Dallas Family Lawyer Michelle May O’Neil recently spoke at the State Bar of Texas Marriage Dissolution seminar, held in Galveston, Texas on the topic “We Lost, Now What?” The presentation, to approximately 250 Texas lawyers addresses presenting a family law case on appeal to the court of appeals.
To see the article, click here: We Lost, Now What? CLE article
The Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas featured my article on “Family Law Appeals Distinguished” in the Winter 2007 newsletter. ( Michelle May O’Neil article on Family Law Appeals) The article discusses the differences in the standard of review on appeal in family law cases as opposed to civil cases in general. Family law cases differ from civil cases in that most of the issues tried in family law cases are tried to the Judge, without a jury trial. Some family law cases have a few issues tried to a jury and other issues tried to the Judge. When a Judge decides an issue, the standard for reviewing that decision on appeal is “abuse of discretion”. In other types of civil cases, most final issues are tried to a jury, where the standard of review addresses the jury’s consideration of the evidence. My article discusses in depth this issue.
I also wrote a comment on the new law pertaining to appeals of Associate Judges’ recommendations and the associated deadlines, which appears in the Newsletter. The old law, which still applies to any case pending on September 1, 2007, requires notice of the desire to appeal the Associate Judges’ recommnedation be filed 3 days (not business days) after the hearing. The new law, which applies to new cases filed after September 1, 2007, allows 7 business days to file the notice. Many lawyers have contacted me wanting clarification of the statute, confused about the application to cases that were pending on September 1, 2007. So, I wrote a comment for the newsletter to hopefully help many lawyers out there keep from filing the notice late. (Michelle May O’Neil article on Family Law Appeals)
If you need the help of a divorce attorney in the Dallas or Collin County areas (Dallas, Addison, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, etc.) to assist you with your divorce or family law appeal, please contact Michelle May O’Neil at The May Firm for an appointment.
I frequently speak and write for seminars that provide continuing education credits for judges, lawyers, and paralegals. My practice is unique in that I not only represent clients in divorce cases before the trial court, but I also represent clients on appeals to the Texas Courts of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court once their cases are concluded at the trial level. There are only a handful of lawyers in the Dallas area that routinely handle family law appellate matters. I believe that I have a unique perspective on handling client’s matters before the trial court because I see a broader view of a case, not only as a trial lawyer, but only what could happen on appeal. I also think my litigation experience before the trial court gives me a better perspective on my appellate practice.
As a result, other divorce lawyers frequently hire me to assist with cases at the trial court level with an eye toward appeal. For example, I have been hired to handle a specific legal issue that will almost certainly be appealed at the conclusion of the case. Or, I have been handled to act as second chair at trial to generally assist the lead attorney in preserving error for appeal.
I presented a seminar for the University of Houston Continuing Legal Education seminar for judges, lawyers, and paralegals called Protecting Your Client’s Case For Appeal. Click here to download the article. Here’s a audio recording of my introduction to the prepsentation — click here. (I apologize for the quality of the recording and the background scratchy noise.)