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The Enos Law Firm
17207 Feather Craft Lane, Webster, Texas 77598
(281) 333-3030 Fax: (281) 488-7775
E-mail: greg@enoslaw.com
Please forward this e-mail newsletter to everyone who cares about our family courts!
Click here for an archive of past issues of The Mongoose.
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It is gratifying when so many folks call my office and ask when the next issue of this newsletter will come out. Even I am impressed when a judge in open court suggests a story idea and asks,"When is the Mongoose going to write about that?"
I have been busy this summer going on vacation, spending time with the grandson, actually working as a lawyer and working a few hours every day on my magnus opus on "Grandparents' Custody and Visitation Rights in Texas." The booklet is up to 47 single spaced pages and will include legislative history and every case in the last ten years on the subject and some as far back as the 1950's. This writing project is a cruel, demanding mistress and I have decided it will be done when it is done. If you want a preview, click here to download a portion of this mini-book on grandparents' rights entitled,"An Important New Case on Standing Should Prevent Many Custody Cases Filed by Grandparents from Being Dismissed Early in the Case." Every lawyer dealing with non-parents seeking custody needs to be familiar with In re K.D.H., 426 S.W.3d 879 (Tex. App. - Houston [14th Dist.] 2014, no pet.).
Some of my summer has been spent on work behind the scenes on projects that are not political (thank goodness), but which should result in real improvements in family law in our area. I am going to have plenty to write about this Fall, including an expos� about CPS appointments and the highly questionable billing practices of lawyers with more political clout than scruples.
I am also reading this summer. I am half through the fascinating Nature's God by Matthew Stewart which examines in detail the "religious" beliefs of America's Founding Fathers. A paragraph on attacks made by pastors against a rabble rousing radical, Dr. Thomas Young, reminded me of some of the things people today might write about me:
[He is] a purveyor of "inaccuracy, malevolence, bad grammar and nonsense"; a perfect specimen of "self-conceit, vain-baiting, and invincible impudence"; a "firebrand" and an "incendiary of the lower order"; a man of "noisy fame"; the last word in boorishness and impertinent loquacity"; "the great Apollo of the ignorant"; and, most memorably, "an eternal Fisher in Troubled Waters."
I remain interested and involved in politics of course. The national mood and recent political polls in Texas do not make 2014 look like the year when the Democrats will sweep Harris County. However, the work being done by the Democrats on the street and their use of highly sophisticated computer databases will not reveal itself until early voting starts in October. The longer immigration remains a top issue and the more reactionary national Republicans are about the topic, the easier it will be for Democrats to "awaken the sleeping giant" of the Hispanic vote. I strongly disagree with my genuine friend, Jared Woodfill, on equal treatment of our fellow citizens who happen to be homosexual. Woodfill's efforts to get a referendum on the November ballot to repeal the City of Houston's Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO) could have a real impact on the general election. Woodfill, the former GOP Chair, is going to unintentionally mobilize the gay, lesbian and transgender vote, which has elected an openly gay mayor in Houston for three elections. Interestingly, Afro-American ministers are part of the anti-HERO coalition and many assume that if blacks turn out to vote in increased numbers in November because of the HERO referendum, they will still vote straight Democratic for political candidates. I wonder how many additional conservatives inside the city of Houston will turn out to vote in November who would not have otherwise voted. I know many liberals and gays who do not usually vote in non-presidential elections will now be motivated to go to the polls.
I do not expect to win every case. I just want an efficient system in which my client gets a fair hearing before a judge who works hard, knows the law, and does not play favorites. I also expect judges to appoint qualified amicus attorneys who zealously look after children (and actually visit the kids in their homes). Is that asking too much? Stay tuned.
Greg Enos
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 Splitting Custody of Siblings
Usually, it is best that siblings stay together in divorce or custody modification cases. But, the law allows split custody and the facts sometimes persuade judges that split custody of siblings is in the children's best interests. There is no special burden of proof imposed to split siblings and the statutory preference to keep siblings together is just one factor a judge should consider in determining what is in the children's best interests.
Click here to download my complete article on this subject, which cites all pertinent cases on splitting custody of siblings.
