Jack H. Emmott III
Member
1300 Post Oak Blvd. Suite 2000
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Jack H. Emmott III, a member of Looper Reed & McGraw's Family Law Section, 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.
Family Background
Jack is a fourth-generation Houstonian whose familial mark can be seen throughout Houston. His great-grandmother, Catharine Mary Emmott, was nicknamed "The Mother of Memorial Park" because she was instrumental in the founding of Memorial Park to honor the soldiers of the Great War (WW1). Emmott Circle in Houston's Arboretum is named in honor of her. Jack's parents have been active for many years in Cy-Fair I.S.D. and a school, Jack and Lucile Emmott Elementary, is named in honor of them.
Area of Practice
Recent News
Board Certifications
Board Certified in both Family Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
Representative Experience
Winning a multi-week jury trial for a divorce client who founded a business serving over 300 disabled clients.
Winning custody in a two-week jury trial for a client who was married to a minister.
Serving as counsel for a husband in which the collaborative process was used to successfully negotiate a marital partition agreement dividing up the parties' estate valued in the many millions of dollars.
Successfully using the collaborative process in a divorce case with allegations that the husband was addicted to internet pornography.
Successfully defending a husband in a divorce from claims of wife that he had established an offshore trust for purposes of defrauding wife of her interest in property.
Securing for a wife a favorable settlement in a divorce case where allegations were made that husband had placed the lion's share of marital assets in offshore locations.
Successfully getting a Texas probate court to defer to a New Jersey Court in a guardianship case in which the Texas court purported to exercise dominion and control over the assets and person of the incapacitated person who had lived all her life, some 80 years, in New Jersey.
Successfully representing an NBA professional athlete in a contested divorce.
Representing a successful physician in a divorce case using the collaborative law process with the assistance of an allied neutral financial advisor.
Successfully representing a husband in a Bill of Review action against a divorce decree that had been rendered against him more than nine years previously.
Successfully representing former wife using the Declaratory Judgment statute to assert jurisdictional claims in a post-divorce action tried to the court. The verdict in favor of wife was upheld on appeal. Monk v. Pomberg, 2007 S.W.3d (01-05-00429-CV), not yet published (CA, Houston - 1st).
Securing a unanimous jury verdict in Federal Court in behalf of the inventor-client and manufacturer of offshore drilling equipment against a competitor for wrongful infringement of a patent.
Successfully defended against motion to compel arbitration brought in federal court by securities firm against client-individual.
Professional Activities, Memberships & Affiliations
Board Certified in Family Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1982.
Board Certified in Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1983.
Officer to the Executive Counsel of the Collaborative Law Section of the State Bar of Texas (2011-2012)
Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists, member, past president, treasurer, director.
Association of Board Certified Civil Trial Law Specialists - Houston Chapter, past president, treasurer, director.
Houston Bar Association, current Chair of the Entertainment & Sports Law Section, chair-elect of Collaborative Law Section, past chair of Judicare Committee (currently known as the Elder Law Committee).
State Bar of Texas (Section Member: Family Law, Entertainment & Sports Law, Litigation, and Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law).
College of the State Bar of Texas, 1989 to present.
Texas Academy of Family Law Specialist.
Alliance of Collaborative Family Law Attorneys and Allied Professionals, Co-founder, past director and past president.
Collaborative Family Lawyers of Houston.
The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas, Member 2003 to present.
National Institute of Sports Professionals.
Houston Bar Foundation, Life Fellow.
Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow.
Phi Delta Phi, Legal Honorary Society.
Family Law Council, South Texas College of Law Center for Legal Responsibility Member.
Institute for Responsible Dispute Resolution (Charter Member).
International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Member 2002 to present.
Courts Admitted To Practice:
All state courts in Texas.
The Supreme Court of the United States of America, 1982.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 1975.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, 1981.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
Community Involvement, Memberships & Affiliations
M.I.G.H.T. (Mobility Impaired Grappling Hurdles Together), University of Texas Student Organization.
Architectural Barriers Chairman 1972-1973.
President 1973-1974.
Former Chairman and Member of the Board, Coalition for Barrier Free Living (CBFL) and Houston Center for Independent Living (HCIL).
Chairperson, Architectural Access Committee, Greater Houston Observance of the International Year of Disabled Persons, 1981.
Rotary International, River Oaks Chapter 1989-1994.
Rotary International, Cypress-Fairbanks Chapter, 1984-1988.
Program Director 1985-1986.
Vocational Affairs Director, 1986-1987.
Board Member, Children's Resource Information Center (CRIS), 1984.
Homes of St. Mark Adoption Agency.
Board Member 1983-1990.
Executive Committee & Chairperson Legal Affairs Committee 1985-1986.
