Bench Bar 2015 FLS February Newsletter

17 Pages·2015·1 MB·English

The Family Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association
FLS February
Newsletter
CALENDAR Bench Bar 2015

Section Lunch CLE’s

March 11, 2015 T
he Dallas Bar Association Family Law Section Bench Bar sem-
Social Security Strategies
inar was held on February 6, 2015, at the Double Tree Hotel at

Campbell Centre. The program was fresh, educational, and en-
April 8, 2015
tertaining, and those in attendance enjoyed both the new found
CPS Policies and Procedures
knowledge of both the law and the services provided by the vendors in at-

tendance.
May 13, 2015
The program began with a Judicial meet and greet ethics program

that allowed attendees to enjoy a breakfast sponsored by Wendy Ward
June 10, 2015
Roberts & Associates - Court Reporters, while reviewing ethics topics and

discussing same with our esteemed Family District Court judges.
July 8, 2015 Once everyone found a
seat, Bill Eddy began the pro-
September 9, 2015 gram with part one of his presen-
tation on high conflict personali-
ties and how to deal with them
October 14, 2015
as clients and/or opposing coun-

sel. Many attendees began
November 11, 2015
searching the room for examples

of high conflict personalities that
Family Law CLE
they had crossed paths with in

the past. However, not a single
Marriage Dissolution
person was witnessed holding up
Dallas
a mirror for self-reflection.
April 9 - 10
Dean Beckloff followed
the first portion of Bill Eddy’s
Advanced Family Law speech by describing how these
San Antonio high conflict personalities can
August 3 - 6 affect children.
Judge John Elder then gave a heartfelt memoriam to Judge Don
(Continued on page 3)
February, 2015 Page 1
Paying it Forward
Charles Geilich
t

H

ello, young family lawyer, how the heck are you? This month, I will
Charles is a Dallas
cast my pearls of wisdom before you (but I don't mean to infer that
family-law mediator
you are swine; aphorisms can be tricky). As a 25 year lawyer and
and sometime writer,
counting (and I will ask the far more experienced lawyers to be tol-
and he’s doing the
erant here), I have seen a lot in the worlds of litigation and mediation, but, like
best he can with
most people, most of what I know in the world was picked up in grade school,
what he’s got.
junior high, and a whole lot of television and movies. I can't tell you how helpful

Gilligan's Island was to my development, and I've never gotten over Julie New-
mar's Catwoman. There were both positive and negative effects.
So, to the advice. Like the Desiderata says, "Exercise caution in your
business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to
what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is
full of heroism." I see evidence of this in family law all the time. While there are
plenty of sneaky little ... lawyers ... looking to cut corners, game the system, and
otherwise bend if not break the rules, you will also see lawyers who strive to re-
main ethical and professional, not just when it's convenient, but always. Be one
of them. Not only do other lawyers and judges notice, but it really will make
your life less stressful. So, yes, you may have heard it before, but always remem- He can be reached at
ber it: it takes years to build a good reputation but only minutes to lose it. [email protected]
Next: you are not your client. Once you identify personally with a client m
and take on his or her cause as your own, you are lost and so is your client. It can
be helpful to watch your word choice. Instead of "we," perhaps "my client"
would be more accurate. Avoid asserting things you couldn't possibly know,
such as "Your honor, my client absolutely did not have an affair." Of course,
saying "We absolutely did not have an affair" may or may not be accurate but
probably just confuses the issue.
Don't let older lawyers intimidate you. The odds are, they're making it up
as they go along, too. Maybe your best bet is to maintain inner humility and out-
er confidence. As in, "I have no idea what I'm doing here, but I'll be damned if I
let the other lawyer know." This is especially helpful late on a Friday during a
mediation when, mostly, people would just like to be finished. On the other
hand, beware the older lawyers whom you often see at the courthouse who carry
very few files. They may look casual, but they've got it all in their heads.
Any time you can do a favor for your opposing counsel that doesn't hurt
your client, do it. People remember.
Finally, discover your theme song, but don't tell anyone. And remember,
I'm making this up as I go along. If you haven't already, you will soon get the
hang of that.
February, 2015 Page 2
Bench Bar 2015 (cont.)

