Kevin Spencer

Bar / Professional Activity

• Texas State Bar, 1993
• College of the State Bar of Texas - 2007, 2008 & 2009; Life Fellow - Dallas Association of Young Lawyers; Leadership Class - DAYL - 2002
• New Mexico State Bar Association, 2024
• Oklahoma State Bar Association, 2024
• South Dakota State Bar Association, 2025

Special Licenses / Certifications

• Certified Mediator, 2012
• State Bar of South Dakota, 2025
• State Bar of Oklahoma, 2024
• State Bar of New Mexico, 2024
• Certified Attorney Ad Litem for Guardianships

Pro bono / Community Service

• Legal Services of North Texas; Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program

Honors

• Texas Super Lawyer - Estate and Trust Litigation - Texas Monthly - 2011-Present, Texas Monthly, 2011
• Martindale-Hubbell - AV Rating, Martindale.com, 2003
• Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40 - D-Magazine - May 2006, D Magazine, 2006
• Life Fellow, Dallas Association of Young Lawyers
• Texas Rising Star (Best Lawyers in Texas Under 40), Texas Monthly - 2004, 2005, 2007, Thomson Reuters, 2004
• DAYL Leadership – Class of 2002, Dallas Association of Young Lawyers - Dallas Bar Association, 2002
• President, Cistercian Preparatory School Alumni Association, 1998-2002, cistercian.org, 1998

Educational Background

• University of South Dakota - School of Law - J.D., 1992
• Austin College, B.A., 1989

Scholarly Lectures / Writings

• Fort Worth, Texas - September 16, 2022, Speaker/Author, Privileged Communication: Protected & Confidential or Not, Tarrant County Bar Association, Legal, 2022
• Authored a paper and gave a speech to estate planners and probate attorneys advising them of problems and traps we see planners get in, when they do not take notes, do not pay attention to detail and begin to think the process of executing a Will is routine and loses its importance to them., Speaker/Author, Estate (Planning) Litigation Pointers: A Litigator's Perspective, Collin County Probate Section, Legal, 2016
• San Antonio, Texas - December 2, 2021, Speaker/Author, Exemplary Damages in Fiduciary Litigation, Fiduciary Litigation Seminar - State Bar of Texas, 2021
• This is an article providing practice tips and pointers about creating a good estate planning process that will arm a scrivener to defend his or her work if a will contest ever arises., Author, Good Estate Planning Process: A Panacea for Litigation, 11 Tex. Tech Est. Plan & Com Prop. L.J. 137-150 (February 2019), Estate Planning; Estate Litigation, Litigation, 2019
• An estate administration is a continuing series of decisions and events that affect later decisions and events. Texas law offers four mechanisms to correct error in decisions made to avoid the administration being steered off course. This article addresses those mechanisms and the elimination, by the Texas Supreme Court, of a fifth option that used to be available in probate, but now is not., Author, Standing and Error Correction in Probate, Tex. Tech Est. Plan & Com. Prop. L.J., Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer 2018), 2018
• I wrote and spoke on the difference between family law and probate law as it relates to children, particularly, the jurisdictional aspects in both types of courts and conservatorship versus guardianships over minors., Speaker/Author, (Family vs.) Probate Regarding Children, Advanced Family Law Course, State Bar Of Texas - Family Law Section, 2007
• I wrote and spoke on the interplay of a trust in a divorce and how it affects "just and right" division of property., Speaker/Author, Divorce and Trust Litigation - Can you trust the Trust?, The TAFLS Trial Institute, State Bar Of Texas - Family Section, 2004
• I wrote and spoke on the five methods of correcting error in probate and the reasons for correcting error, particularly, because probate matters are an ongoing and progressive process and errors in an early part of the process can affect and even have deleterious effect on the later parts of the process., Speaker/Author, Bill of Review and Error Correction in Probate, Probate Litigation Seminar, State Bar Of Texas - Probate Section, 2004
• I wrote an article addressing certain probate issues that can affect a divorce, which need to be remember and considered in devising any divorce settlement or preparing for trial of a divorce., Author, Probate Issues Affecting Divorce Attorneys and their Clients., Family Law Forum, Texas Academy Of Family Law Specialists, 2002
• I wrote and spoke on the basic aspects of probate and how it might affect the family practitioner., Speaker/Author, Probate: Dead or Alive, We will be Splitting the Estate and Other Cross Over Issues, Advanced Family Law Course, State Bar Of Texas - Family Section, 2002
• I spoke regarding the topic of judicial notice, self-authentication and automatically authenticated evidence., Speaker, Self-Proving Evidence, How to Offer & Exclude Evidence Seminar, State Bar Of Texas - Litigation Section, 2001
• I gave a speech to the practicing attorneys at Legal Services of North Texas explaining the basics of guardianships and the guardianship process, so they might be able to handle guardianships themselves., Speaker, Basic Guardianships, Legal Services of North Texas, 1996

• Banking
• Commercial
• Individuals
• Oil & Gas
• Real Estate