Practice areas

When you are arrested and charged with a criminal offense, your family and livelihood are at stake. It is important that you have an experienced attorney who is going to work hard to defend you in and out of court. 

Drug and D.W.I. Cases:

• Our firm handles cases involving the use, possession and delivery of drugs. As a part of handling of the case, we focus on the search and seizure of the narcotics as well as the manner in which the narcotics were tested.
• We also handle cases involving alcohol related offenses such as D.W.I., intoxication manslaughter, intoxication assault, and felony D.W.I. charges, Unlike other types of cases, you are immediately affected from the moment you are arrested by having your driver's license confiscated and having alcohol monitoring as a condition of your bond. We can help you with these aspects of your case along with investigating the grounds for your arrest and challenging the admissibility of the evidence of intoxication to be used at trial.
  

Felony and Misdemeanor Cases:

• The criminal law in Texas is very expansive. We have experience handling all types of felony and misdemeanor cases such as theft, forgery, robbery, and assault. We work hard to achieve a solution that will keep you losing your liberty and rights.

Juvenile Cases:

• Our firm also handles juvenile cases. Unlike adult criminal cases, juveniles face a complicated system that is a mix of civil and criminal law. There are typically no bonds available to juvenile offenders; rather, there is a complicated release process. We can help you and your child navigate through this complicated system.
  

Sealing (Non-disclosure) and/or Expungement of Records:

• When you finish with your adult or juvenile criminal case, the effects of your case may still remain on your criminal record for years to come. Our firm can help you remove or restrict access to those records if you qualify. This process, depending on the type eligibility, is referred to as an expungement, non-disclosure, or sealing of a criminal record.
  

Divorce 

•  Unlike other states, Texas only has a two month waiting period before a divorce can be finished. Most simple cases can be completed during this time, but if you have property, retirement, debts or children, the divorce process can take several months.
• We understand that a  divorce is one of the most complicated and emotional  cases any person can experience.  We will  work with you through the entire process of the divorce to ensure your rights and interests are protected.
  

Custody Disputes:

• Texas is only one of 9 states that uses concept of "conservatorship." As a conservator, you and other parent have a number of rights and duties to your child including the right to determine residence (commonly referred to as the custody right).
• The law is complicated on the grounds for changing conservatorship. In Texas, there is a one-year waiting period from the last time the court made a decision on conservatorship. Once you are outside the one year rule, you have have to show one of three things: (1) there has been a material and substantial change; (2) voluntarily relinquishment for at least six months; or (3) the child is over the age of 12 and has a preference on where he o she wants to reside. We can help navigate you through this process and determine if such a change is appropriate given your circumstances and that of your child.
  

Child Support:

• Texas uses child support guidelines that are stated in the Chapter 154 of the Texas Family Code. The amount you have to pay will determine on the amount of income you receive and the number of children you have to support. There are also deductions for medical support and travel expenses. 
• Our firm  understands and knows the law to ensure that you paying and/or receiving the proper amount of child and medical support. 

Visitation

• When a child is over the age of three, visitation is established by the Texas Family Code Standard Possession Order. The Order specifies the monthly, holiday, and summer possession for a child. It also provides for exchanges during the school year at the child's school or after-school care. 
• The Texas Family Code does not have any specific provisions for visitation when the child is under the age of three. The court generally issue visitation order on a case by case basis depending on the needs and age of the child.
• We understand the ins and outs of the visitation statute, and we can help you setup visitation or modify visitation depending on your situation. 

Enforcement of Child and Medical Support

• Normally, most parents pay his or hers child support obligation as ordered. Sometime, however, a parent fails to make the child and/or medical support payments as ordered. When this happens, the Court does not automatically take steps to help you collect payment.  Provided you have a valid court order, your child is under eighteen years of age, and there is a record relating to payments, if any, made by the other parent, we can help you. Our firm will file and serve the necessary documentation to help you recover those missing funds, and  in most instances, reimburse your court costs and attorney's fees.

Enforcement of Visitation

• Nothing is more frustrating for a parent than to be denied access to his or her child. The right to see your child is separate from the obligation to pay child support so even if you are behind on your child and/or medical support payments, you cannot be denied visitation. Provided you have a valid court order and kept a record of the missed visits, we can help you get your visitation back on track. Our firm will file and serve the necessary documentation to help you get make-up time, and in most instances, reimburse your court costs and attorney's fees.

