Family Law
Lawyers who practice family law help people deal with some of the most difficult issues in life: divorce, property division, and child custody. They may also help plan family-related matters such as adoption or planning for the allocation of property. Family law is interdisciplinary, and family-law related issues also arise in business law, criminal law (domestic violence), immigration law, international law, and juvenile justice (child abuse and juvenile delinquency). Family law practice requires a wide array of practice skills: client counseling, negotiation, and mediation, as well as advocacy skills for those disputes that are not informally resolved.
Foundation Courses – Introducing the Basics
- Family Law
- Texas Matrimonial Property
- Children and the Law
- Juvenile Justice
Advanced Courses
- Advanced Family Law (EW)
- Critical Race Theory (EW)
Related Courses
- ADR
- Business Enterprise
- Collaborative Law
- Counseling the Small Business Owner
- Creditors’ Rights
- E-Discovery and Evidence
- Estate, Gift & Income Tax
- Immigration law
- Income Taxation
- Law Practice Management
- Negotiations
- Trial Advocacy or Trial Techniques I
- Trusts & Estates
- Women and the Law
Law students may request permission to take up to six credit hours of graduate-level courses in other parts of the university. Those interested in family law might find relevant courses offered by the department of Psychology, the Simmons School of Education & Human Development, or the Perkins School of Theology.
Clinics
- Judge Elmo B. Hunter Legal Center for Victims of Crimes Against Women
- VanSickle Family Law Clinic
- W.W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic
Externships
- Catholic Charities of Dallas
- Children at Risk
- Dallas County District Attorney’s Office – Family Violence Prosecution
- Mosaic Family Services
Public Service Placements
- Attorney General of Texas – Child Support
- Catholic Charities of Dallas
- Collin County District Attorney – Crimes Against Children
- Collin County District Attorney – Family Justice Division
- Court Appointed Special Advocates (Dallas and Collin County)
- Dallas City Attorney’s Office – Family Violence Unit
- Dallas County District Attorney’s Office – Child Abuse Division
- Dallas County Probate Courts – Investigator’s Office
- Disability Rights Texas
- Legal Aid of Northwest Texas (Dallas and McKinney)
- Mosaic Family Services
- Texas Appleseed (summers only)
- Texas Lawyers for Children
Faculty
Here are the full-time faculty members who teach or are interested in this area: