! Please e-mail your nominations to Brenda Keen at brenda@brendakeen.com on or before May 1, 2004. If you are attending the Advanced Family Law course in August, 2004, don’t forget the TAFLS annual dinner! However, DUES ARE DUE FOLKS! If you haven’t paid your dues, you will not be mailed an invitation to the annual dinner on August 11, 2004. There is a dues notice included in this newsletter. The annual dinner will be held at the Menger hotel. Please register early for the dinner. We have the capacity for 265 and were sold out last year. If you are not a member of TAFLS and are an ATTORNEY OR LEGAL ASSISTANT, board certified in family law, please join! I have enclosed a membership form in this newsletter. I can assure you there is no group like this group. You can network with the best in the business. And, there are many board certified legal assistants who are members as well. For other benefits of joining TAFLS, see Brenda Keen’s section of “The Prez Sez . . .” IMPORTANT: If you are receiving this newsletter, it may be your last if you have not paid your dues. Our mailing list is being updated with members who have paid their dues. Upcoming seminars in family law include the Marriage Dissolution course on April 23-24, 2004 in Fort Worth, Texas and the Advanced Family Law Course, August 9-12, 2004, in San Antonio, Texas. TAFLS will have a table set up at these courses for joining TAFLS, for attending the annual dinner, and for registering for the TAFLS Trial Institute in January, 2005. At both seminars, we will have a hospitality suite. For Marriage Dissolution, the hospitality suite will be open on Wednesday and Thursday. bers extend their deepest sympathy to Steve Schweitzer on the loss of his father, W. Houston Schweitzer, on January 18, 2004. To both of you, we express our deepest sympathy.
LAWYERS ON THE MOVE:
Immy Papadopoulous received the Distinguished Alumnus award from South Texas College of Law. Jacqueline Taylor received the Mediator of the Year award at the STCL annual mediation seminar. Lynn Kamin is serving as Chair of the Houston Bar Foundation—the first family lawyer to achieve that position. If you have any news about yourself, in or out of the legal realm, we want to hear about it! Please provide the information to me at one of the addresses/phone numbers below. I think it is interesting to hear about fellow members.
WHO ARE THE LATEST BOARD CERTIFIED FAMILY LAW ATTORNEYS?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Gregory Lee Housewirth Christopher Martin Lake John J. Pfister Julie D. Pruett Carolyn Cook Robertson Cindy Venise Tisdale Brian Douglas Walters Marianne T. Warren
CONGRATULATIONS! We would love for you to join TAFLS! Please contact me if you want information regarding the organization. I want to bring each of you a newsletter that is both entertaining and informative. I welcome your comments and suggestions. I can be reached at my e-mail address (charla@dentonfamilylaw.com), my mailing address (303 N. Carroll Blvd., Suite 100, Denton, Texas, 76201), or my office number (940-387-1600). For your information, newsletters will be published each September, December, March and June. Due to the number of photos in the March issue, “Blasts from the Past” photos will appear in the next newsletter. Charla Bradshaw Conner
IN MEMORIAM:
TAFLS members extend their deepest sympathy to Sherri Evans on the loss of her father, Ronald E. Evans on January 7, 2004. TAFLS mem-
“Do you know why divorces are so expensive? Because they're worth it!”
— Willie Nelson
Interesting Forms
The revised Texas Family Law Practice Manual is the most useful tool out there for family attorneys. If you do not have the manual in your office, it is a must. It is comprised of forms for every area of family law, and then some! Please contact Charla Bradshaw Conner if you want information on how to purchase the manuals. This quarter, the forms I want to feature are in regard to appeals. This section is invaluable. The forms include motions and orders to set aside a default judgment, for a new trial, and for temporary orders pending appeal. In addition, you will find requests for findings in possession orders, child support orders, and findings of fact and conclusions of law. If you need to correct your orders, you will find forms for a nunc pro tunc. If you need documents or exhibits after trial, you will find forms for withdrawing exhibits and documents after trial. Further, if you need to seal your record, this is the section with the forms on how to accomplish this. And finally, you will find that all important form for a notice of appeal. Good luck!