Family Law

Judge Says Ex-Wife of Exoneree Steven Phillips Entitled to a Portion of His Millions

It was a question the legal system had never faced before: If the state pays a man millions of dollars for locking him up for a crime he didn't commit, does the wife he left behind get a piece of that? There was no need for an answer before the passage of the Tim Cole Act in 2009, which awards the w ... More >>

Meet James Dondero, Highland Capital's Giraffe-Eating, Cheating, Snooping Hedge Fund Manager

To catch you up in case you haven't been paying attention, James Dondero, who owns the 72nd most expensive house in Dallas, eats giraffe jerky, and once stood next to George W. Bush, is the co-founder of Highland Capital Management, a $20 billion hedge fund and private equity firm headquartered here ... More >>

Texas Wants to Make DIY Divorces Easier, But Judge Asks: Aren't They Easy Enough Already?

The state Supreme Court is considering developing a uniform, simplified do-it-yourself form for uncontested divorce filings, an effort to increase access to the justice system for people who can't afford a lawyer. Not surprisingly, some Texas lawyers feel the legal system is too complicated to be ... More >>

Mistrial By Google In The Case of The Ex-Wife After an Exoneree's Millions

Photo by Danny Fulgencio​"Jesus didn't want us to have a trial this close to his birthday," Steven Phillips's attorney, Tom McKenzie, said yesterday. He was joking, we're pretty sure. His point: That the prospect of an ex-wife now 20 years divorced from Phillips cutting a slice out of the rou ... More >>

At the Last Minute, Texas Spikes Federal Sex Education Funding ... Again

Condoms, birth control -- who needs 'em? Just don't have sex, Texas says to its horny teens. Just hobble that unbridled desire coupled with a limited understanding of consequences and say 'No, I'm saving myself for marriage.' That's pretty much the message, maybe paired with an infographic demonstr ... More >>

Months After Hanschen Was Chased Off Bench, New Child Support Law Says: He Was Right

Mark GrahamJudge David Hanschen's controversial child support rulings are vindicated by new state law. ​The state Legislature addressed Texas's baby-mama drama this session when, on May 12, Governor Rick Perry signed a bill that immediately relieves men determined not to be the biological father o ... More >>

Rick Perry, State Officials Named in Class Action Over Failures in Texas's Long-Term Foster Care

​A lengthy federal suit filed this morning by the national advocacy group Children's Rights says Gov. Rick Perry and other state officials have neglected their legal responsibility to the children in state care, and violated their constitutional rights, by "failing to either return them safely to ... More >>

Governor Rick Perry 's Lame Statement About Child Support Tells Us All We Need To Know About Republican Ally Greg Abbott

Danny Fulgencio​In the current paper version of Unfair Park, we detail the lengthy battle between Robert O'Donnell and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who extinguished O'Donnell's child support collection business after several courtroom victories. Despite the efforts of Abbott and his off ... More >>

In the War of Attrition Waged by the Texas Attorney General Against Robert O'Donnell, There Were Unintended Consequences

Britney Spears, Jordin Sparks

Friday, September 18, at American Airlines Center

Family Judge David Hanschen Celebrates A Victory in His Fight for Fathers' Rights, With Help From an Unlikely Place

​Family law judge David Hanschen may have received an "Excellent" job approval rating of just 14 percent on the Dallas Bar Association's 2009 Judicial Evaluation Poll, but he's celebrating a victory in what had been a bitter struggle for him just last year.  After facing off with the Office o ... More >>

Lawyer Talks About Why She Brought Whistleblower Suit Against AG's Office

Late yesterday, we finally caught up with Ginger Weatherspoon, the former assistant attorney general who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Office of the Attorney General alleging that she was fired for reporting that supervisors confined her in a room against her will and attempted to coer ... More >>

Fight Over Child Support and DNA Testing in Dallas County Court Leads to a Whistleblower Suit Against Attorney General's Office

Mark GrahamJudge David HanschenCourthouse News this morning highlights the story of Ginger Weatherspoon, a former assistant attorney general in Greg Abbott's office who claims she was fired after refusing to lie under oath about 254th District Judge David Hanschen. Weatherspoon, who worked from July ... More >>

Because, Look, Who Hasn't Pretended to Be An Answering Machine at Some Point?

Modern MechanixWhen the phones in the Texas Attorney General's Office's Child Support Division wouldn't stop ringing, Delene Richardson did what she says she was told to do: pretend to be an answering machine. For the better part of four months, the Mesquite resident answered the phone in a robotic ... More >>

Texas Attorney General, Dallas County Constables Round Up Deadbeat Parents

The Texas Attorney General's Office sends word this morning that 22 Dallas parents who've been court-ordered to pony up child support were arrested by Dallas County constables -- and it was the very definition of a "rude awakening," as the round-up kicked off at 5:30 in the a.m. Says Attorney Genera ... More >>

Haggling Over Who Collects Late Child Support Payments Could Leave Some Kids Without

Never Have Kids

Hard-Hearted AG|Sober Judgment

Family Court Judge Sheds Light on Unfair Child Support Practices in Texas

Judge David Hanschen lets men challenge whether the kids they support are theirs. And the Texas Attorney General's Office is pissed.

Family Law For Families the Law Forgot

A Little Peppermint Tea With Your Jury Duty?

Family Ties

For Argentine director Daniel Burman, life is a movie

Low standards

Who comes to visit when you dial 911?

An Irritating Woman

Susan Diamond learned that it doesn't pay to annoy your kids' psychiatrists, even if you're a doctor

Yuppie Pricks

Friday, February 11

Best Government Agency

Dallas County District Clerk's Office

Letters

No Fear, Don't Have a Stroke, Watch the Birdy

Deadbeating the System

Eight years ago, Kim Sullivan turned to the state for help collecting overdue child support. She's still waiting.

A Dog's Life

A pooch becomes the center of a divorce dispute. What's next, puppy-mony?

Letters

Caught in the Middle, Boeing Lovefest

Access Denied

In the he-said, she-said world of child visitation disputes, dads like Doug Watkins say fathers have no rights

Best in-town sports escape

Hank Haney Golf Center at City Place

Party Girl

Confronting advanced breast cancer without a dime to her name, Texas legend Priscilla Davis insists the good times aren't over yet

Elián's choice

Should a 6-year-old decide his own fate? Lisa Singh, kidnapped by her father at age 6 and taken from America to a small village in India, says yes.

Reasonable doubt?

Dallas lawyer Catherine Shelton on her troubled pastand the Rowlett murder she says she didn't commit

Breaking up is hard to do

Headed for divorce court? Act nice, or the judge will send you to psychologist Barry Coakley, Dallas' official referee for bickering couples.

My two sons?

Former school trustee Roberto Medrano is sued for child support

The lies that BIND

A Dallas jury is forced to sift through the wreckage of a family destroyed by the infamous Norplant rape case

Less than a stranger

She said it was abuse. He said it was manipulation. By the time a Denton court got through with this messy custody battle, a good mother would lose her kids forever.

Collective grief

Private child support agency means more headaches for single mother

"I'll Fight for You!"

You want Brian Loncar on your side, all right. Ask anyone who's made the mistake of crossing him.

Tarnished hero

When a heart-warming story gets ugly

Juvenile Injustice

When Ron Carpenter's nanny got busted, his 3-year-old daughter did the time

Alicia Comes Home (Part I)

How a determined father found his abducted daughter

Do as I say

Juvenile judge dodges court dates for child-support hearings

'Tell Mama Why You Cry' (Part I)

Sam Krasniqi was acquitted of sexual abuse. So why won't the state let two children have their parents -or their religion?