CONNATSER FAMILY LAW - Key Persons
Abby Gregory is an impressive Dallas divorce lawyer with a substantial record in litigation, collaboration and Texas family law. She was named a Partner at Aubrey M. Connatser, PLLC, after practicing at another Dallas divorce and family law group.
The Dallas family attorney is a graduate of The Hockaday School and earned her undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 2004. After attending programs at Columbia University and The University of St. Andrews in Scotland, she earned her law degree from Fordham University College of Law in 2010. Her commitment to community service was realized while a law student at Fordham. She received the Archibald R. Murray Public Service Award, summa cum laude, for devoting more than 1,000 hours to pro bono and community work for Lincoln Square Legal Services, Lawyers for Children and the Innocence Project.
Abby is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She has been selected by Thomson Reuters (from a poll of older lawyers) to the Texas Rising Stars 2017-2019. This exclusive list represents 2.5% of all Texas attorneys under the age of 40 or with less than 10 years experience in the legal field. She is also listed among the finest legal practitioners by Best Lawyers in America (Levine Leichtman Capital Partners 2019-20).
She was admitted to the Texas bar in 2010 and is licensed to practice in Texas trial courts and appellate courts. She is also trained in the collaborative law process. She has successfully represented high net-worth individuals with a desire to reach an amicable solution outside the courtroom through collaborative law.
Abby also has experience in settlement negotiations and taking cases into the Texas court system. The Dallas divorce and family law attorney successfully represented a father in a modification suit in which the judge awarded him primary custody of his children. Abby helped an international client unfamiliar with Texas family law to navigate the dissolution of the marriage while reaching terms consistent with both cultural and state laws.
She represented a professional woman in Texas family court and obtained optimal results that were in the best interest of both the client and her children, protecting her assets as well as ensuring that her ex-husband paid for her children's needs and education.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Member of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers
Alissa M. Castro has built her career helping clients navigate the unfamiliar process of their family law matters. Alissa understands that her clients are going through difficult times, whether they are experiencing a divorce, child custody or visitation matter, splitting the family business, or laying the foundation for their futures with negotiating a property agreement.
Alissa is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is currently a Partner at Connatser Family Law. She helps her clients achieve their goals in the courtroom and through skilled negotiation. She represents professionals, their spouses, mothers and fathers, and potential spouses, with a focus on practical solutions and the client's objectives. She has been recognized by her peers as a Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star (2020-2022) and as D Magazine's Best Lawyers Under 40 (2022).
After working as a judicial intern for the Hon. Tena Callahan of the 302nd Dallas Family District Court and a supervised prosecutor with the Family Justice Division-Family Violence Section of the Travis County District Attorney's Office during law school, she realized that her passion was to help families in the midst of chaos. Prior to joining Connatser Family Law as an associate attorney in 2014, Alissa worked with other family law firms in the area, volunteered her time on cases with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP), City Square and Catholic Charities of Dallas.
Alissa has been an active member of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, the Dallas Bar Association, and began serving on the Family Law Section's Executive Board in 2022. She believes that service to her community is an important part of the profession, and volunteers as a member of the Junior League of Dallas.
Alissa earned her Bachelor of Science in human communication (cum laude) from Arizona State University and is a 2013 graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law. In law school, she served as a member of the trial advocacy board, won the University of Mississippi Outstanding Student Award in Fall 2012, participated in the Pro Bono Initiative in conjunction with the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyer Project and served in the Guardian Ad Litem Clinic.
Alissa and her husband reside in East Dallas with their dogs. When she is not working, she enjoys cheering on her alma maters, cooking, listening to podcasts, watching Bravo, and being on the lake.
Aubrey M. Connatser is known and respected across the state for her expertise in many facets of her family law practice. This Texas divorce lawyer handles divorce litigation, complex property settlements, child custody and visitation, asset tracing, paternity determination, pre- and post-marital agreements, divorce decree modifications and collaborative law. She is diligent about settling family law cases, and certainly she is highly experienced in the courtroom.
Aubrey is a regular guest on law segments that air on local and national radio and TV about such diverse topics as Texas prenuptial agreements, high profile child custody and celebrity divorce. She is equally comfortable helping a Dallas businessman keep his family-owned company intact, working with a stay-at-home mom who wants to keep her children out of the middle of a divorce or any of the other hundreds of family situations that cross her desk at any given time.
Job Titles:
- Attorney Program ( Continuing Legal Education )
- Attorney Program, Volunteer & Presenter February 2014 - Present
Jana Wickham Paul joined Connatser Family Law after establishing a successful practice with two other well-known Dallas area firms.
She has been licensed to practice in Texas since 1994 and has earned a number of honors. She was chosen one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas by D Magazine (2011-2013), one of the Best Women Lawyers in Dallas (2010) and one of the Best Lawyers in Dallas under 40 (2006). She was selected to the list of Texas Rising Stars (2004) and Texas Super Lawyers (2004-2018). She is also listed among the area's finest legal practitioners by Best Lawyers in America (Levine Leitchman Capital Partners).
Jana earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law, now S.M.U. Dedman School of Law. Initially, she practiced law in El Paso at El Paso Legal Assistance Society, mainly handling family law matters for indigent clients. She served as in-house counsel for Hunter Industries in San Diego, California. Then she moved back to Dallas in 1997 and served as in-house counsel at her family's business. In 1999, she joined a well-known Dallas family law firm and then became a partner at her own firm.
Jana Wickham Paul is board certified in family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
She is admitted to the College of the State Bar of Texas. She is a member of the Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists, the State Bar of Texas (Family Law Section), and the Dallas Bar Association (Family Law Section), where she served on the board as treasurer, secretary, vice chair, and, in 2009, as chair. She has served as co-chair of the Legal Lines Committee of the DBA.
She is a fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation and became a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. She is past president and current member of Collaborative Law Dallas, a Collaborative Law practice group of Dallas family law attorneys.
"Jana is one of the most experienced family lawyers in North Texas," says Aubrey Connatser, Managing Member of Connatser Family Law. "She handles the widest possible range of cases in family court and we are fortunate to have her available to provide services to our clients."
Outside of the practice of law, she is an active member of the Park Cities Historic and Preservation Society, Armstrong Elementary PTA, and the Dallas Museum of Art.
Jere Hight has joined Connatser Family Law in Dallas as a Partner after almost two decades of success in family courts across Texas and at the settlement table.
Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, he is a valuable addition to the Connatser team of dedicated litigators rated among the Best Family Law Firms in North Texas by Best Lawyers® and featured in U.S. News and World Report.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English at Baylor University in 1998. Jere possesses language skills that make him an expert communicator in the courtroom. This enhances his litigation skills, learned in the litigation training programs at Baylor University School of Law, where he earned his juris doctor degree in 2002. Clients praise Jere for communication skills that give him a unique ability to present his client's situation in court to affect their desired outcome.
He was recognized on the list of Rising Stars in Texas family law (Thomson Reuters 2006-2008), an honor bestowed by peer-vote to only 2.5% of Texas attorneys under age 40. He has also been recognized for professionalism by inclusion in the Annette Stewart Family Law Inns of Court.
"Jere adds an immense amount of talent and experience to our already stellar list of seasoned family lawyers," says Aubrey Connatser, Managing Member and Founder of Connatser Family Law. "He is a master communicator and formidable opponent in the courtroom. I am thrilled to add him to our team."
Born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Highland Park, Jere lives in Lakewood with his wife, also a lawyer, and daughter.