The Revenge of the Defrocked Judges: Pratt & Dupuy Accuse Me of Chicanery Most Foul
I suppose it is only fair for the judges who have lost their jobs because of my efforts to return the favor and point out my alleged misdeeds to the world. I filed criminal complaints against Galveston County Court at Law Judge Christopher Dupuy and he was ultimately indicted, temporarily removed, resigned and convicted of the charge I originally filed, plus a perjury charge involving me! Amazingly, the State Bar has not yet managed to take away Dupuy's law license and he is actually taking on cases in Galveston County. I certainly wonder how much he discloses to his new clients about his past and how he is viewed in Galveston legal circles.
I now have a family law case against Dupuy and he filed a humdinger of a motion to recuse Judge Jan Yarbrough. Dupuy's motion claims I spent a lot of time in the back corridors and in judges' chambers and even suggests that the judge and I had a romantic relationship. Judge Jan has far too much common sense and knows far too much about me for that to possibly be true. The motion was denied without a hearing by Judge Underwood. Click here to see the motion to recuse filed by Dupuy. He has recently filed motions to recuse other Galveston County judges, including Kerri Foley who replaced Dupuy, and all of his motions have been denied so far. FYI Dopey: The time mentioned in your motion when I was indeed in the back before our hearing before Associate Judge Baker involved a long conversation between me and Judge Lonnie Cox, the Godfather of Galveston County Republican politics and supreme diet guru (who is not even a family court judge), in Judge Cox's chambers.
Harris County Family District Court Judge Denise Pratt resigned earlier this year to avoid indictment in a case I brought to the District Attorney's attention. Pratt was also the focus of many stories in the Houston Chronicle written by Kiah Collier. This month, an "anonymous" mass e-mail was sent out from what looks like Denise Pratt's MailChimp account to Republican activists that says some pretty inflammatory things about me and Ms. Collier. The e-mail at the very bottom says it is from "Denise Pratt for Judge � PO Box 8012 � Baytown, TX 77522 � USA ." The sender is someone calling themselves,"ComplicitNoMore."
Here are a few excerpts from this juicy e-mail:
The Republican primary season in Harris County is one of the most contentious and vicious in recent memory. It is made all the more sanguine by the fact that Republicans joined forces with Democrats in several key family court races to depose sitting pro-family judges or put transparent Obama supporters (one-time R's) on the bench.
Such moves are not simply the result of ignorance, as evidenced by the case of Denise Pratt. Republicans from start to finish were virtually complicit with Pratt's attackers. [Silence is not the absence of wrongdoing but rather, passive wrongdoing.]
Pratt, like many Republicans, was the victim of a leftist tirade. The Houston Chronicle, and its neophyte reporter Kiah Collier, succeeded in filling the blogosphere with patent falsehoods about the embattled judge. The reality? Pratt allowed plaintiffs to speak directly to her, minimizing the role of attorneys and impacting the pocketbook of a few left-leaning attorneys with an ego to protect. Moreover, many of these attorneys profited from a system that perpetuates abuse and is biased against the traditional family unit.
The attorney leading the charge against Denise Pratt is a man named Greg Enos, who went so far as to tap her phones and monitor her private, privileged communications while she sat as judge. Harris County is starting to look more like an episode of Dukes of Hazzard with men like Enos running around loose. Enos would likely be content if Boss Hog were sitting in Pratt's place. Instead, Obama supporter and pro-abortion attorney Alicia Franklin will.
No self-righteous "crusade" legitimizes the violation of a judge's private communications. I am not sure which allegation is more astounding: that I tapped Judge Pratt's phones and e-mails or I am a figure from the "Dukes of Hazard" trying to elevate Boss Hogg to the bench (even though, oddly enough, there was a deputy named "Enos" on that television series). It is even more ridiculous to suggest that Judge Franklin is a supporter of President Obama or is pro-abortion. Comparing thin, elegant Alicia Franklin to Boss Hogg is the most absurd statement of all. It is almost as if the author of this e-mail tirade is a little jealous of Ms. Franklin and is juvenile enough to call her names. Hmm, I wonder if that is any clue to who wrote this e-mail?
The e-mail went on to besmirch the Chronicle reporter, Ms. Collier: Dismissals of the kind attacked by Collier in her role as Enos-lackey were lawful and a normal clerical practice of courts with large caseloads and backlogs of cases that are inactive and not in compliance with the rules of the courts. Making dismissals is part of any judge's JOB, and turning dismissals into a scandal would be akin to gasping in shock that a preacher preaches or that a lawmaker makes laws.