Koons and recounted several stories and anecdotes that
reminded those in attendance of the loss that everyone
feels after the passing of Judge Koons. Judge Andrew
Ten Eyck then spoke to from his heart on the untimely
passing of Jeffrey Raggio. Judge Ten Eyck was able to
inject levity in his address while still conveying the trag-
edy of the loss and the love, respect, and competitive
spirit that fueled the relationship between Ken Raggio
and his son Jeff .
Georganna Simpson followed with a Year In Re-
view Case Law Update for the entirety of 2014, which
was accomplished with her usual insight and tremen-
dous ability to assist trial lawyers in understanding the
complexities of appellate decision making.
The program moved forward with Marcela Evans presenting through some technical difficulties on
Unaccompanied Minors, and Jim Wingate joined Lynn Ward in an eye-opening presentation on avoiding the
pitfalls in entity transactions.
Prior to the keynote speaker, Bill Eddy, beginning the second part of his presentation, Judge Andrew
Ten Eyck thrilled all of those in attendance with the latest installment of his continuing series of Oscar wor-
thy short films on what goes on behind the scenes at the Courthouse. As always, it is great to see that under-
neath his black muumuu and when donning the powdered wig atop his head, Judge Ten Eyck has perhaps
the best sense of humor at the Courthouse.
Though very difficult, Bill Eddy then fol-
lowed Judge Ten Eyck and continued his presenta-
tion on identifying and managing high conflict per-
sonalities in our cases. He presented several exam-
ples of characteristic behavior of high conflict people
and the do’s and don'ts of dealing with these people.
Everyone took a brief break and enjoyed a
snack sponsored by Christy Gammill of AXA Advi-
sors and Julie Howell of Prime Lending. A check
was presented to the President of the Legacy Family
Court Foundation by the emcee Charles Geilich on
behalf of the DBA Family Law Section in the
amount of Sixteen Thousand Four Hundred Twenty-
six and 30/100 dollars ($16,426.30) for the proceeds, including raffle and mulligan sales, from the 2014
Family Law Section Annual Charity Golf Tournament.
Chris Meuse then proceeded to both scare and befuddle all those in attendance with information on
(Continued on page 4)
February, 2015 Page 3
Bench Bar 2015 (cont.)

the leading edge of “Gamer” property and currency. The presentation in-
cluded several instances where a person’s time, toil, and effort was fo-
cused on the creation of a character within a particular gaming environ-
ment and that character was then sold in an online marketplace for a ridic-
ulous amount of money. Chris contin-
ued to discuss other digital property,
such as holding certain URLs in hopes
of future profits, and the emergence of
BitCoin as a currency.
Carrie Wilson then presented
on more conventional currency, ac-
counts, and property. She discussed
how a team approach can lead to a cli-
ent having better understanding of the
different financial assets available for division in their estate and how
each can result in differing levels of current and future liquidity.
After watching the giving away of several prizes in the raffle ben-
efitting the North Texas Food Bank (a total of $4,370.00 was raised at
the Bench Bar for the North Texas Food Bank) including an iPad from
Fuller Mediations, a pair of custom boots from Olsen-Stelzer Boot Company, background checks and con-
cealed carry classes from Dan Lewis, an iPad from the Family Law Section, Mavericks tickets from Quaid
Farish, LLC., and many, many, more, the final presentation of the day was set to begin.
Finally, those in attendance received the gift they had all been waiting for in the form of a Judicial
Panel comprised of all of the judges who had stuck it out to the end: Judge Tena Callahan, Judge James Mar-
tin, Judge Dennise Garcia, Judge David Lopez, and Judge Mary Brown. As always the Judges provided in-
(Continued on page 5)
February, 2015 Page 4
Bench Bar 2015 (cont.)

