Judge Don Koons is a 1957 graduate of the University of Iowa, where he
earned a bachelor's degree with a major in business. In 1962, he received his law degree
from Southern Methodist University School of Law and was admitted to practice that same
year.
Upon graduation from law school, he joined a firm of lawyers in Dallas who were corporate
house counsel to a multi-corporation organization. In 1963, he joined the office of the
Dallas County District Attorney as an assistant district attorney in the trial section,
prosecuting both misdemeanor and felony offenses.
In 1966, Judge Koons entered
the general practice
of law as a sole practitioner, a practice that included family law. In 1977 he
was appointed by Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe to the newly created 255th Family District
Court in Dallas county. He was elected to a four year term in 1978 and
reelected in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994 where he continued to serve as Dallas County's senior family law
judge until he took Senior Judge Status in 1998.
Known for his innovative
approach to problems, Judge Koons served two terms as a chairman of the
Dallas County Juvenile Board, which supervised the administration and
staffing of the juvenile facilities.
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While in this position, he initiated
computerization of child support office accounts, which were formerly hand posted. He was
also instrumental in bringing computerization to the Dallas family court dockets. His
most significant accomplishment with state-wide impact was his initiation of the family
court masters system within Texas. Recognizing the need to modernize and streamline badly
crowded dockets, and with the encouragement of local attorneys and the agreement of
commissioners court, Judge Koons, in 1978, employed the first full time family law court
master in Texas. Costing far less than the creation of new courts and adding hearing
officers to assist with the dockets, the masters program was immediately successful. Each
of the seven family district courts in Dallas presently has a full time court master, now
designated as an associate judge, and the program is now found in many of the metropolitan
areas within Texas. Judge Koons has lectured on this topic at Texas regional judicial
conferences.
Judge Koons is admitted to practice in the Federal District Court for the Northern
District of Texas, the Federal Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and the United States
Supreme Court. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and Dallas Bar Family Law
sections. The Dallas Bar Association judicial evaluation poll consistently gives Judge
Koons high approval ratings among Dallas family law judges.
In addition to his more than twenty years as a family law judge, Judge Koons has been an
adjunct instructor at El Centro College in Dallas, teaching family law to paralegal
students, bringing additional insight and experience to writing the "Handbook of Texas
Family Law".
You can E-mail Judge Koons at:
DK255@aol.com |