Reducing a common part of a judge's duties to the absurd is beneath even the Chronicle, a publication that always seems to endorse the most liberal Republicans for offices.
So, a few attorneys do not like Denise Pratt or her decisions - what manager in an organization is loved or adored by all its employees? If businesses were run this way, businesses would fail.
I am confident that even ardent Fox News watching Republicans (who ordinarily believe almost anything they are told if it involves 'liberals" or the press) can tell this e-mail is silly lunacy. Unsolicited Advice for Judges' Spouses Who Practice Law As a young personal injury attorney over two decades ago, I was astounded to learn that Galveston County's Family District Judge, Andrew Baker, presided over cases that involved his daughter, Susan, as a lawyer. Everyone conceded it was not proper, but no one was willing to cross Andy Baker and few thought that Susan Baker took advantage of the situation. As it turned out, Susan Baker, replaced her father on the bench and Susan turned out to be a really good, forward thinking judge (with just a few exceptions - sorry Lloyd). We continued to deal with conflict situations in the family courts in Galveston County involving relatives and part-time associate judges. Once I started practicing family law, I raised hell over the practice of allowing a conflict to automatically require the transfer of a case to another court. During the recusal battles with Judge Dupuy before his arrest and suspension, our Regional Administrative Judge, Olen Underwood, took the position that an attorney who knows he has a conflict with a judge should decline a case that is already pending in that court. So, here is my unsolicited advice to any lawyer whose spouse (or domestic partner or fianc� or parent or child or sibling) is a judge: - If you file a new case and it lands in your spouse's court, you keep the case and the case is again randomly reassigned. No one can say you are taking advantage of the system in that situation.
- If a client comes to you with a case that has been pending in your spouse's court for a while and hearings have been held, you do not take the case unless all of the opposing attorneys have no problem with the fact that the case will be removed. The best practice is simply to turn away such cases because some attorneys may feel uncomfortable telling you "no" in a case where your spouse is the judge
- If a new case filed by someone else lands in your spouse's court, no hearing has been held and the respondent wants to hire you, I think that as long as the client knows the case will be moved and as long as you are not delaying an already set hearing and only if opposing counsel agrees, you can take the case and it will be transferred to another court. If a hearing is already set and the opposition does not want it reset or wants the case to be in your spouse's court, then you decline the case and send the prospective client to another lawyer.
Many folks will feel very uneasy about a judge's spouse even conducting consultations with potential new clients with cases pending in the judge's court. How do we know for sure that what is told the lawyer in his office does not end up shared with the lawyer's spouse/judge over wine that evening? Can we be sure that the lawyer spouse is not sharing insights into her husband's thinking and approaches to cases during those consultations? The safest procedure is to refuse even consultations if the case is pending in your spouse's court.
Any lawyer married to a judge enjoys a lot of benefits, including socializing with other judges and access to information most attorneys can only guess at (unless they read this newsletter). A lawyer married to a judge probably gets business just because people assume he or she has special clout in the court. On the other hand, being married to a judge has some downsides, including all of the boring political events that must be attended. A judge's spouse cannot freely speak her mind on Facebook and certainly cannot appear to throw her weight around with other lawyers simply because she is married to a judge. Most importantly, the spouse of a judge owes it to the judge not to take any cases that might potentially embarrass the judge or cause people to think there is something improper going on.
A judge's spouse must err on the side of caution and turn away cases to avoid the appearance of reverse forum shopping. It would be really bad if attorneys hired the lawyer-spouse as co-counsel just to get cases out of the judge-spouse's court.
Obviously, a lawyer-spouse cannot mediate cases in her husband's court even if the judge had nothing to do with the selection of the mediator. It goes without saying that a lawyer simply cannot be appointed to do anything in his spouse's court, even by the associate judge. At least we do not have to worry about an elected judge ever asking her spouse to serve as a free, substitute associate judge in her own court because the impropriety of that is simply too obvious.
Good Bye and Hook 'Em Horns to Kenneth Kaye
Kenneth Kaye, 71, an extraordinary attorney in League City, passed away July 29 in Houston, after a decades-long battle with Crohn's disease. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1964 and in 1968, was awarded his law degree from the University Of Texas at Austin. Kenneth was a loyal Longhorn all his life, particularly during football season. The man wore burnt orange almost as often as I do!
