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: