The Honorable Carole W. Clark remains a visiting judge after retiring from the 321st State District Court in Tyler, Texas. Children and families have been her passion throughout her career. After graduating magna cum laude from Texas Christian University with degrees in elementary and special education, she joined the state’s Child Protective Services as a caseworker. Nearly seven years later, she decided she could make more of a difference for families as a lawyer. She graduated from Baylor University School of Law in 1981 and maintained a private practice in Tyler for the next 18 years, earning board certification as a family law specialist in 1993. She was first elected to the bench in 1999 and held that office for nearly 20 years. She has testified before the Texas Legislature and spoken at family law seminars numerous times throughout her judicial career and is known as an outspoken critic of rigid and punitive processes in the child welfare system. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Smith County Bar Association. In honor of her retirement, friends and supporters established the “Judge Carole Clark Trauma-Informed Training Fund” to continue her legacy of teaching others about the need for trauma training in the court system.
James Andrew Carter is a family law attorney in Tyler, Texas. He got an undergraduate degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and his JD from Texas Tech School of Law in 2001, graduating cum laude. He worked briefly for a large corporate law firm before opening his own practice in 2002. His focus quickly turned to family law. For the last several years, he has been on contract with the 321st State District Court in Smith County, representing parents and children involved in child welfare cases. Carter is active in his local church, youth baseball and softball teams, and serves on his hometown Planning and Zoning Committee and as a board member of St. Paul Children’s Foundation that supports families in need.
Jeremy Coe is a family law attorney in Tyler, Texas. Jeremy graduated magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Tyler in 1995 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, which he speaks, reads, and writes with fluency. In 1998, he graduated from Texas Tech School of Law. He clerked for two years for US District Court Judge William M. Steger before joining a law firm that specialized in insurance and personal injury litigation. He has been in private practice since 2003, developing a reputation as an aggressive trial lawyer in personal injury, family and criminal law. Jeremy is a member of Bar Association in three East Texas counties, and belongs to the Texas Trial Lawyers’ Association, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association, Family Law Section of State Bar of Texas, and the Pro Bono College and State Bar College. Jeremy has won numerous awards for pro bono representation of victims of domestic violence and his firm was named Law Firm of the Year by Lone Star Legal Aid in 2017. Jeremy has served on the boards of various non-profits. He and his wife have been involved in ministry for 20 years.
Daniel and Carmen Flores are the owners of their own construction and home remodeling business in a small town outside of Tyler. Their ultimate dream is to someday operate their own restaurant. They are very hopeful about their family’s future and especially proud that their oldest son, Elias, recently earned a high school diploma. Both grew up in abusive homes in crime-riddled neighborhoods. Carmen’s mother introduced her to drugs when she was 13, while Daniel’s older siblings got him involved in street crimes and drugs by age 10 and by age 16, pushed him into drug dealing. Both served prison terms on drug convictions and twice lost their children to child protective services. They remain grateful to Judge Clark and the court team for the intensive family and trauma counseling they received. And they credit TBRI and the tools their learned in the court’s intervention for literally saving their family’s future.
Jennifer Gregory began her career working as an investigator in the child welfare system in North Carolina. Equipped with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in criminal justice from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Jennie worked for the state and private agencies for three years, seeing every case through to conclusion as a reunification, foster care placement or adoption. In 2004, she moved to Texas, and within three years she managed the central, southern and eastern regions of a statewide private foster care agency and also earned her master’s degree in education and social work. She began doing contract work for Judge Clark, performing substance abuse and mental health assessments and screenings and became a TBRI Practitioner in 2009. She’s done everything from case management to social work, to parent education to individual and group counseling. Currently, she still works for the Smith County court system but also operates two businesses, Learn About Family and ChildrenFIRST, in pursuit of her mission of helping families in pain find healing through counseling, education and consistent support from trust-based relationships.
Julie Warren is a case manager at Youth and Family Enrichment Centers, a Tyler, Texas residential treatment facility for boys ages 7-17, many of whom are in state care through the child welfare system. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in 2016 after successfully completing Drug Court and CPS cases before Judge Clark. She grew up in Arkansas and moved to Texas as a sixth grader and had her first child at age 18. She has worked as a secretary in a law office and other clerical jobs, but found her true passion after experiencing trauma-informed healing in Judge Clark’s courtroom. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at UT Tyler in clinical mental health counseling. Her long-term goal is to become a licensed professional counselor (LPC) to provide experience, hope and strength to others.
Elizabeth Watkins has 25 years of experience in the litigation and protection of children and families throughout Texas. Currently she is the Family Justice Director at the Williamson County Attorney’s Office in Georgetown, Tx. Previously, she served as a Regional Attorney for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Smith County. She began her career as an investigator with the state’s Child Protective Services. She then served eight years as an Assistant District Attorney in Anderson County, where she filed and litigated all child welfare, juvenile cases, and crimes against women and children. She has prosecuted some of the toughest child assault cases, including two capital murder trials as the lead prosecutor. Elizabeth previously served as a contributing legal columnist for IN Magazine, in Tyler, Texas, writing about all facets of family and juvenile law. She currently serves as a member of the Legal Representation Workgroup and Trial Skills Workgroup of the Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission. Elizabeth is a Member of the Texas Bar College and Board Certified in Child Welfare.