January 29, 2005, Denton Business & Christmas News

Leigh Hilton Law Firm Brings Experience and Knowledge to Daily Living Law

The three attorneys at Leigh Hilton, L.P. do not go in much for dramatic courtroom battles. They concentrate more on what could be called daily living law such as wills, estates, trusts, probate, real estate transactions and business formations all the laws that protect your family and regulate private property and businesses. Mrs. Hilton, principal attorney of the firm, is board certified in commercial and residential real estate law and has more than ten years experience in estate planning, wills and trusts, charitable donations and business planning.

Associate Tiffany Wright, who divides her time between a part-time profession at the office and three children at her home in Ponder, focuses on estate planning and also prepares and reviews loan documents, corporate, partnership and business agreements.

Kristin Crowley is the newest member of the firm. After completing internships in the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, clerking for a personal injury law firm, and getting married in June, she joined Leigh Hilton, L.P. this year. "I feel so fortunate to be here and be able to practice the kind of law that I want to do the rest of my life," she said.

Mrs. Hilton is concentrating now on recent changes in laws that allow parents to establish trusts that can distribute IRA assets to their children or other heirs over a period of years rather than a lump sum when the parent dies thus providing lower taxes and a greater return on income. She is holding free seminars monthly in Denton, Dallas, Frisco, and Fort Worth to offer legal advice on the changes in the law and how to protect assets with a properly built and maintained living trust. "Trusts can distribute a couple's assets something they have worked hard for all their lives to their children or wherever they want the assets to go," she said. The trusts need to be drawn up to protect their children from creditors, bankruptcy and situations such as divorce. Trusts can also be beneficial for individual estate planning needs.

"Wills also are an important way to protect and distribute assets," she says. "Wills are important even for young families", she said. "What if something happens to both parents? Who raises the children? How are the parents' assets protected for the children? All of those things should be handled in a will", she said.

Another facet of Mrs. Hilton's work and one of the few situations that takes her into the courtroom is her representation of several banks. She prepares and reviews loan documents and other bank transactions, as well representing the institutions in bankruptcy proceedings when necessary.

Mrs. Hilton was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1993 and by the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas in 1994, and the Eastern District of Texas in 1996. She was previously a partner in the firm of Hilton & Davidge, L.P. and was an associate at the firm of Philips & Hopkins, L.P. from 1994-1995. From 1993-1994, she was a briefing attorney for Justice Mark Whittington of the Texas Court of Appeals, Fifth District of Texas, in Dallas.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude, second in a class of 145, from the South Texas College of Law in 1992, after completing an undergraduate degree in accounting at the University of North Texas in 1989. During law school, she attended a Notre Dame Law School, Summer London Law Program on international business law, common market law and public international law in 1991. She also earned several American Jurisprudence Prizes for Excellence and made the dean's list.

She is involved in a number of professional and civic organizations, as well as teaching continuing education classes at two school districts-- Denton and Northwest. She served on the Denton school district's Bond Citizens Advisory Committee in 1996 and the Denton Public School Foundation Scholarship and Grant Committee in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

She and her husband James Hilton, a software analyst for Radio Shack, are both Denton natives and are active in Cooper Creek Baptist Church where he serves as a deacon. Family life revolves around their two sons, Brad, 6, and Matthew, 4. "Two small children keep my busy life in focus. It helps to see the world through their eyes" Mrs. Hilton said.

Tiffany Wright earned her law degree at the University of Tulsa College of Law in 1999, ranking tenth in a class of 185. While in law school, she earned honors for writing and editing an energy law journal and became a certified volunteer mediator for small claims courts.

She also was a research associate with the National Energy-Environmental Law and Policy Institute, where she wrote revisions for the second edition of the International Environmental Law and World Order course book. From June to September of 1998, she was a research associate on a project to create a tribal environmental code for the Seminole Nation.

She earned an undergraduate degree in psychology in 1993 at the Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri . Mrs. Wright and her husband Trent, who also is an attorney, have three daughters, Kirby, 12, Wimberley, 3, and Kendall, 2. They are active members of First Baptist Church in Ponder. "The girls are the reason I am working part-time only right now", Mrs. Wright said.

Mrs. Crowley earned her law degree from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 2004. She graduated Cum Laude with a MBA at Texas Tech University in Lubbock in May 2005. She bolds a BBA from Texas Tech University in Lubbock where she graduated Cum Laude in December 2000.

She and her husband, Brian Crowley, director of area operations in Dallas and East Texas for Alliance Care, are active in the young couple's class at Prestonwood Baptist in Plano, TX. She coordinated a Street Law Program through law school which education "at risk youth" with Texas Law. She is also trained in mediation procedures.

At the Tarrant County District Attorney's office as an intern, she was assigned to the Family Violence Unit. She aided in drafting motions and pleadings and observed courtroom proceedings. As a clerk at a private firm, she researched legal issues, and again drafted motions and pleading and observed client intake and court hearings.

All of the attorneys at Leigh Hilton, L.P., Attorneys at Law, share a commitment to serving each and every client with integrity, compassion, and exceptional service. They look forward to having an opportunity to be of service to you and continue to be of service to our community with respect to a wide range of issues relating to wills and trusts, estate planning, trust administration, charitable giving, business planning, and real estate.