Vice-President, Board of Directors 1987-1988.
Past Advisory Board Member, Caring Choices, Inc., a Non-Profit Licensed Adoption Agency.
Past Legal Advisor, Auxiliary to Houston School for Deaf Children, 1985-1989.
Legal Advisor, Houston Center for Independent Living.
Past Volunteer, The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (T.I.R.R.)
St. Francis Episcopal Church.
Vestryman 1988-1991 Term.
Chairman, Parish Life Committee 1991.
Deputy Clerk 1989-1990.
Former Sunday School Teacher, Sixth Grade, Senior High School and Junior High School.
Co-Chairman of St. Francis Day Weekend 1989.
Chairman of St. Francis Day Weekend 1990.
Chancellor 1992-1998.
Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
Chairman, Forum on Disabilities 1997-1998.
Boy Scouts of America, Sam Houston Council.
Vice Chair, Financial and Administrative 1991.
Chair, Disabled Division 1992.
Chair, Friends of Scouting 1993.
Advisory Board Member, 1994-1996.
Houston Mayor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities.
Chair, Scholarship Committee 1992.
Vice Chair, Mayor's Committee 1993.
Chair, Mayor's Committee 1994.
Chair, Mayor's Committee 1995.
Medical Rehabilitation Education Foundation (MREF)
Houston Executive Council Member of Kaleidoscope - America's Disability Channel (KTV), 1994-1995.
City of Houston Commission on Disabilities.
Publications & Speeches
Jack has appeared on Channel 2, Channel 8, Channel 11, Channel 13, Channel 20, Channel 26, Channel 39, CNN National Network News, ABC Nightline with Ted Koppel, Public Access Television and FM 104. He has spoken on a broad range of topics including the rights of the disabled, the effects and after-effects of polio, architectural accessibility, mobility awareness, the Americans with Disabilities Act, family law, the collaborative law process, guardianships, probate matters, and employment of the disabled.
In December of 1987, Jack delivered a speech entitled "Pitfalls in the Courtroom Presentation of a Closed Head Injury Case," to a five-state seminar for attorneys on brain injury litigation (in Atlanta, Georgia).
Jack was Master of Ceremonies at the presentation of Outstanding Judge of the Year 1989 to The Honorable Alice Oliver Trevathan, Judge, 151st Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, by the Texas Association of Civil Trial Law Specialists, Houston Chapter.
Jack was a host of "Focus on Abilities" for the Houston Mayor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities which appeared on the Municipal Channel during 1992-1993. This television program received the coveted Martha Arbuckle Award from the Governor of Texas Committee for Employment of Persons with Disabilities in October of 1993 for the best educational program on disabilities.
In August of 1995, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Divorce: Out of the Underbrush of a Broken Relationship, You Can Be an Instrument of Hope, Growth and Even Healing" at the 1995 Family Law Mediation Training Seminar at South Texas College of Law, which was sponsored by The Center for Legal Responsibility. This event was attended by attorneys, judges, mediators and law students.
In October of 1997, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Mediation as a Calling: My Wounds Are My Eyes" at the Third Annual Family Law Mediation Training Seminar at South Texas College of Law, which was sponsored by The Center for Legal Responsibility. This event was attended by attorneys, judges, mediators and law students.
Jack was Master of Ceremonies at the 19th Annual Awards Luncheon of the Houston Mayor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities on October 20, 1994. At this event, attended by over 600 guests, former United States President George Herbert Walker Bush presented the first Bush Award to United States Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa for his involvement in the authorship of the Americans with Disability Act.
Jack was Master of Ceremonies at the 20th Annual Awards Luncheon of the Houston Mayor's Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities on October 27, 1995. At this event, NBA Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes, "The Big E," was the featured speaker.
On November 6, 1999, Jack delivered the keynote speech at the 15th Anniversary Celebration of the Texas Polio Survivors' Association (TPSA).
Jack authored an article entitled, "Collaborative Divorce," which appeared in the August 2001 issue of the Houston Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Monthly Newsletter.
In September of 2001, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Saying Goodbye The Collaborative Way," at the quarterly meeting of the Houston Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (HAMFT).
On September 13, 2001, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Collaborative Divorce," at the National Association of Social Workers/Texas Chapter.
On November 1, 2001, Jack moderated a panel discussion entitled, "When Collaboration Ends And Litigation Begins," dealing with evidentiary issues in a collaborative law case, at the Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists Monthly Meeting.
Jack was Chair of "Collaborative Training for Mental Healthcare Professionals," a workshop presented by Chip Rose, J.D., in Houston, Texas, on December 11, 2002. The workshop was sponsored by The Alliance of Collaborative Family Law Attorneys and the Houston Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.