sight into the inner workings of the district courts and perspective that allows those of us in the outside to
better understand what we don’t know about how things work at the courthouse.
All in all, the presentations were well received and all of those who attended are encouraged to re-
view the materials outlined here at your leisure as most of them are on your flash drive you received that was
sponsored by True North Advisors.
After a long and arduous day of learning, those who remained in attendance joined those who snuck
out over lunch in the Brass Cactus for a Happy Hour sponsored by LD Lowe Wealth Advisory. (See the col-
lage of pictures herein)
On behalf of the Family Law Section of the Dallas Bar and our Chair, Carl Roberts, I would like to
thank all of the Judges, speakers, attendees, sponsors, and all of our vendors for making the 2015 Bench Bar
a rousing success. A very special thank you to Kathleen
Turton, the vice-chair of the section and the organizer
and planner of the Bench Bar 2015, who did a tremen-
dous job. Finally, we would all especially like to thank
all of the Court Coordinators Catherine Nicholson,
Michele Morneault, Twyla Weatherford, Cathy Sanchez,
Linda Manning, Debra Nelson, and Rita Bartley for all
of their help. We really could not have done this without
all of your help.

Vendors
Sharyl Diveley Terhall, LMSW-IPR
Front-Line Protection Services
Between Two-Homes, LLC
Beckloff Pediatric Behavior
North Texas Families in Transition
Forensic DNA & Drug Testing
Wendy Ward Roberts & Associates
Richland Oaks Counseling Center
D6 Consulting
Special Delivery
Enterhealth
Cognoscape
Pro Active Inventory
The LifeWorks Group
CKC Consulting
True North Advisors
HG Deposition and Litigation Services
Olsen-Stelzer Boot Company
February, 2015 Page 5
My Lawyer Screwed Up!!!!

Robert Matlock

“M
y lawyer screwed up, that’s why engaged in a crime spree that included three brutal
I lost”. All experienced attor- stabbing murders, torture, kidnaping, other severe
neys have encountered potential assaults, attempted murders, attempted extortion,
clients who begin their explanation of the facts and theft. Washington initially confessed to one
with that phrase. Immediately upon hearing that murder and later confessed to the other two mur-
pronouncement the lawyer’s mind is usually ders.
bouncing around with the The judge appoint-
thought, “Is this really a ed an experienced criminal
mishandled case or simply defense lawyer to repre-
a disgruntled client shift- sent Washington.
ing the blame?” Contrary to his
The court-speak counsel’s advice, Wash-
for “my lawyer screwed ington waived his right to
up” is “the ineffective as- a jury trial and pleaded
sistance of counsel”. That guilty to all charges, in-
phrase was probably cluding the three capital
adopted by the courts be- murder charges. Under
cause it is a bit more so- Florida law, a defendant is
phisticated than the street entitled to an advisory jury
version. However, re- at a capital sentencing
gardless of the label, the hearing – Washington
question is whether the waived that right and elect-
attorney properly handled ed to be sentenced by the
his/her responsibilities to judge without a jury rec-
competently represent the ommendation.
client. In preparation for
In recent years, the sentencing hearing,
claims of ineffective assistance of counsel have defense counsel questioned Washington concern-
become the complaint du’jour in criminal cases.
ing his history and made similar inquiries of his
As a result, most of the case law related to the is-
mother and wife. Counsel did not request a psy-
sue has been formulated via appellate decisions in
chiatric examination because Washington offered
criminal cases. The “granddaddy case” which
no comments concerning psychological problems.
has been cited in all later writings on the topic is
At the sentencing hearing, defense counsel
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984).
was successful in excluding some potentially

Strickland v. Washington – Facts damaging evidence, including Washington’s "rap
sheet." The judge found numerous aggravating
Mr. Washington was a very bad guy. He circumstances were involved in Washington’s
February, 2015 Page 6
My Lawyer Screwed Up!!!!

Robert Matlock

criminal acts and assessed a death sen- show that counsel's performance was

tence. deficient. This requires showing that
Washington initiated habeas counsel made errors so serious that
corpus proceedings in state and federal counsel was not functioning as the

