Clements, Ralph M.

One of the best-known and most well-respected Family Lawyers in Texas, Richard Orsinger was recognized in 2011 and again in 2012 as Lawyer of the Year in Family Law, Dallas. He also was included in the listing of the Top 10 attorneys in the state by Texas Super Lawyers in 2009, 2010 and 2012, and has been named among Super Lawyers' "Top 100 Lawyers" in Texas each year since 2003.

No stranger to such accolades, Richard was selected in 2007 as the state's top Family Lawyer in Texas Lawyer newspaper's Go-To Guide, which is published every five years. He also has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in Family Law each year since 1987 and in Appellate Law since 2007. Richard earned the 2009 College of the State Bar of Texas' Franklin Jones Best Continuing Legal Education Article Award and the 2008 State Bar of Texas' Best Family Law CLE Article of the Year Award.

In 2003, Richard was awarded the prestigious Sam Emison Award by the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists for his accomplishments in Family Law. He received a State Bar of Texas Presidential Citation in 2001 for "innovative leadership and relentless pursuit of excellence for continuing legal education." The same year, Richard earned the State Bar of Texas Family Law Section's Dan R. Price Award for outstanding contributions to Family Law. Richard was honored with the Gene Cavin Award for Excellence in Continuing Legal Education from the State Bar of Texas in 1996, and has garnered four State Bar Certificates of Merit. He has planned and directed many State Bar's Continuing Legal Education courses, and chaired the State Bar's Continuing Legal Education Committee for two years.

A frequently sought-after lecturer, Richard speaks on Family Law, business valuations, trial and appellate procedure, evidence and law. He has authored more than 200 continuing legal education articles and has authored law review articles since 1982, as well as a 900-page treatise on Texas appellate procedure for Bancroft-Whitney Co. He was Chief Editor of the State Bar Family Law Section's Expert Witness Manual, and was editor-in-chief of the State Bar of Texas' Practice Before the Texas Supreme Court Manual.

Richard has extensive experience in jury and non-jury trials in courts across Texas. He also handles Family Law matters in appellate courts. He has appeared before most of Texas' 14 Courts of Appeals and has secured two reversals from the Supreme Court of Texas. He is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates, an organization reserved for lawyers with extensive experience in jury trials. Richard handles complex property disputes, as well as other Family Law litigation, including child custody cases.

Richard is licensed to practice law in all Texas state district courts, as well as Federal District Courts in the Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a 1975 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, and earned his Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in economics from the University of Texas in 1972. He has been Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Family Law since 1980 and Civil Appellate Law since 1987, one of few Texas attorneys to be board certified in two areas of law.  Richard handles trial court cases in North Texas, South Texas, Austin, Houston and Corpus Christi, and appellate cases anywhere in the state.