David O. Middlebrook

David Middlebrook is licensed to practice law in Texas, Colorado and the District of Columbia and his practice emphasis is focused on religious nonprofit organizations.  His clients include all types of charitable, religious and educational organizations.  Many nonprofit organizations retain Mr. Middlebrook as general counsel; others use his services as special nonprofit corporate counsel.  Mr. Middlebrook graduated with honors with a B.S. in Business Management in 1985 and earned his Juris Doctor in 1989 from Southern Methodist University. Mr. Middlebrook has authored and published numerous articles on non-profit topics.  He is the author of The Guardian System, a comprehensive system for the prevention of child abuse within an organization, for which he was awarded a 2001 Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Gold Medallion book award in recognition of excellence in evangelical Christian literature.  He co-authored Nonprofit Law for Religious Organizations: Essential Questions and Answers, which is a response to the need for guidance, direction, and clarification of legal and tax laws affecting churches and other religious organizations.

 

John Matthew Anthony

Matt Anthony is licensed to practice law and is a member of the State Bars of Texas, New York and Georgia.  His practice focuses in the area of nonprofit organizations with an emphasis on compliance issues, executive compensation and litigation/arbitration. His clients include all types of charitable, religious, educational organizations as well as individuals. Mr. Anthony attended Baylor University receiving his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in the areas of finance and real estate. He then attended St. Mary’s University School of Law where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1989 with honors in the study of Secured Transactions. Mr. Anthony is licensed in all Texas, New York and Georgia State Courts, as well as the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Federal Jurisdictions in the State of Texas and the Federal 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also licensed in United States Tax Court.  Mr. Anthony began his legal career as an assistant county and district attorney before entering private practice.  He is AV Rated by the Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating System. An AV rating is a testament to the fact that his peers rank Mr. Anthony at the highest level of professional excellence.

 

Faith Johnson

Faith Johnson is the first African-American female in the State of Texas to be appointed to the position of State Criminal District Court Judge. Faith was appointed to the bench by Governor Bill Clements in 1989.  Faith Johnson is a pioneer. She is the first African-American female to attain the highly regarded status of Chief Felony Prosecutor in the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. Her tenure at the District Attorney's Office spanned over seven years and her tenure on the bench spanned 17 years.

Faith Johnson is from Atlanta, Georgia and is the youngest of thirteen children. She received her Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology and her Masters of Education in Community Counseling from Georgia State University. Faith received her Juris Doctor from Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University in 1980. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in 1980. She has held positions of psychological counselor, attorney, Assistant District Attorney, Chief Felony Prosecutor of the Child Abuse Unit and State Criminal District Court Judge.

As a State Criminal District Court Judge, Faith Johnson handled an average of 1600 felony cases annually since her appointment in 1989. She was instrumental in reducing crime throughout Dallas County by instituting a Drug Day Program, incarcerating felons, public speaking, exposing metroplex school children to courtroom procedures, conducting workshops to familiarize ministers with legal procedures, and conducting crime prevention seminars. All of her community service activities were done on a volunteer basis.

 

David Royse Joe

David Royse Joe's practice consists primarily of civil litigation concentrating in employment law.  Mr. Joe has practiced in the area of nonprofit corporation law handling a wide range of issues affecting churches and ministries. Within the field of nonprofit organization law, Mr. Joe advises clients on a wide range of issues arising under the laws of more than 25 states. Additionally, Mr. Joe's practice also includes employment related civil litigation alternative dispute resolution.

Mr. Joe graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1997 where he participated in moot court competition and was a staff editor of the Texas Forum on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. In the course of earning his Juris Doctor, Mr. Joe completed training in mediation and was certified to mediate in his third year of law school. Prior to law school Mr. Joe attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History.

 

Robert W. Rucker

Mr. Rucker graduated with a B.A. in History from the University of Texas at Austin in 1981 and earned his Juris Doctor in 1984 from Saint Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. While in law school, Mr. Rucker was an Associate Editor of the Law Journal, was a member of the Board of Advocates, and was elected as the third-year class representative to the Honor Court. Mr. Rucker is a former criminal prosecutor. He has represented numerous nonprofits in business transactions, in drafting governance documents, employee handbooks and making employment decisions, drafting policies, seeking tax-exempt status, and in litigation and mediation situations. Mr. Rucker has a certificate in Risk Management for Churches and Schools from the University of Cambridge. He advises religious nonprofits in the management of their intellectual property and routinely files trademarks and copyrights for them. He co-authors a recurring legal column in Church Executive Magazine and often speaks before nonprofit organizations about current legal issues of interest.

 

Peggy B. Fallin

Ms. Fallin graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Texas and received her Juris Doctor from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Fallin worked in the corporate world where she gained a diverse background in the insurance, aerospace and oil & gas industries. Ms. Fallin practices in the areas of transactional law, nonprofit and for profit corporation law, probate and estate planning, and is licensed to practice in all Texas state courts, as well as, the Supreme Court of the United States.

 

 

 

 

Wendi L. Hodges

Ms. Hodges graduated magna cum laude from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in both English and History.  She earned her Juris Doctor from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas in 2007.  Ms. Hodges practices in the area of transactional law, focusing on nonprofit and church law, and she has assisted clients with issues ranging from corporate governance to volunteer policies.  Ms. Hodges regularly reviews legal contracts for clients and researches complex legal issues that will affect our clients.

 

 

 

Michele V. Sparkman

Ms. Sparkman graduated from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications.  She earned her Juris Doctor from Texas Wesleyan School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas in 2007.  Ms. Sparkman was a law clerk for the Honorable Bob McCoy of the Second District Court of Appeals, Fort Worth in 2007–2008. She practices in the areas of appellate law, nonprofit law, and transactional law.

 

 

 

 

Marilyn R. Norrod

Marilyn Norrod earned her B.A. with honors from the University of Texas at Austin's prestigious Plan II program.  She also received her law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and she holds a Masters Degree in Music from Texas State University.  Ms. Norrod practices law in the Austin area, where she counsels and represents clients in the areas of contract negotiation, corporate law, consumer law, estate planning, family law and intellectual property issues.  Ms. Norrod is admitted to the Texas State Bar and in the Federal Bar for the Western District of Texas.  She is also a trained mediator.  

 

 

 

Leventhal & Slaughter

We are proud to have “of Counsel” to our law firm the preeminent Attorneys & Counselors, Robert Leventhal and Harrison T. Slaughter, Jr., who have more than six decades of combined experience, each having served in the United States Department of Justice as well as the United States Attorney’s Office. Prior to the founding of Leventhal & Slaughter, P.A., Mr. Slaughter prosecuted tax cases for the U.S. Department of Justice before serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Orlando, FL, and Mr. Leventhal was a prosecutor for the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. before spending eleven years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Orlando, FL, the last two of which he served as the Chief Assistant United States Attorney.

Mr. Leventhal, graduated from the University of Florida Law School, and is a member of the Florida and Wisconsin bar associations. Mr. Slaughter graduated with honors from George Washington University School of Law is a member of the Florida, District of Columbia, and Pennsylvania bar associations.

Both Mr. Leventhal and Mr. Slaughter have personally earned the "AV" rating and are listed in Martindale-Hubbell's register of Preeminent Lawyers and were recently named to the registry of “The Best Lawyers in America.”