On August 23, 2002, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Uncivil Marriage, Civilized Divorce," at the Anger In August 2002 seminar hosted by The Center for Anger Resolution.
On November 13, 2003, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Lessons Mediators Could Learn From Old Donk," at the Family Law Mediation Training Institute at South Texas College of Law. He was also the presenter of the 2003 Frank G. Evans Mediator of the Year Award at that event.
On January 13, 2004, Jack delivered a speech entitled, "Divorce with Dignity-The Collaborative Model," at the Houston Association of EAPA.
On January 16, 2004, Jack was a Co-Presenter of "The Attorney's Perspective On Collaborative Law Process," at the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Convention, Adams Mark Hotel, Houston, Texas.
On January 16, 2004, Jack delivered an inspirational collaborative law process speech entitled, "Cheryl Hagler, The Girl On The Sixth Row Of Bubba Wilborn's Bus," at the Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Convention.
On September 14, 2004, Jack was moderator of a panel discussion on the collaborative law process at a nationwide seminar presented by the Financial Consulting Group in Houston, Texas.
On July 23, 2004, Jack was Chair of "Training Your In-House Collaborative Team," a workshop presented by Janet Brumley in Houston, Texas. The workshop was sponsored by The Alliance of Collaborative Family Law Attorneys.
On October 15, 2004, Jack was Chair of "Collaborative Training for Financial Advisors," a workshop presented by Chip Rose, J.D., and Larry R. Cook, CPA, in Houston, Texas. The workshop was sponsored by The Alliance of Collaborative Family Law Attorneys.
On March 16, 2005, Jack participated in a role play presentation entitled, "The Attorney's Initial Consultation With Potential Collaborative Divorce Client," at a meeting of The Alliance of Collaborative Family Law Attorneys.
On June 18, 2005, Jack co-presented with Larry Cook, CPA, a speech entitled, "The Rules Have Changed-Litigation vs. Collaboration," at the Fifth Annual National Convention of the National Institute of Sports at the Marriott Riverwalk, San Antonio, Texas.
On November 8, 2005, Jack participated in an interactive panel discussion along with Steve Bavousett and Barbara Runge entitled "Avoiding Impasse in Mediation and Collaborative Law" at a meeting of the ADR Section of the Houston Bar Association.
On September 23, 2006, Jack was a panelist and co-presented with Roger Brooks, Strategic Investment Management, and Willie Miles, Miles Wealth Management, a presentation entitled, "Representing Sports Professionals in Family Law Matters and Investments," at the 2006 Sports Law Conference sponsored by Texas Southern University, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Sports and Entertainment Law Society.
On November 10, 2006, in Houston, and on November 17, 2006, in Dallas, Jack presented "Collaborative Law: How to Do It so It Works" for the University of Houston Law Foundation, Family Law Practice Seminar.
On May 16, 2007, Jack co-presented a presentation entitled, "Dialogue with Family Law Attorneys, Financial Advisors and other Professionals: When to Refer to a Parenting Coordinator and What to Expect," at Christ Church Cathedral, which was sponsored by the Alliance of Collaborative Family Law Attorneys.
On January 24, 2009, Jack presented "Contrasting Collaborative Divorce with Divorce Litigation" at Leisure Learning, Houston, Texas.
On January 27, 2009, Jack was a panelist at a presentation of the Houston Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Law Section along with N. D. Kalu, a former NFL Player, and J. D. "Bucky" Allshouse. The panelists spoke on "Representing Sports Professionals in Family Law Matters".
On March 25, 2009, Jack presented "Contrasting Adversarial Divorce with Collaborative Divorce," at the 2009 Boot Camp at the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas Spring Retreat, Fort Worth, Texas.
On April 7, 2009, Jack presented "Collaborative Law, Therapeutic Justice for the Professional Athlete," at the University of Houston Law Center, Randall Hendrick's Heritage Room, Houston, Texas.
Education
1971 – B.A., University of Houston
1974 – J.D., University of Texas School of Law
Honors
In 2010 and 2011, Jack was named a Top Lawyer by H Texas Magazine for his contributions in the Family Law section.
Received Texas Governor's Citation, The Governor's Council for Employment of the Handicapped, Governor Dolph Briscoe, 1974, award presented to M.I.G.H.T. (University of Texas organization of disabled students).
In August of 1986, Jack was one of ten selected from 38,000 former patients of the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research to be the first group inducted into TIRR'S Portraits in Living.
In October of 1986, Jack received an award for Meritorious Service from the Harris County Committee for Employment of the Handicapped.
In March of 1993, Jack received the District Award of Merit from the Boy Scouts of America, Disabled Division.
