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Austin Family Law Lawyer
Overview
Jimmy Vaught is passionate about family law! In his more than 30 year career, he has always been active in appellate law, but in 1999, he made a conscious decision to become a highly regarded, well qualified family lawyer, and he has more than achieved both. Besides representing clients in traditional family law, Jimmy is also an arbitrator, mediator and is trained in collaborative family law. He works hard to settle and resolve disputes and takes a balanced and creative approach in all of his cases, whether in collaborative law, traditional family law, family law appeals or as a mediator or arbitrator for other attorneys and their clients. He is well liked and respected by almost every opposing counsel that he has worked with, and though he settles most cases, he is a formidable litigator when the circumstances require going to the courthouse. His reputation with the judiciary in venues where he practices is stellar.
Jimmy is board certified in both family law as well as civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is one of a handful of attorneys in Texas that are family law appellate specialists. He is a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, one of only 1,600 attorneys nationwide who qualify for membership. The Academy’s website touts “To be represented by a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers is to be represented by a leading practitioner in the field of family law.”
Jimmy is also a member of many of the policy making committees of the family law section of the State Bar as well as a member of the Texas Family Law Foundation and the State Bar Family Law Section’s Legislative Committee, whose goal is to write and review new legislation in Texas.
Jimmy’s unique qualifications, as well as his excellent character and experiences as a husband and father make him a highly skilled, compassionate and problem-solving family law attorney. His goal is to provide excellent representation and first class service to all of his clients.
About Jimmy Vaught
Practice Areas
- Family Law
- Family Law Appeals
- Family Law Arbitration and Mediation
- Family Law Litigation
- Collaborative Family Law
Current Employment Position(s)
- Shareholder, Vaught Law Firm, P.C.
Qualifications
Bar Admissions
- Texas, 1980
- U.S. District Court Western District of Texas, 1982
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1985
- U.S. Supreme Court, 1986
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit, 1996
Specialties and Certifications
- Family Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 2000
- Civil Appellate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1988
Other Affiliations
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Fellow)
- Texas Chapter, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2007 - Present (President Elect, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer)
- State Bar of Texas, Family Law Section, Council, Legislative Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Pro Bono Committee, 2006 - Present (Member)
- State Bar of Texas Family Law Section, Membership and Member Services Committee, 2009 - Present (Chair)
- State Bar of Texas, Family Law Section, Board of Editors, Family Law Section Report, 2007 - Present (Member)
- State Bar of Texas, Family Law Section, Family Law Pattern Jury Charge Committee, 2009 - Present (Member)
- Austin Bar Association, Family Law Section, Board of Directors (Member (2003-2007); Treasurer (2004-2005); President Elect (2005-2006); President (2006-2007))
- The Collaborative Law Institute of Texas (Member)
- Professionals for Collaborative Law (Member)
- Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists (Member)
- Texas Family Law Foundation (Sustaining Lifetime Member)
- State Bar of Texas, Family Law Section, June 1, 2011 - Present (Treasurer)
Education
- Baylor University School of Law, Waco, Texas, 1980
J.D.
Honors: cum laude
Law Review: Law Review, Editor in Chief, 1980 - Present - University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 1974
B.A.
Major: Liberal Arts
Past Positions
- Shareholder, Vaught Law Firm, P.C., 2010 - Present
- Shareholder, McCullar Vaught, P.C., 2003 - 2010
- Associate, Law Offices of Edwin (Ted) J. Terry, P.C., 1995 - 2002
- Staff Attorney, Hon. Jack Hightower, Justice, The Supreme Court of Texas, 1989 - 1995
Pro Bono Activities
- Member, Pro Bono Committee, State Bar of Texas, Family Law Section
Classes and Seminars
- Member, Planning Committee, Advanced Family Law Course (2003, 2007, and 2011), State Bar of Texas
- Member, Planning Committee, Marriage Dissolution Seminar (2011), State Bar of Texas
- Member, Planning Committee, Advanced Family Law Drafting Course (2008 and 2010), State Bar of Texas
- Course Director, 33rd Marriage Dissolution Seminar, San Antonio, Texas, May 2010, State Bar of Texas
- Co-Course Director, Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists Trial Institute (2010), Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists
