Patricia A. Wicoff

Partner

CONTACT
Phone: 713-735-8514
Fax: 713-351-4514
Email: pwicoff@schlangersilver.com
Download vcard

PRACTICE AREAS
Family Law

After maintaining a private, family law practice in Houston for 33 years, Patsy joined Schlanger Silver in 2007 as the first partner in the Family Law Section. Patsy has developed and grown the family law section into one of the most successful and well respected family law practices in Houston and the surrounding counties. Although well known for her litigation skills and successes in the courtroom, her goal is to reach economically reasonable and civil resolutions to litigation. In the fifteen years she has been with the firm, the family law section has grown to include eight lawyers who concentrate solely in the area of family law and four highly skilled paralegals.

Patsy was board certified in family law in 1979 and has authored and lectured statewide on multiple family law topics. She has served as the chairperson of the Family Law Section of the Houston Bar Association, President of the Association of Women Attorneys and a special master appointed by the family District Judges.

  • Premarital and post marital agreements
  • Divorce litigation
  • Modification of orders
  • Enforcement actions
  • Parentage actions

University of St. Thomas, Houston
B.A., 1970

University of Houston Law Center
J.D., 1973

Past Chairman – Family Law Section, Houston Bar Association, 1983-1984
Member – American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (membership by invitation only)
Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists Association
State Bar of Texas, 1973
Houston Bar Association
Family Law Section – State Bar of Texas
Family Law Section – Houston Bar Association
Association of Women Attorneys
Worker’s Compensation Section – State Bar of Texas
Committee on Selection, Compensation and Tenure of State Judges – State Bar of Texas, 1982-1984
Committee on Interprofessional Relations with Physicians – Houston Bar Association, 1981-1982
Committee on Continuing Legal Education – Houston Bar Association, 1983 to present
Committee on Continuing Legal Education – State Bar of Texas, 1988
Vice Chair – Committee on Administration of Justice, State Bar of Texas, 1991 – 1992
Executive Planning Committee – Houston Bar Association, 1981
Executive Board – Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists Association, 1982
Executive Board – Family Law Section, Houston Bar Association, 1981-1984
Executive Board – Association of Women Attorneys, 1981-1982
President – Association of Women Attorneys, 1980
Advanced Family Law Seminars – State Bar of Texas, 1975-1991
Executive Board – Houston Volunteer Lawyers Association – Houston Bar Association, 1983-1984
Fellow – Houston Bar Foundation, 1984
Fellow – Texas Bar Association

  • Pro Bono Program, Houston Bar Association Counsel, (Pro Bono)
  • Houston Humane Society
  • Forum Club of Houston, Member
  • Active in Judicial Campaigns since 1974 – Family District Courts
  • Served as Master on numerous occasions in Family Law Courts

Board Certified, Family Law Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1979 – present
“Houston’s Top Family Lawyers”, H Texas Magazine, 2007
“Best Lawyers in America” (Family Law), 2006 – 2023 (by Woodward White, Inc.)
“Best Lawyers in Texas” (Family Law), 2006 – 2023 (by Woodward White, Inc.)
Texas’ Best Lawyers, “Linking Lawyer and Clients Worldwide”, 5th Anniversary Edition, 2012 (by Woodward White, Inc.)
Texas Super Lawyer, 2005-2012, 2014-2022  (by Thomson Reuters as listed in Texas Monthly)
Rating in Martindale Hubbell “AV” (highest)
H Texas Magazine’s Top Lawyers of Houston, 2016 – 2017
Houstonia Magazine Top Lawyer (Family Law), 2021-2022

