Fuller receives two top awards from prestigious rating service Wednesday, October 12, 2011 Attorney Kevin R. Fuller has been named Dallas’ top family law attorney and collaborative lawyer for 2012 by Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession.
Fuller is regularly selected one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Texas (Thomson Reuters) and one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas (D Magazine). He is board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
After more than a quarter century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.” Fuller was selected the top Best Lawyers Family Law Lawyer of the Year in 2009. This is the first year Best Lawyers has chosen a top family lawyer and collaborative law lawyer for Dallas.
Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.
The lawyers honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.
Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers, says, “We continue to believe – as we have believed for more than 25 years – that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the legal profession. We would like to congratulate Kevin R. Fuller on being selected as the ‘Dallas Best Lawyers Collaborative Law: Family Law Lawyer of the Year, and Dallas Best Lawyers Family Law Lawyer of the Year’ for 2012.”
Daddy drama: Protections for mistaken paternity Friday, October 14, 2011 DALLAS, TX— It is emotional fodder for daytime talk shows. Each day, audiences watch as a new "daddy drama" unfolds and men often play it up for the cameras, when they find out if the child in question is their biological child. It can be amusing to watch, but it is heartbreaking when it is real life.
"They have sacrified their life and finances for a lie," family therapist Melody Brooke says.
The Lewisville family counselor has worked with many men who have been misled into thinking that the child they are raising is their biological offspring and when it turns out not to be the case there can be an emotional toll to pay.
"If you have taken on this child that is so important and then you find out that it is not your baby, then that can shatter a world."
Difficult or not, Texas courts have had little sympathy for deceived dads, who are often duped into paying for years of child support. But, a new mistaken paternity law puts protections in place for men who find out they aren't the Dad.
"The mother can't come in and kick them out as a father," says Charla Bradshaw, Denton family law attorney.
Bradshaw says the measure is long overdue and gives men in these situations the right to walk away from financial responsibility but not lose visitation rights with the child.
"They have the option to ask the judge to continue to have visitation with the child, if they can show that it would be harmful to break off the relationship. But, they can cut off the parental rights and child support."
The law requires the man to prove through genetic testing that he is not the father. Beginning next September, men will have one year from the time of discovery to file a lawsuit regarding mistaken paternity. State lawmakers have given men a grace period with no limitation on time until then.
Bradshaw advocates fairness in divorce Sunday, October 16, 2011 DENTON, TX – (DENTON BUSINESS CHRONICLE) – Increasing fairness in divorce is the goal of Denton family law attorney Charla Bradshaw. That’s why she lobbied for changes to the Texas Family Code that went into effect this year.
A recent business column in The Dallas Morning News identified Bradshaw as the driving force behind changes to the alimony statute, which joined laws governing mistaken paternity and economic fraud as changes made by the Texas Legislature to the Texas Family Code.
“These changes bring us up to speed with other states,” Bradshaw told columnist Cheryl Hall with regard to the alimony statute. “Some states leave them up to the discretion of the judge. I’m happy how far we’ve come from where we were.”
Bradshaw is one of the best-known family lawyers in the Metroplex and a managing partner of KoonsFuller, the largest family law firm in the southwest. She has been selected one of the Top 50 Women Attorneys in Texas (Thomson Reuters 2005) and one of the Best Women Lawyers in Dallas (D Magazine 2010).
During the last session of the Texas Legislature, Bradshaw served on the legislative committee for the family law section of the State Bar of Texas. She helped write the alimony legislation, testified before lawmakers and lobbied for the bill’s passage.
“Alimony’s been the red herring, the white elephant, the 600-pound gorilla that no one wanted to bring up,” says Bradshaw, who in her 18 years as a divorce attorney has seen way too many clients get the short end of the stick when it comes to income after the divorce. “I just jumped out there and did it.” Prior to this change, the alimony statute, known as “spousal maintenance,” was so anemic that it was rarely used.
Without Bradshaw’s leadership, Texas might have continued to languish in the backwaters of spousal support, says fellow legislative committee member Kathy Kinser. “We had one of the worst alimony statutes in the country. To say that Charla was passionate about changing that is putting it mildly. She, pretty much on her own, researched all 50 states’ alimony statutes, did a complete overview for the committee and made suggested changes.”
The new legislation might have died in committee if Bradshaw hadn’t lobbied other leading family lawyers for their support. The changes were included in the family law section package and were passed into law with surprisingly little legislative debate.
KoonsFuller Lands Seven Attorneys on Rising Star List Tuesday, October 25, 2011 DALLAS, TX -- Seven young KoonsFuller attorneys were selected for the list of Texas Rising Stars for 2012 just announced by Thomson Reuters. This was the greatest number of attorneys from any one family law firm to make the list.
Rising Star honorees from KoonsFuller include Clint Brown, Julie Crawford, Emily Miskel, Rachel Moore, Kristy Sims Piazza and Rebecca Tillery. Miskel and Tillery are first-time honorees, while the others have made the list in previous years.
Rising Star designation is an annual honor limited to 2.5 percent of eligible attorneys. Candidates for this honor must either be 40 years old or younger or have practiced 10 years or less.
Attorneys are evaluated based on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement, including verdicts and settlements, legal experience, honors and awards, special licenses and certifications, education, training and other measures of ability.
As Usual, Boomers Set Frantic Pace ... for Divorce Wednesday, October 26, 2011 While the overall divorce rate seems to have flattened out or even declined in the new millennium, that’s not true for those of the baby boomer generation and older.
A study from the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green University finds that the divorce rate for those over 50 has more than doubled over the past three decades, and it’s expected to increase as boomers get older.
More than one in four people who divorce today are over 50, according to the center, and roughly half of those who divorce are for the second or third time. Traditional views and expectations of marriage and family have changed over the decades, mostly due to expanded education and employment opportunities for women reducing the role of economics in keeping the family together.
Center researchers also found that the avenues for finding a new mate have greatly increased because of Facebook and other social relationship platforms. For baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964), empty nest syndrome can wreak havoc on the marriage, with one or both parties feeling they have fulfilled their obligations to the family when children are grown and now it’s time to get out there and find a better partner.
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