Ms. Dean's professional experience encompasses a broad range of legal matters. Her primary emphases are estate planning, elder law, and probate. Her estate planning practice involves helping clients orchestrate their estates by drafting a vast array of trusts, wills and powers of attorney. Ms. Dean also provides compassionate legal advice while assisting families through the probate process. Ms. Dean's legal expertise in civil appeals includes both advising at the trial court level and handling all aspects of the appeal. She has handled appeals dealing with complex insurance matters, business matters, personal injury and family law appeals. She has successfully argued in federal and state courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, on behalf of a major insurance company, corporations, and individuals. She works with trial attorneys and clients to preserve error on the trial court level, preparing legal motions, handling mandamus actions, preparing and arguing the jury charge and handling all post-judgment motions. At the appellate level, Ms. Dean leads the appeal of a judgment, including preparing briefs, petitions for review and briefs on the merits to the Texas Supreme Court, and presenting oral argument before diverse panels of judges. Throughout her career, Ms. Dean has handled other civil matters as well, such as complex commercial litigation, corporate buy-outs, employment and business contracts, consumer issues, family law litigation, adoptions, real estate transactions and personal injury litigation. She successfully negotiated and closed a multi-million dollar buy-out of a snowboard clothing company to a major sporting goods conglomerate. Prior to specializing in appellate law, Ms. Dean engaged in a successful trial practice and as a result, understands the needs of trial attorneys and what it takes to make them successful at the trial level and on appeal. Integrity and operating under a high standard of ethics are of utmost importance to us at The Dean Law Firm. We abide by the Texas Lawyer's Creed.

Lisa M VanAuken is a Houston Family Law Attorney. While she grew up in Northern New York, she has lived in Houston, Texas area since 1995 and has made the Houston area her home. Lisa VanAuken graduated Magna Cum Laude from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1995 with a B.A. in Political Science. Lisa went on to graduate from the University of Houston Law Center, where she was a member of Phi Delta Phi, a national legal honor society. While in law school Lisa M VanAuken gained her first exposure to the family law court system when she did her legal internship with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Family Criminal Law Division, where she advocated on behalf of victims of domestic violence to obtain protective orders. Since being licensed in November 1998 Lisa has practiced exclusively in the area of family law. Over the last 19 years she has gained valuable experience handling uncontested divorces, contested divorces, high asset property divisions, paternity suits, step-parent adoptions, infant adoptions, interstate adoptions, contested child custody suits, child custody modifications, child support cases, child support modification cases, protective orders, and Attorney General Office cases. While she practices primarily in Harris County, she has also represented clients in Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Galveston Counties.

Going through a divorce or family law matter can be an emotional time. You may feel betrayed, lost, or overwhelmed. Having an attorney that can relate to you, and who focuses on divorce and family law, can make the process easier. Since our founding in 2007, we have dedicated our firm to the practice of divorce and family law because of the tremendous need for lawyers who focus on this area. We have since continued to grow and have over 25 offices throughout the United States. If you need help with a family law or divorce-related matter, our legal team can help guide you through the process. We have many offices in many local jurisdictions, which puts our firm close to you and your family. We have been ranked as one of the fastest-growing law firms in the United States by Law Firm 500. To schedule a consultation, you can contact us online today.