  • Temporary Masters Program: Harris County Family District Courts, 1978
  • Author: “Obtaining Temporary Injunctions and Relief in Family Law Matters”, 1983
  • Lecturer: Practice Skills Course, State Bar of Texas, 1981-1988
  • Lecturer: Civil Practice Seminar, State Bar of Texas
  • Judge: Client Counseling Competition and Moot court Competition, 1982
  • Lecturer: Joint Seminar of Houston Bar Association and Houston Psychologists Association, 1982
  • Author: “Drafting Family Law Judgments”, 1983
  • Lecturer: Contemporary Women’s Forum, Jewish Community Center, 1984
  • Author: “Joint Conservatorship – A Solution to a Problem or Problem with no Solution”, 1984
  • Author and Lecturer: “The New Joint Managing Conservatorship Statute”, 13th Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar, 1987
  • Author and Lecturer: “The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act, The Parental Kidnaping Prevention Act, and The 
  • International Child Abduction Remedies Act”, 14th Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar, 1988
  • Author and Lecturer: “Sole and Joint Managing Conservatorship – The Original Decree and Modification”, 5th Annual South Texas Family Law Institute
  • Author and Lecturer: “Conversion and Forgery”, Domestic Torts Short Course, Austin, Texas, March, 1989, South Texas College of Law, April, 1989
  • Author and Lecturer: “Modification of Managing Conservatorship, Joint Managing Conservatorship and Child Support”, 15th Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar, 1989
  • Author and Lecturer: “Modification”, 16th Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar, 1990
  • Author and Lecturer: “Lawyers and Mental Health Professionals: Compulsory Friends or Foes? —Relationships and Ethics”, Law and Forensic Mental Health Forum, 1990
  • Lecturer: “Divide and Conquer – Divorce Litigation Support Seminar”, Joint Seminar given by the Family Law Section – Houston Bar Association and the Houston TSCPA – Personal Finance Committee
  • Author and Lecturer: “Family Law in Texas”, Joint Seminar given by the National Business Institute, 1992
  • Lecturer: “The People’s Court”, Joint Seminar given By Richard Alderman, 1994
  • Author and Lecturer: “Picking, Picking Apart, Impeaching and Excluding Forensic Experts in Child-Related Litigation”, 1994 Advanced Family Law Course, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas and by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas
  • Author and Lecturer: “Experts in Property Cases”, 1995 Advanced Family Law Course, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas and by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.
  • Lecturer: “Marriage Dissolution Workshop”, 1996 Southwest Social Science Association National Association of Forensic Economics Social Sciences and the 21st Century
  • Director and Moderator: “6th Annual Family Law Conference”, 1996 South Texas College of Law Family Law Conference
  • Author and Lecturer: “Post Judgment Issues and Relief” Undivided Assets and How to Recognize Them, 1996 South Texas College of Law Family Law Conference
  • Lecturer: “Common Pitfalls in Property”, Panel Member 1996 South Texas College of Law Family Law Conference
  • Demonstration: “Temporary Hearing, Without Children”, Panel Member, 1997 South Texas College of Law Family Law Conference 7th Annual Family Law for the General Practitioner and Legal Assistant
  • Author and Lecturer: “The Art of Negotiation” (ADR is More than Mediation), 1997 Advanced Family Law Course, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas and by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.
  • Lecturer: “Professionalism Day, 1998″ Group Leader for Hypotheticals; Sponsored by the Houston Bar Association
  • Demonstration: “Temporary Orders Hearing in Family Law Cases: A Trial Demonstration with an Emphasis on Evidence, Panel Member, 1999 Second Annual Family Law Institute Sponsored by the Houston Bar Association
  • Lecturer: “New Frontier’s, 1999″ Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas
  • Lecturer: “New Frontier’s in Marital Property Law, 2000″ – Santa Fe, The Internet and Private Investigation, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas
  • Lecturer: “Using MMPI (and other Psychological Tests) To Establish Character Traits Impacting Parental Abilities”; 2001 Advanced Family Law Course, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas and by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas
  • Lecturer: “Collecting Your Fees: Judgments, Turnovers, Traps and Tricks”, Panel Member, 28th Annual Advanced Family Law Course – 2002 Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas
  • Author and Lecturer: “Alimony & Maintenance: Enforceability, Contractual Agreements, Creative Uses and New Tax 
  • Traps”, 30th Annual Advanced Family Law Course – 2004, Sponsored by the State Bar of Texas

Patsy is married to Reginald Hirsch, a family lawyer in Houston. They have one daughter, Sarah Joyce, also a family lawyer in Houston. Patsy is a passionate supporter of multiple humane societies.