Kenneth was board certified in civil trial law and was selected by the National Trial Lawyers of America as one of the top 100 trial lawyers in the nation. Kenneth served the Bar and his fellow lawyers in several capacities and served three years as chairman of the district Grievance Committee. Kaye was the municipal judge for Taylor Lake Village from 2006 until 2013. Kenneth worked with and loved his wife Patsy for 44 years.
Kaye was a funny, quiet man to talk to but a fierce, no-holds-barred litigator who would take on anyone. Several local governments lost cases to Kenneth and had to pay some whopping attorney fee awards. Kenneth was a humorous, scholarly friend and a formidable foe in court.
A Memorial Service and a celebration of Kenneth's life will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, August 4, at the Crowder Funeral Home in Webster, Texas. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent in memory of Kenneth Charles Kaye to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America,National Processing Center, Attn: Honor and Memorial Gifts, PO Box 1245, Albert Lea, MN 56007.
Interesting Book on Economics and the Decline of Marriage
Marriage Markets: How Inequality is Remaking the American Family by June Carbone and Naomi Cahn explores how macroeconomic forces and liberalization of divorce laws are changing the institution of marriage in the United States. This really interesting and thought provoking book shows how and why traditional marriage is increasingly becoming a privilege of wealthier Americans. At the root of the problem is the profound wealth inequality in our nation. Even the conservative Wall Street Journal dedicated a lengthy and positive review to this book, which has suggestions for reforming family law in light of the increase in single parents and of couples living together without marriage. Click here to read the Wall Street Journal review of this book. Click here to see the book on Amazon.com.
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"Together, attorneys can improve our family courts!"
In this Issue
 Visit the Mongoose Booth at the Advanced Family Law Seminar!
This year, I will again be operating an exhibitor's booth for The Mongoose at the Advanced Family Law Seminar in San Antonio. Come by our booth to visit and get a free traveling coffee mug enblazened with a feisty mongoose and grab some free educational handouts. The world famous Mongoose Girls will be running a raffle for folks to win gorgeous and very rare "The Mongoose is Watching" t-shirts.
On Wednesday morning at the seminar, please pack the SAPCR track room to cheer loudly for Judge Meca Walker and me as we speak on "Testimony of Children."
New Courtroom Chart for Lawyers
Click here to download a new chart that tells you where Harris County Family Courts are located, who their judges and staffs are and when their docket calls are supposed to start. 
Possible Name Change for this Newsletter?
I may change the name of this newsletter to "The Satanic Leaf Tailed Gecko." Click here to read more about this amazing creature. In a related story, Russia space control has lost contact with a sex-experiment satellite filled with mating geckos. Click here to read more on that sad tale.
Judge Alicia Franklin Takes Charge and Is Getting Good Reviews
Alicia Franklin was appointed and sworn in as Judge of the 311th Family District Court by Judge Lisa Millard in a very private ceremony on June 17. A public and formal investiture ceremony will be conducted on Friday, August 15, 2014 at noon in the Ceremonial Courtroom in the Civil Courthouse, 17th Floor. Everyone is invited to that event.
Franklin has changed her coordinator and bailiff, but will continue to benefit from the wise experience of Bob Newey (at least through the end of this year). The 311th staff now consists of:
Judge: Alicia Franklin Assoc. Judge: Robert Newey Coordinator: Victor Almendarez Reporter: Marilee Anderson Clerks: Stephanie Garcia, Monica Caballero
Bailiffs: Two uniformed, armed Sheriff's Deputies (bailiffs will rotate in and out of the court).
Franklin is getting really positive reviews in her first few weeks as a judge. It is clear that she is intelligent, enthusiastic and motivated to fix the gigantic mess Pratt left her. A few have grumbled that Franklin went ahead and enjoyed a long planned vacation just weeks after she took office, but I think that is an unfair criticism (even though I have never been on a vacation as long as three weeks since I was a kid). Regardless of how the November election turns out, Franklin has months of really hard judicial work ahead of her and a vacation now that was committed to well before she was suddenly appointed is not something any of us should begrudge her.
