Thought Leadership / News
March 29, 2009 
 Speeches and Presentations
Jack Emmott Speaks on Contrasting Litigation and Collaborative Law
Texas Bar Association

Jack Emmott, a Member at Gray Reed & McGraw, will present at the Texas Bar Association's 2009 Collaborative Law Course on "Contrasting Litigation and
Collaborative Law". The conference will take place March 26-27, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Emmott is Board Certified in both Family Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His practice focuses on Collaborative Family Law, Family Law Litigation, Mediation, and Guardianship and Probate Litigation. His extensive civil trial and family law experience includes jury trials in divorce proceedings involving children and property as well as breach of contract, wrongful termination, recovery of real estate commission, wrongful death, personal injury, real property disputes between land owners, and infringement of patent rights. He has successfully assisted clients in matters involving property characterization, valuation and division of property, child support modification, modification of custody and parental rights, termination of parental rights, paternity, enforcement of court orders, premarital and post-marital agreements, adoptions, mediations, and collaborative law divorces with marital and separate property estates in the many millions of dollars. Jack has tried cases in Harris, Galveston, Montgomery, Brazoria, Fort Bend, Angleton, and Bexar Counties. Jack’s significant trial and collaborative law experience includes representing entrepreneurs, business owners, sports professionals medical professionals and other attorneys.

Although Jack selectively handles complex civil trial, guardianship and probate matters, he has discovered that his true calling is family law. Jack contributes his switch from civil trial practice to mainly family law in part to his ability to understand the sense of loss and frustration that is an inevitable part of any divorce. Such an appreciation was distilled in Jack at age 6 when he contracted polio. In many cases, clients need and deserve the courtroom warrior that Jack is and can be. However, Jack believes that litigation should be a matter of last resort, especially for divorcing couples and their children who are caught up in the emotional underbrush of divorce. As a pioneer in Texas collaborative family law, he attributes the success of the collaborative resolution process to the fact that it provides the parties privacy, “therapeutic justice”, and a way to work through their divorce together without the high level of stress and harm that is often caused by litigation.

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