Austin Family Law Attorney Judy A. Leecraft
Judy was born in Rhode Island, on a Navy Base, in 1949. She moved to Victoria, Texas then Corpus Christi, Texas at the age of nine months, so she considers herself a native Texan. In 1966 she moved to Alivin, Texas where her father was promoted to Chief Engineer for the NASA space program in Clear Lake City and her mother taught English at Alvin High School ― the same school Judy attended.
Judy graduated from Alvin High School in 1967 and moved to Austin. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Texas in 1974.
Judy's own divorce in 1983 catapulted her into the field of law. In 1986 she attended the Paralegal Program at Texas State University, where she graduated at the top of her class. Judy immediately began working for Judge Marvin Teague at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, then for Royston, Razor, Vickery & Williams in Galveston, helping Judge Sam Kent with toxic torts. In 1990 she moved back to Austin to be a litigation paralegal.
From 1993 to 1996 Judy attended St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, where she was on the Dean's List and a member of Phi Delta Phi, the legal honor fraternity. Judy, along with a friend, established the student group "SOD" or "Students Older than Dirt," which still exists today at St. Mary's.
After graduating from St. Mary's in the spring of 1996, Judy moved back to Austin and because her paralegal experience gave her the practical knowledge of civil procedure, Judy opened a solo practice.
Judy has had many varied experiences practicing family law. She has litigated interstate custody cases with a parent or child in California, Illinois, New York, Florida, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Tennessee, Alabama, Washington, Canada, Puerto Rico, Israel, U.K., France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Mexico. She has tried cases in all major cities of Texas, including San Antonio, Waco, Houston, Dallas, Corpus Christi, and El Paso. She primarily litigates in Travis County, Williamson County, Bastrop County, Caldwell County, and Hays County.
Judy is Board Certified in Family Law. She takes cases concerning divorce (including common law marriages); property division (including the valuation of small businesses, stocks and stock options, retirement, real estate, etc.); child custody (including interstate custody and visitation); child visitation; establishment of paternity; modifications of custody, visitation, and child support; grandparents' suits for custody and visitation; removal of and instigation of geographical restrictions, and protective orders.
Judy has extensive legal experience in the following areas and how they affect the family:
(1) alcoholism and substance abuse;
(2) parental alienation syndrome;
(3) mental illness;
(4) abandonment and kidnapping;
(5) physical and emotional abuse of a spouse;
(6) physical and emotional abuse of a child; and
(7) using the children as pawns to gain advantage.
Judy is a member of the Austin Bar Association, the Williamson County Bar Association, the Austin Board of Advocates, the Texas Association of Family Law Specialists, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the College of the State Bar, the Texas Pro Bono College, the Austin Bar Foundation, and is a life member of the Texas Family Law Foundation.
Judy has four children: Paige Bartholomew (married to Brent Bartholomew), Blair Newberry, Mark Newberry (married to Leslie Parmeter Newberry), and Joe Newberry (married to Kelley Dwyer Newberry), and she has three grandchildren: Quinn Bohlmann, Hayden Bohlmann, and Carson Jones. She lives in West Austin with her two dogs Louise and Pym, and her cat Padme.
Since 1996, The Law Offices of Judy A. Leecraft, P.C. has been helping people find options in divorce, child custody, alimony, paternity, grandparents’ rights and other family matters through mediation and litigation. Judy is a Texas Board Certified Family Law specialist. She is supported in her law practice by associate attorney Joe M. Newberry, associate attorney Deke R. Foxhoven, paralegals Michele Litz and Deborah Colbert, and legal assistant Katie Graham. Contact our firm today to arrange your consultation.
