Dallas Bar Association
HEADNOTES
Focus Family Law
September 2018 Volume 43 Number 9
Dallas Bar Association Dear Association Members and
Non-Members:
I would like to thank all of our current Dallas Bar Associatio n (DBA) members for your ongo support of our programs and ing commitment to our community!
(Left to right) (First): Jeff Patterson, Melissa Dorman Matthews, C. Vernon Hartline, Jr., Stephanie Roark, Larry Grayson. (Middle): Kyle Dreyer, Wendy May, Jeff Cox. (Back): Pryce Tucker, Brian Rawson, Tom Jacks, and Scott Edwards.
Closing the Justice Gap Hartline Dacus Barger Dreyer Kicks Off 2019 EAJ Campaign BY MICHELLE ALDEN
The Dallas Bar Association is pleased to announce that Hartline Dacus Barger Dreyer, LLP (HDBD) is the kickoff donor for this year’s Equal Access to Justice Campaign, with a generous contribution of $30,500. The firm has a long history of supporting pro bono in Dallas through the Campaign. Including this gift, the firm has donated more than $93,000 to legal aid for the poor since 2007. The Equal Access to Justice Campaign is the annual fundraising campaign which supports the activities of the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP). The firm’s gift makes it possible for DVAP to continue to provide and enhance legal aid to the poor in Dallas, keeping the doors to the courthouse and our overall justice system open to many more people in our community. Since 1982, DVAP has recruited and trained pro bono lawyers to provide free legal aid to the poor in Dallas. Last year, a 16 member staff supported over 3,000 volunteers in their efforts to volunteer at legal clinics and advise and represent clients. HDBD focuses on general civil litigation defense, which includes product liability litigation, personal injury defense, commercial litigation, intellectual property litigation, labor and employment law, and a variety of other areas, but the lawyers make the extra effort to support the communities in
which they live and work. The firm’s Charitable Giving Committee is made up of Jeff Patterson (Managing Partner, Dallas), Brian Rawson (Dallas), Ann Hennis (Corpus Christi), and Peter Blomquist (Houston), and they have created a firm culture that prides itself on responding to the needs of their communities by investing the time, energy, and resources to ensure a lasting impact. Recent charitable work by firm employees includes going door-to-door in Houston to help fellow Texans devastated by Hurricane Harvey, supporting victims of sexual abuse in the Coastal Bend area, providing emergency school supplies for displaced grade-schoolers in Dallas, and ensuring that homeless veterans in Texas have access to free legal services. HDBD spearheads initiatives that provide financial support to charitable and civic organizations involved in health and social welfare, community, arts and culture, education, and legal advocacy activities. “Though our firm primarily represents large corporations, we are steadfast in our belief that all members of society are entitled to strong legal representation, especially those who cannot otherwise afford it,” Mr. Rawson said. The justice gap in Dallas County is daunting. In a country based on justice for all and access to our court system, over 25 percent of Dallas County residents live near the poverty level, and 42 continued on page 17
If you are not a current DBA member, I hope you enjoy this complimentary issue of our mon Headnotes publication and take thly advantage of the following spec ial membership offer! Newly joining members that join the DBA online during the month of September will over 30% on dues, which save includes up to 16 months of membership for the pric months. This special is available e of 12 to attorneys who are not curre ntly or recently a DBA member. Go to dallasbar.org and click on Join the DBA to sign up TOD AY! You can see an extensive list of our member benefits on page 17, but a few important ones are: FREE CLE CREDIT HOU RS IN PERSON & ONLINE – The Dallas Bar Association is the 2nd largest provider of CLE courses in the state of Texa s (See Page 2 for CLE courses) MAKING A DIFFERENCE . – Join one of our many Committ ees to work with other lawyers to provide legal services to the poor, volunteering withi n the community to build hom and donate needed items and es, resources. DIVERSITY – Mentor and collaborate with lawyers of all ages and backgrounds strengthen the fabric of our dive to rse legal community. COLLEGIALITY – Network with other lawyers who prac tice in your field at monthly Section meetings and attend CLE courses that relate direc tly to your practice. As a DBA Member, you will be able to take advantage of these valuable opportunitie learn, network, and make s to a difference. To find out more about the benefits of being member, please visit dalla a DBA sbar.org, or contact our Membership Director, Kim kwatson@dallasbar.org or (214 Watson, ) 220-7414. I hope you join today and look
forward to seeing you at the Belo
And again thank you to all our
Mansion, DBA headquarters!
current DBA members for your
Sincerely,
continued support!
Michael K. Hurst President Dallas Bar Association
2101 Ross Ave. ▪ Dallas
Focus
▪ TX ▪ 75201 ▪ (214) 220-741
4
Family Law
Intangible Assets and How to Divide Them BY KELLY MCCLURE AND ROBERT EPSTEIN
With the rise of computers, the Internet and Internet-based technology, intangible assets are becoming increasingly common in divorce and can provide novel issues when dealing with their characterization and division. In practice, some of the most common intangible assets that family law attorneys encounter are patents/intellectual property, goodwill, and royalties from oil and gas production. Recently, the term “intellectual property” has become an encompassing term that includes such things as patents, copyrights and trademarks. The first step in characterization under Texas community property laws is inception of title. For patents, title “incepts” when the creator actually or constructively reduces the invention to practice. The time the creator physically constructs the invention and it performs the task it was constructed to complete is when it is reduced to practice. Constructive reduction is when the creator effectively
describes the invention with sufficient specificity that a person knowledgeable in the field could reproduce the work. Copyrights are simpler in that title is incepted when the idea is reduced to “any tangible medium of expression.” 17 U.S.C. § 101. The point in time at which title incepts in the intellectual property or patent is what determines how it is characterized and divided in divorce. Specifically, the question is whether the intellectual property or patent is created before or during marriage. Of course, if the creation occurs prior to marriage, the intellectual property or patent is the separate property of the spouse who created it. However, if the creation occurs during marriage, complex and intriguing division issues often arise. If the non-creator spouse seeks to be awarded the rights associated with the intellectual property or patent created during marriage, the courts have held that the income, royalties and other continued on page 26
Inside 8
DBA Community Day of Service
14 Breaking Up is Harder To Do 17 DBA Online CLE—There’s an App for That 27 What Do I Do When I Suspect Child Abuse or Neglect?
2019 DBA COMMITTEE PREFERENCES
Please take a minute to submit your committee preferences online. Submit your preferences by Friday, October 19. Please note, if you are on a 2018 Committee you must still sign up again if you wish to continue to serve on a Committee in 2019. You will not be automatically assigned to Committees. Sign up online here: http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07efl22jl0jka38q7w/start