court claiming he was the victim of the "counsel" guaranteed the defendant by
ineffective assistance of counsel at the the Sixth Amendment. Second, the de-
Robert Matlock is a
sentencing proceeding. fendant must show that the deficient
shareholder in the firm
performance prejudiced the defense
of Woods, May &
Strickland v. Washington – Court …” Matlock, and he devotes
Comments & Analysis “ … the proper standard for at- 100% of his practice to
torney performance is that of reasona- Family Law.
The U.S. Supreme Court opin- bly effective assistance.”
ion reviewed the factual background in “More specific guidelines are not ap-
detail, concluded that defense counsel propriate.”
had acted appropriately and Washing- “… the overarching duty to ad-
ton’s constitutional right to a fair trial vocate the defendant's cause and the
had not been violated. Within its opin- more particular duties to consult with
ion the Court stated - the defendant on important decisions
“The Sixth Amendment recog- and to keep the defendant informed of
nizes the right to the assistance of important developments in the course
counsel because it envisions counsel's of the prosecution.”
playing a role that is critical to the abil- “No particular set of detailed
Robert Matlock
ity of the adversarial system to produce rules for counsel's conduct can satisfac- [phone]
just results. An accused is entitled to be torily take account of the variety of cir- RJMatlock@WMMLaw.
assisted by an attorney … who plays cumstances faced by defense counsel or com

the role necessary to ensure that the the range of legitimate decisions re-
trial is fair.” garding how best to represent a crimi-
“The benchmark for judging nal defendant.”
any claim of ineffectiveness must be “… court must indulge a strong
whether counsel's conduct so under- presumption that counsel's conduct
mined the proper functioning of the falls within the wide range of reasona-
adversarial process that the trial cannot ble professional assistance; that is, the
be relied on as having produced a just defendant must overcome the presump-
result.” tion that, under the circumstances, the
“A … claim that counsel's as- challenged action ‘might be considered
sistance was so defective as to require sound trial strategy’."
reversal of a conviction … has two “(the defendant) must identify
components. First, the defendant must the acts or omissions of counsel that
February, 2015 Page 7
My Lawyer Screwed Up!!!!

Robert Matlock

are alleged not to have been the result of reasonable sion that is unprofessional in one case may be sound
professional judgment.” or even brilliant in another. Even if a defendant
shows that particular errors of counsel were unrea-
“… counsel has a duty to make reasonable
sonable, therefore, the defendant must show that they
investigations or to make a reasonable decision that
actually had an adverse effect on the defense.”
makes particular investigations unnecessary. In any

ineffectiveness case, a particular decision not to in-
Strickland v. Washington – Bottom Line
vestigate must be directly assessed for reasonableness

in all the circumstances, applying a heavy measure of
At the risk of over-summarizing the 29 page
deference to counsel's judgments …”
opinion, the following appear to be the essence of the
“… any deficiencies in counsel's performance
Supreme Court opinion:
must be prejudicial to the defense in order to consti-
1. There are no mechanical rules for determining
tute ineffective assistance under the Constitution …”
ineffective assistance of counsel.
“In certain Sixth Amendment contexts, preju-
2. The judge must consider the totality of the
dice is presumed. Actual or constructive denial of the
evidence in the particular case.
assistance of counsel altogether is legally presumed
3. The standard is “reasonably effective assis-
to result in prejudice. So are various kinds of state
tance” under the facts of the case.
interference with counsel's assistance …” 4. There is a presumption that counsel has acted
One type of actual ineffectiveness claim war- appropriately.
rants a similar, though more limited, presumption of 5. The complaining party has the burden to
prejudice. In Cuyler v. Sullivan, 446 U. S., at 345- prove counsel committed serious errors that
350, the Court held that prejudice is presumed when were prejudicial to the party’s interests.
counsel is burdened by an actual conflict of interest There is a limited presumption of ineffective assis-
tance of counsel if the attorney has a conflict of inter-
…”
est.
“Representation is an art, and an act or omis-
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

What would you like to read about in our monthly newsletters?

If you have suggestions on specific topics you are interested to learn about
this year that may affect your practice or your clientele, please let the
editorial committee know by contacting Chris Farish at [email protected]

February, 2015 Page 8
Bench Bar 2015 - Happy Hour

Food and drinks graciously sponsored by LD Lowe Wealth Advisory.
For more information, please visit www.ldloweplan.com
February, 2015 Page 9
Bench Bar 2015 - Happy Hour
Food and drinks graciously sponsored by LD Lowe Wealth Advisory.
For more information, please visit www.ldloweplan.com
February, 2015 Page 10