- Co-Chair, Family Law on the Front Lines (2003-2007), University of Texas
Achievements
Other Sources of Feedback About Jimmy Vaught
Included on the 2024 Texas Super Lawyers list
Past Lists
- 2023 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2022 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2021 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2020 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2019 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2018 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2017 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2016 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2015 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2014 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2013 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2012 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2011 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2006 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2004 Texas Super Lawyers list
- 2003 Texas Super Lawyers list
Honors
- Best Lawyers® 2015 Family Law Lawyer of the Year in Austin
- Listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, “AV” rating
- Texas Superlawyer, Family Law, 2003, 2004 and 2006
- Public Service Award, The Women’s Advocacy Project, 2003
- Briefing Attorney for Hon. Robert M. Campbell, Justice, The Supreme Court of Texas, 1980-1981
- Member of the Lloyd Lochridge Chapter of the American Inns of Court
Office Information
Address
5929 Balcones DriveSuite 201 Austin, TX 78731 - 4280
Phone
Fax
- 512-610-9980
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Office Hours
9-6 Monday through Friday
Websites
- https://www.austindivorcelawyer.com/ (Austin Family Law Attorneys)
- http://www.vaughtlawfirmblog.com (http://www.vaughtlawfirmblog.com)
Publication
Articles
- Alternative Drafting Orders and Decrees to Those Found in the Family Law Practice Manual, State Bar of Texas Advanced Family Law Drafting Course, Houston, Texas, December, 2010
- The Future of Premarital, Postmarital, and Cohabitation Agreements, New Frontiers in Marital Property Law, Scottsdale, Arizona, October, 2010
- Take This House and Shove It, Texas Advanced Paralegal Seminar, 2010
- Appellate Purgatory: Actions You Can Take During Appeal and After Remand, 36th Annual Advanced Family Law Course, San Antonio, Texas, August, 2010
- Different Ways to Trace Separate Property, State Bar of Texas 35th Annual Advanced Family Law Course, Dallas, Texas, August, 2009
- Marital Property Agreements: And You Know It Don’t Come Easy, State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, June, 2009
- Different Ways to Trace Separate Property, New Frontiers in Marital Property Law, Napa, California, October, 2008
- The Marital Residence: There’s No Place Like Home, State Bar of Texas 31st Marriage Dissolution Seminar, Galveston, Texas, April, 2008
- Dealing with Unusual Trusts, State Bar of Texas New Frontiers in Marital Property Law, Memphis, Tennessee, October, 2007
- The Road to Settlement: Rule 11 Agreements, Informal Settlement Agreements and Mediated Settlement Agreements, State Bar of Texas 34th Annual Marriage Dissolution Institute, April, 2011
- The Road to Settlement: Rule 11 Agreements, Informal Settlement Agreements and Mediated Settlement Agreements, State Bar of Texas 34th Annual Marriage Dissolution Seminar, April, 2011
- Appellate Practice from Every Angle, State Bar of Texas 37th Annual Advanced Family Law Course, August, 2011
- Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover: Appellate Style, State Bar of Texas 35th Annual Marriage Dissolution Seminar, April, 2012
- Summary Judgments in Divorce, State Bar of Texas 38th Annual Advanced Family Law Course, August, 2012
- Time Keeps on Slippin', Slippin', Slippin' into the Future: Post-trial and Appellate Deadlines, Austin Bar Association Seminar: Handling Your First (or Next) Divorce Case, January, 2013
- Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em: Settlement Agreements, Rule 11 Agreements, Informal Settlement Agreements and Mediated Settlement Agreements, State Bar of Texas 36th Annual Marriage Dissolution Seminar, April, 2013
- What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate: Attacking and Defending Settlement Agreements, State Bar of Texas 39th Annual Advanced Family Law Course, August, 2013
Representative Cases
- Fish v. Lebrie, 2010 WL 5019411 (Tex. App. - Austin 2010, no pet.).
- Izzo v. Izzo, 2010 WL 1930179 (Tex. App. - Austin 2010, pet. denied).
- Cox v. Cox, 298 S.W.3d 726 (Tex. App. - Austin 2009, no pet.).
- Barina v. Barina, 2008 WL 4951224 (Tex. App. - Austin 2008, no pet.).
- Holmes v. Kent, 221 S.W.3d 622 (Tex. 2007).
- Zeifman v. Sheryl Diane Michels, 229 S.W.3d 460 (Tex. App. - Austin 2007, no pet).
- Fox v. Fox, 2006 WL 66473 (Tex. App. - Austin 2006, no pet.).
- Hart v. Webster, 2006 WL 1707975 (Tex. App. - Austin 2006, no pet.).
- Zeifman v. Michels, 212 S.W.3d 582 (Tex. App. - Austin 2006, pet. denied).
- Sheshunoff v. Sheshunoff, 172 S.W.3d 686 (Tex. App. - Austin 2005, pet. denied).
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