OVERVIEW

Born in New Orleans, Mike got to Texas as quickly as he could when his father, an Exxon lifer, was transferred to the Houston area. Mike attended the University of Texas at Austin, was a member of the Liberal Arts Honors Program, and graduated with a degree in History in 2002. He then attended South Texas College of Law-Houston, where he received a Dean’s Honors Scholarship to attend. During law school, he learned a great deal about trial advocacy and was a highly involved member of the nationally recognized moot court program.

Mike began his legal career by serving as a small-town felony prosecutor. A month into the job, his first jury trial was a murder trial. In addition to managing an active felony docket, Mike was also responsible for obtaining protective orders on behalf of victims of domestic violence. Mike then found his way to working for Texas Attorney General where he defended medical providers and other state employees in civil lawsuits throughout the State of Texas, in both state and federal court and at the trial and appellate levels. After meeting his future wife, Mike moved to Houston in 2008 and began to focus his practice on family law. Prior to joining Jeff Diamant, P.C., Mike practiced at three different litigation boutique firms in Houston for a total of nearly twelve years.

From 2008 through the present, Mike has successfully represented family law clients in jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, depositions, mediations, appeals, and hearings. In 2021, Mike became Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This is a distinction held by less than 1% of licensed attorneys in the State of Texas.

In addition to his private practice, Mike serves as the Marital Property and Homestead Reporter of the Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Litigation of the State Bar of Texas. This role requires Mike to offer quarterly reports to estate planning, probate, and real estate attorneys throughout Texas in which he summarizes the most cutting-edge cases on the intersection of characterization (i.e., whether property is community property or separate property) with trusts, inheritance, business valuation, and real estate issues. Not only does Mike enjoy the intellectual challenge of high net worth divorce, he also has a passion for family law matters involving children with special needs.

Mike also serves as a leader in the family bar, where he previously served on the Board of Directors of the Family Law Section of the Houston Bar Association and as a Team Leader in the Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law Inn of Court. Mike also won the 2017 Outstanding Article Award from the Houston Bar Foundation for his article examining unresolved issues involving same sex marriage as well as the 2017 Individual Volunteer of the Year Award at the Harris County Pro Bono Bench Bar Conference. Mike is a fellow in both the Houston Bar Foundation and Texas Bar Foundation. When he is not practicing law, Mike enjoys spending time with his family, reading, and traveling.

EDUCATION

South Texas College of Law
Houston, Texas
Juris Doctor, 2005
Licensed to practice law in the State of Texas since 2005; awarded Dean’s Honors Scholarship; Pro Bono Honors Program Certificate; and competed in numerous moot court tournaments.

The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas
Bachelor of Arts, History, 2002
Liberal Arts Honors Program

PRACTICE AREAS

Family and Divorce

Custody

Commercial Litigation

Contract and Business Agreement Litigation

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Board Certified in Family Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 2021-Present

• Marital Property and Homestead Reporter, Real Estate, Probate, and Trust Litigation (“REPTL”) Section of the State Bar of Texas, 2018-Present

• Board of Directors, Family Law Section of the Houston Bar Association, 2017-2020

• Outstanding Legal Article Award, Houston Bar Foundation, 2017

• Individual Award, Harris County Pro Bono Bench Bar Conference, 2017

• Outstanding Team Presentation, Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inn of Court, 2015

• Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation (2014-Present) and Houston Bar Foundation (2018-Present)

• Member, Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inn of Court, 2013-Present and Team Leader, 2017-19; 2021-22; and 2022-Present

LECTURES AND ARTICLES

Co-Presenter, “How to Prepare for the Board Certification Exam,” Advanced Family Law, State Bar of Texas, August 2022 

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “Attorney’s Fees: Interim and as Sanction,” Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inn of Court, April 2022

Co-Panelist, “Inception of Title,” Texas Modern Mediation Webinar, February 2022

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “Over the Obergefell Rainbow: A Pot of Gold, a Minefield, or a Bit of Both?” Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists, May 2021

Co-Author, “Obtaining and Using Substance Abuse Records,” Innovations: Breaking Boundaries in Custody Litigation, AAML and State Bar of Texas CLE, January 2020                                                                       

Co-Author, “Same-Sex Marriage Issues,” The REPTL Reporter, Volume 57, No. 2, May 2019

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “Taking Care of Business: Entities, Divorce, and Claims Outside the Family Code,” Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists, April 2019

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “A Not-So-Sexy Discussion About Civility,” Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inn of Court, October 2018

Co-Author, “Same Sex Marriage Issues,” 41st Annual Marriage Dissolution Institute, April 2018

Author, “Arguments for and Against the Retroactive Application of Obergefell in Texas,” Texas Bar College 19th Annual Summer School, July 2017

Co-Author, “Arguments for and Against the Retroactive Application of Obergefell in Texas,”

Houston Lawyer Magazine (official magazine of the Houston Bar Association and winner of Houston Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Article Award), January/February 2017

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “Deposition Disaster: The Do’s and Don’ts of Professionalism,” Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inn of Court, February 2017 

Co-Presenter/Author, “Real Property and Housewives of Harris County,”, Family Law Section of the Houston Bar Association, hosted by the Petroleum Club, September 2016

Presenter, “How to Handle a Family Law Case,” Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (training for new Associates), October 2015

Presenter, “Nuts and Bolts of Handling a Divorce,” Houston Volunteer Lawyers, hosted by Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, LLP, May 2015

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “Social Media in the Courtroom,” Burta Rhoads Family Law Raborn American Inn of Court, April 2015 Meeting (Awarded Best Team Presentation for 2015) 

Presenter, “How To Handle a Family Law Case,” Norton Rose Fulbright, LLP (training for new Associates), October 2014

Presenter, “Nuts and Bolts of Handling a Divorce,” LyondellBassell (family law training for in-house corporate counsel), October 2014

Presenter, “Nuts and Bolts of Handling a Divorce,” Houston Volunteer Lawyers, hosted by Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, LLP, September 2014 

Co-Presenter, “Tort Issues in Family Law,” Houston Bar Association Seminar, April 2014

Presenter/Author, “This Old House: Home Valuation Issues in Divorce Litigation,” 28th Annual Family Law Conference, South Texas College of Law, March 2014

Presenter/Author, “Dirt and Divorce: There’s No Place Like Texas,” Houston Bar Association Seminar, hosted by the Junior League of Houston, January 2014

Co-Presenter/Co-Author, “Practicing Before the Texas Supreme Court,” Burta Rhoads Raborn Family Law American Inn of Court, October 2013