Family Court Judge Receives Award for Best Article in Family Law

Staff Reports

Hays County Courthouse, TX – A Hays County Associate District Court Judge was recently awarded the Joseph W. McKnight Best Family Law CLE Article. The Honorable Karl E. Hays, Associate District Court Judge for the Family Court of Hays County, along with co-author and attorney Chris Wrampelmeier with the Underwood Law Firm, received the prestigious award on August 2 from the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas during the Advanced Family Law Course in San Antonio.

“I’m honored to be part of the team that received this award for our article,” Judge Hays said.

Honorable Karl E. Hays, Associate District Court Judge for the Family Court of Hays County.

He and Wrampelmeier presented their paper, You Presume Too Much: Overcoming Fit Parent, Visitation, and Child Support Presumptions, during a webcast of the Advanced Trial Skills for Family Lawyers Course in December 2020. It was one of dozens of papers reviewed by a committee for the Advanced Family Law Course, Marriage Dissolution Institute, New Frontiers in Marital Property Course, and the December continuing legal education (CLE) course. That committee then selected the winning article, which was Hays and Wrampelmeier’s.

“Earning the Joseph W. McKnight Best Family Law CLE Article was an important recognition of the scholarly contributions that judges make to family law in Texas,” Hays said. “I believe the work I and my colleagues do is critical to achieving better outcomes for families involved in the legal system.”

Hays, a board-certified attorney in Family Law, Civil Trial Law and Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, frequently writes and speaks on a variety of family law topics. At this year’s Advanced Family Law Course, he presented his paper, The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same: SAPCR Case Law Update, to more than 1,200 attorneys who attended the annual conference.

In addition to his work in the field of continuing legal education, Judge Hays also contributes to the improvement of the law, the legal system and the administration of justice by serving as a member of the Family Law Council, the governing body of the Family Law Section of the State Bar and as a Sustaining Life Member of the Texas Family Law Foundation. In 2019, Judge Hays received the President’s Award from the Texas Family Law Foundation for his contributions regarding family law issues during the 2019 Legislative Session.