Jacqueline Smith has practiced law in and around the greater Houston area. Her talents include a vast experience in family law as well as the uncanny ability to quickly identify the needs of each client and properly determine the most efficient and beneficial manner to proceed.

She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a law degree from the University of Houston. Jacque is an accomplished litigator, mediator and collaborative lawyer. She has served as an author on a variety of family law articles, seminar speaker and visiting associate judge in many of the family law courts.

Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specializations*, Jacqueline Smith is also a Certified Mediator and Certified as a Collaborative Law Attorney.

”Within the Texas community, Board Certification means an attorney has substantial, relevant experience in a select field of law as well as demonstrated, and tested, special competence in that area of law” –TBLS

Education

University of Houston Law Center – Doctorate of Jurisprudence, December 1984 University of Wisconsin – BA, August 1972 University of Wisconsin – Graduate Program – Educational Psychology, May 1974

Legal Organizations

Fellow: American Academy of Matrimonial Attorneys, 2015 – Present; Texas Family Law Counsel, 2016-Present; Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists, Member 2010 – Present; Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists, Board Member 2016 -2019; Member 2010 – Present; State Bar of Texas, Member; State Bar of Texas, Family law Section; Burta Rhoads Raborn Inn of Court, Member and Team Leader; Houston Bar Association, Family Law Section, Director, 1994-1996, Member 1994 – Present; Houston Family Law Group, Co-Founder and Member; Course Director 2018 Marriage Dissolution 101, Dallas, Texas; Planning Committee, 2019 Marriage Dissolution.

Awards

President’s Award, BRR Inns of Court, 2016 and 2019; Selected by Peer Recognition as a Top Lawyer in Houston, August, 2013 Listed as America’s Most Honored Professional Top 5%, 2011 BV Distinguished Rating, Martindale-Hubbell, 2010 Listed as one of Houston’s Top Lawyers for the People, 2009 Listed as a Top Family Lawyer by H Magazine, February 2008 Listed as one of Houston Top Family Law Attorneys, September 2007 listed as a Top Family Lawyer by H Magazine, August 2006 Recipient of Alex Award for Legal Excellence, NAACP, 2001 Top 100 Family Lawyers of Harris County, Texas, 2000 Recipient of the Business Associate of the Year Award, American Business Women’s Association, 1995

Author

Author and Speaker, Temporary Orders, Marriage Dissolution, April 2022;
Author and Speaker, “Drafting Unique Child Support Provisions: Above Guideline, Special Needs Child, and 154,399”, Advanced Family Law Drafting 2017;
Author and Speaker, “Alienation – Analyzing/Reassessing the Problem and Solutions, Advanced Family Law 2017;
Author and Speaker: “Office Management from Start to Finish”, Marriage Dissolution 101, 2017;
Speaker, Advanced Family Law 2016 San Antonio, TX, Parental Alienation: what it is and what It isn’t;
Speaker, “Pro Bono Family Law Cases, ” University of Houston Law Center, January 2014;
Speaker, “Collaborative Law,” Houston Family Law Group, February 2014;
Author and Speaker, “Temporary Orders,” Houston Family Law Group, July 2013;
Author, “Ad Litem Appointments and Responsibilities,” South Texas College of Law;
Author, “Preparing for and handling Temporary Orders Hearings,” Houston Bar Association, 2009 Family Law Institute;
Author, “Injunctions and Enforceability of Parenting Plan,” University of Texas, 2007;
Co-Author with Norma Tursch, “Making Pleadings and Orders Conform to What the Legislature has Wrought,” Advanced Family Law Drafting, 1995