Child Protective Services:

• Having Child Protective Services become involved with you can be one of the scariest things that can happen. They rarely give you a chance to question their actions and it can lead to you being forced to participate in services or forced removal of your child.
• Unlike other types of family law cases, there are specific rules and expedited deadlines. We are experienced in dealing with these cases, and we will be there with you at each stage of the process fighting to protect your rights.

Attorney General Suits:

• In the past couple of years, there has been more involvement by the Texas Attorney General with regard to the establishment and enforcement of child support. By statute, the Texas Attorney can request an informal meeting referred to as a "Child Support Review Process" or seek formal court action.
• You do have a right to have an attorney to be present with you during both these processes especially when it comes to retroactive child/medical support and visitation/custody rights. 
• We are experienced in handling these suits, and we will ensure that your interests are adequately protected. 

 Life can be very uncertain, and planning for illness and death can bring peace of mind for you and your love ones. Estate planning is a process of evaluating your assets and liabilities as well as the needs of your family.  As a part of this process, we may recommend:

Powers of Attorney 

• Most powers of attorney are now standardized by the Texas Estates Code.  They are typically used to assist you when you become incapacitated due to illness or injury so that you are unable to manage your care without assistance. There are two basic types of Powers of Attorney: (1) General Durable Power of Attorney which addresses management of your daily affairs and (2) Medical Power of Attorney which addresses medical decisions. The powers of attorney can vary in terms of duration and effective date.

Directive to Physicians

• A Directive to Physician is a written notice to your doctor or other medical care providers regarding your treatment or care if you have a terminal illness or condition. The purpose of the document is to avoid the situation where you remain alive solely by artificial means. Each directive is unique depending on the desires of the individual.

Last Will and Testament

• A Last Will and Testament is a document that allows a court to transfer title of your property upon your death. If you have property and die without a Will, your love ones may be required to seek a formal administration of your estate which is time consuming and expenses. A Will allows you to stream-line the process of your property going to your love ones.
  

 Sometime  a loss of a job, illness, injury or divorce can cause financial hardship. You find yourself falling behind with your bills, mortgage or car payment.  Even worst, your creditors begin collection actions to take away the things that you have worked so hard to achieve.
From the time you meet with our firm, we conduct a evaluation of your financial circumstances to determine whether bankruptcy is right for you. There are typically two types of consumer bankruptcies available: Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.

Chapter 7:

• This type of bankruptcy allows you to avoid paying all but your secured creditors. It is a relatively short bankruptcy action. However, due to changes in the bankruptcy law in 2005, there are a number of qualifications that you must meet such as income and prior bankruptcy filings.

Chapter 13:

• This is the most common type of bankruptcy since the law change in 2005. Unlike a Chapter 7,  a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a minimum of 36 months to a maximum of 60 months. It is type of bankruptcy used by individuals who have fallen behind on his or her home payments, car payments, or in some cases, other secured loans or debt. This type of bankruptcy is easier to qualify for, but you do have to make a monthly payment to your creditors.

• We have a very unique court system in Texas. Unlike other states or the Untied States Court system, Texas has two supreme courts. The civil supreme court is referred to as the "Supreme Court of Texas." The criminal supreme court is referred to as the "Court of Criminal Appeals." Below the supreme courts are a number of Appellate Courts that cover various areas of Texas. For example, the 4th Court of Appeals covers Bexar and the surrounding counties.
• The purpose of these courts is to ensure that the trial court considered the proper facts and applied the proper law to get a certain result.  When a party believes that this did not occur, an appeal follows.
• The process of appealing is complicated and there are a number of deadlines that have to be met. Our firm is experienced in handling family law and criminal law appeals. If you find yourself in a situation where you believe that the trial court did not handle the case properly, contact us so we can evaluate your situation and offer you practical options.

Our firm is based in Bexar County, and we represent clients in all:

District Courts (Civil and Criminal)

County Courts at Law (Civil and Criminal)

Probate Courts

Justice of the Peace Courts

Municipal Courts in and around Bexar County including, but not limited to, the City of San Antonio, City of Castle Hills, City of Leon Valley, City of Alamo Heights, City of Selma, City of Schertz, and the City of Hill Country Village .

Besides Bexar County, our firm represents clients in District and County Courts in other counties around central and south Texas. 

These counties include, but are not limited to,  Atascosa, Bee, Bell, Comal, Frio, Karnes, Kendall, Guadalupe, Hays, Maverick, Nueces, Travis, Webb, and Wilson

 We also handle cases in the Federal District Bankruptcy Court in the Western and Southern Districts of Texas.