Agenda

Registration:                        8:00 – 8:30 am

Morning Session:                8:30 am – 12:15 pm

Lunch (On your own):         12:15 – 1:15 pm

Afternoon Session:             1:15 – 4:30 pm

Preparing Pleadings and Assisting with Motion Practice
E. Ross

    Preparing initial pleadings Requesting temporary relief
   Preparing for the temporary orders hearing
   Preparing the temporary orders

Obtaining and Evaluating Financial Information
H.R. Baird

   Identifying relevant information on assets, debts, income and expenses
   Obtaining financial information
      • Using financial information questionnaires
      • Using interrogatories, requests for production,
          deposition testimony, private investigators
      • Valuing assets
   Evaluating the information you have obtained
   Working with accountants and financial experts
   Preparing financial statements

Assisting with Child Custody and Visitation Issues
L. Melhart

   Current status of custody law in Texas
   Obtaining relevant information
      • Client interview, custody questionnaires, authorizations for disclosure,
          using formal discovery
   Working with guardian-ad-litem
   Working with experts
   Drafting and reviewing parenting plans

Enforcing and Modifying Family Law Orders and Decrees
A. Pingenot Key

   Implementing divorce decrees and orders
      • Preparing and filing the decree
      • Preparing other necessary documents
      • Enforcing judgments and orders
      • Enforcing temporary orders
      • Enforcing custody orders
      • Enforcing support orders
   Modifying decrees and orders
      • Determining which parts of a decree or order are subject
          to modification, deciding when to seek modification
   Assisting in modification actions

Handling Ethical Issues in Family Law Practice
M. Purvis

   Complying with rules of professional responsibility and
      ethics guidelines for attorneys and paralegals
   Avoiding conflicts of interest
   Maintaining client confidentiality
   Avoiding the unauthorized practice of law
   Working with the secretive or dishonest client
   Handling allegations of abuse or neglect
   Zealous (vs. over-zealous) representation
   Fee agreements, retainers, and collection of unpaid fees

Working with Divorce Clients and Opposing Counsel
R. Armstrong

   Establishing and maintaining good communication with clients
   Methods of communication and contents of communications
   Guidelines for responding to client communications
   Working with difficult clients
   Working with the courts and opposing counsel
   Maintaining professionalism

Credits

Texas Certified Paralegals
     6.5 Family Law CLE Hours
     6.5 Civil Trial Law CLE Hours

NFPA   
     6.5 CLE hours (1.0 Ethics Hour)

Continuing Education Credit Information

This seminar is open to the public. The Texas Board of Legal Specialization has approved this course for 6.5 CLE hours in the specialty area of Family Law and Civil Trial Law.

The National Federation of Paralegal Associations and the National Associate of Legal Assistants have each approved this seminar for 6.5 CLE hours, including 1.0 ethics hour.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.

Speakers

Rebecca Armstrong

KoonsFuller Family Law

KoonsFuller Family Law
Ms. Armstrong is a Dallas divorce attorney practicing primarily in Dallas and Collin counties. She routinely helps people find the best solutions for their divorces, child custody actions, modifications of prior custody orders, and collaborative law cases. She also specializes in courtroom advocacy, including hearings, jury and bench trials. Ms. Armstrong is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She has successfully argued and tried issues of custody and property division for her clients. Trial advocacy became a passion for Ms. Armstrong while obtaining her Bachelor of Communications degree at Texas A&M University, and continued through her graduation from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, where she was selected for the mock trial team. In addition, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Collin County Young Lawyers Association, and is president-elect (2014) for the organization. Ms. Armstrong is also a member of the Curt B. Henderson Inn of Court, along with members of the Collin County judiciary and prominent Collin County family law attorneys, and she is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Lauren Melhart

Attorney with Kinser & Bates, LLP, Dallas, TX
Ms. Melhart has been licensed to practice law in Texas since 2007 and earned board certification in family law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 2014. Ms. Melhart has extensive experience within the family law field, including several years as a prosecutor representing the Department of Family and Protective Services. As a CPS prosecutor, Ms. Melhart received the award for excellence in serving children from Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Trinity Valley. She has also been named by Super Lawyers as a Texas Rising Star each year since 2013 and is on the faculty for the NITA/American Bar Association Family Law Trial Advocacy Institute held in Boulder, Colorado, every July.

Aimee Pingenot Key

Attorney with Goranson Bain Ausley, in Dallas, TX.

Ms. Pingenot Key exclusively practices family law. She has been selected for inclusion in Texas Monthly “Rising Stars” each year since 2006. Prior to practicing law, Ms. Pingenot Key was the program director of a supervised visitation facility for families in Austin as well as an elementary school teacher with the non-profit program, Teach for America. She received a B.A. degree in Psychology, with honors, an M.S. degree in Social Work, with honors, and a J.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Pingenot Key is board certified in family law and speaks and writes frequently on issues in family law.

Michelle Purvis

Attorney at Law

Attorney at Law
Ms. Purvis earned her bachelor of science degree in English from the University of Houston in 1995 and her J.D. degree from South Texas College of Law in 1998. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in May, 1999. Ms. Purvis practiced family law in Houston with a preeminent family law firm where she gained experience in complex and highly-contested family law cases. She has also authored and co-authored CLE articles, spoken at various CLE events, and served as a planning-committee member for a CLE seminar presented by South Texas College of Law. Ms. Purvis has also worked as a legal and business consultant and research coordinator for corporate entities and volunteered for political campaigns. Ms. Purvis is currently in private practice focusing on family law in Southlake, Texas, and represents clients throughout the greater Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Holly Rampy

Orsinger, Nelson, Downing and Anderson, LLP

Orsinger, Nelson, Downing and Anderson, LLP
Ms. Baird’s practice is limited solely to family law. She graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2006 and earned her undergraduate degree from Hardin-Simmons University in 2002, where she graduated with a double major in Finance and Economics. Ms. Baird’s background in finance laid the groundwork for her practice which is focused on cases involving complex property divisions. She also handles cases involving difficult child custody matters in divorces, modifications, paternity suits, and enforcements. Ms. Baird was licensed to practice law in Texas in November 2010, and she is board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She was selected as a Rising Star by Thomas Reuters each year from 2014 to 2018, and she was named as one of the top 50 up-and-coming Women and top 100 up-and-coming Attorneys in Texas in 2017, as published in Texas Monthly magazine. She was also selected to D Magazine’s list of Best Lawyers Under 40 in 2018. Ms. Baird is a member of the Family Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association, the Texas Family Law Foundation, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers and its foundation, and the Annette Stewart American Inn of Court.

Emily T. Ross

Yusuf Ross Law, PLLC, San Antonio, TX
Ms. Ross is board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has extensive litigation experience in both civil and family law. Her current practice covers all areas of family law litigation, including divorce, child custody, visitation and child support, modification and enforcement of court orders, and property division. Ms. Ross serves on the Board of Directors of the Texas Family Law Foundation and is a member of the Texas Family Law Foundation’s Bill Review Committee, reviewing and advising on legislation that impacts family lawyers and families throughout Texas. She has also been named by Super Lawyers as a Texas Rising Star. Ms. Ross earned her B.S. degree in Psychology and Criminology from Florida State University and her J.D. degree from Baylor University School of Law.

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