Meet the Democrats:
Jim Evans
Candidate for 308th District Court
Now that the mayhem of the GOP primaries is over, it is time to remind folks that there are Democrats running for Family District Courts in Harris County. In my next few issues, I will introduce them to you.Jim Evans is running for the 308th Family District Court against James Lombardino. Evans graduated with honors in 2003 from the University of Houston Law Center where he served as the Research Editor on the Houston Law Review. Evans Jim has practiced law for just over 10 years and, currently, his practice is dedicated exclusively to family law. Jim has done a lot of bankruptcy law in the past. Prior to attending law school, Jim served as a minister and taught in Louisiana public schools. Evans has the added qualifications of being a parent and a divorced father and an adoptive dad. If elected, Evans would be the county's first proud, openly gay family court judge. [Disclaimers: (1) I represented Evans' husband in an appeal and a family case; (2) I admire the friendly, efficient way Judge Lombardino runs his court and I love the way he treats fathers so fairly, even though I do not always like some of Lombardino's amicus appointments]  This is why Evans says he is running for the family court bench: I am running to be your next presiding judge in the 308th Judicial District Court because the people of Harris County desperately need an informed and attentive judge. I am committed to applying impartial and careful consideration to the cases brought before the court, and I will render judgment based on the best interest of children and fairness for litigants. I have the necessary background to understand the complicated property issues that sometimes arise in divorces. I know the value of mediation and other ADR alternatives as tools for resolving family law disputes. And as an individual who has personally navigated through the legal system with my own family, I possess a level of empathy that will assist me in making practical decisions with positive long-term results. I am the better choice for this bench for a number of reasons, and I would like to highlight one of them. I will reform the appointment system by basing my appointments on education and experience. For example, I will ask attorneys who are seeking appointments in adoption cases or custody cases to let me know their background with regard to children, child development, child psychology and family systems so that I can appoint an appropriate person based on the family circumstances before the court. This will encourage an objective basis for recommendations brought to the court. And, of course, I will not base appointments in my court on political contributions or connections. Judges: Do Not Sext Bailiffs and Do Not Have Sex With Litigants in Your Chambers! A Detroit family court judge got in trouble last year for texting an almost naked photo of himself to a female court bailiff, which her husband discovered on the bailiff's phone. When confronted about the photo by a local television reporter, the judge said,"Hot dog, yep, that's me, there's no shame in my game." The Michigan Supreme Court accepted a recommendation from the Judicial Tenure Commission and publicly censured Judge Wade H. McCree. 
This year, things got even worse for McCree when it came to light the married judge was having an affair with a woman who had a case pending in his court. Naughty Judge McCree met the woman in his court and started a sexual relationship that involved the dirty deed done repeatedly in the judge's chambers. McCree discussed aspects of the case and possible punishment of the baby-daddy with his lover; helped her violate court rules by sneaking a cell phone in through the employee entrance; sent "inappropriate and derogatory" texts about litigants, defendants and witnesses from the bench; and "lied about when and why he finally recused himself" from the woman's case. Once he was busted, the judge made false claims that the woman was stalking him and lied under oath when an investigation into the matter began. 
During the affair, the woman became pregnant. McCree, who investigators say referred to himself as the "king of latex," told the woman he would finalize a divorce he had filed against his wife if she aborted the baby. The judge also gave the woman money while her case was pending before him. As part of his defense, McCree's attorney and doctor argued the judge suffers from hypomainia, a symptom of bipolar disorder that results in impulsive behavior. The defense did not work because Judge McCree was suspended and then removed and barred from being a judge for six years. Click here to read more juicy facts in the opinion of the Michigan Supreme Court. Sadly, McCree comes from an esteemed judicial background. His late father, Wade H. McCree, Jr., was appointed the U.S. solicitor general by Jimmy Carter, and taught at the University of Michigan Law School. The elder McCree made history as the first African American to sit on a Michigan court of record when he was appointed to the Wayne County Circuit Court in 1954.
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Attorney Greg Enos has been through his own divorce and child custody battle (he won) and understands what his clients are going through. Enos graduated from the University of Texas Law School and was a very successful personal injury attorney in Texas City before he decided his true calling was to help families in divorce and child custody cases. Greg Enos is active in politics and in Clear Lake area charities. He has served as President of the Bay Area Bar Association and President of the Board of Interfaith Caring Ministries.
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Attorney Greg Enos
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