Rispoli Law PLLC

State Bar of Texas | Articles TBJ DECEMBER 2021 Virtual [to] Reality A transitional—and successful—year for LeadershipSBOT. Written by Andrew D. Tingan ABOVE LEFT: Texas Young Lawyers Association Immediate Past President Britney E. Harrison (Dallas), center, with LSBOT members, from left, Mark Altman (Spring), Samantha Frazi...

We're happy to announce that one of our partners, Mark Altman, has recently been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy Reserves. Mark is proud to continue his service to our country in his role as a Reserve JAG.

Happy Thanksgiving from Rispoli and Altman Law! We hope all of you enjoy your time with your families! Our office will be closed November 24-26 so we can spend time with our families as well! We'll be back at it bright and early next week!

Another great public service at Baylor Law School!

'Giving that forever home,' McLennan County recognizes National Adoption Day 'Giving that forever home,' McLennan County recognizes National Adoption Day

Another TYLA (https://tyla.org/) Board Meeting starts tomorrow! Jeanine is currently serving as the TYLA President and Mark serves as the Director for our region. This is a great organization focused on helping young lawyers throughout the state with resources that run the gamut from evidence guides to resources to speak to local students about the law to whole "clinics in a box" that help attorneys put together resources for legal clinics to serve underprivileged Texans.

Home - TYLA The Texas Young Lawyers Association serves the public, fosters respect for the law, and seeks justice for all. Legal resources, affiliate info, and more.

Rispoli Law PLLC updated their website address.

Rispoli Law PLLC updated their phone number.

Jeanine and I are at the BLS Vet Clinic today and some of our favorite folks donated some donuts today. Thanks Nightlight!

Happy Veterans Day to all of the Vets out there and thank you to the family members that make so many sacrifices so we can serve.

Rispoli and Altman Law does not use either of the banks currently suffering from these issues for our client trust accounts. Hopefully the firms suffering from these problems get a fix shortly. If any of our clients have questions about how client funds are managed and protected, please don't hesitate to reach out to ask.

'An Absolute Nightmare': Texas Lawyers Face IOLTA Account Access Issues Following Bank Merger | Texas Lawyer Dozens of law firms that had banked at Houston-based BBVA USA, which was acquired in June by PNC, haven't been able to access certain accounts since Tuesday, when the accounts were converted.

It was an absolute honor to help a hard working combat vet, and US Army retiree, get his truck back from a mechanic that had been cheating him for almost a year! This is why we do what we do, helping good people get good results.

Gotta love being in trial. Especially at a beautiful courthouse like the one in Lampasas County.

As a US Navy Reservist, Mark is well aware of the difficulty people can run into with balancing their service to their country with their civilian jobs. Every Reservist and National Guardsman should be familiar with USERRA. http://ow.ly/fjfA50GgvDI

www.dol.gov

Battle of the Experts Semi-Finalists! Super proud of these guys and how hard they battled.

Baylor Law School Advocacy Programs

Congrats Baylor Football!

Jeanine is honored to serve the Texas Young Lawyers Association as President in the State Bar Board Meeting today in San Antonio. Jeanine was adopted in San Antonio so it has a special meaning for her journey as a lawyer. It's great that our clients have boots on the ground receiving the most up to date information possible from all of the great sections of the Bar, including Texas Lawyers for Texas Vets (Also: yes, the pink pan dulce was delicious!) 😋

I love working with such talented up and coming litigators. All four of these students are people to watch. They’re balancing Practice Court/their course work and Mock Trial flawlessly and I’m fully confident that they’re going to represent Baylor well this weekend.

Most recent update to how Texas is handling evictions: https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1452886/219118.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2IydCSfpWedGyPo2N3MNQWDPPTuOeT16SzZi6jFcOCLxk-Yb2oN3o1FuM

www.txcourts.gov

The nice thing about taking a supportive tactic towards employees that make minor mistakes is they’ll be honest with you when they make bigger mistakes.

Employees who make errors can lead to litigation, HR costs, and other expenses and no company owner wants to hear a mistake has been made, but bad news does not get better with age, and the earlier you can address issues the better you’ll be able to mitigate. Fostering a good work climate is one of our number one pieces of advice when it comes to protecting yourself long-term from litigation costs. Plus I guarantee you, that intern will walk away having learned something from this mistake and will be a better employee for it.

Reach out to us and talk about how we can help you build that climate.

We Can All Learn Something from the Viral Response to an Intern’s Very Public Mistake An HBO intern sent out an unintended email spamming subscribers. Find out how people supported the intern and how we can all learn from our mistakes.

You should assume every conversation you have in writing is being recorded, but this is one way you can at least protect your communications from SOME prying eyes.

https://www.businessinsider.com/secret-conversation-messenger

How to use the 'secret conversation' feature in Facebook Messenger to keep your chat secure You can make a "secret conversation" in Messenger by starting a new conversation and tapping the icon in the top-right corner.

In celebration of the Texas Supreme Court’s civility day, TYLA President Jeanine Rispoli led a panel of esteemed Texas Lawyers on civility in the practice of law. One commonality in the panelists’ advice: take a second to step away from heated situations.

Jeanine and I are working hard in South Padre for this weekend. This is an organization focused on helping the public and helping young lawyers throughout Texas be successful. Its an organization of that we are proud to be a part of.

Jeanine and Mark will be in South Padre this weekend for a TYLA Board Meeting. They’re available by email but responses may be slower than usual. Too bad they’ll be working and not fishing! 🏝🎣☀️

We love working with start-ups and small businesses because we get to be a part of these conversations. Please take a serious look at your company values. Not only can it help you avoid legal liability. It's just the right thing to do.

http://ow.ly/59rC50GaOI4

How to Be a Leader Who Stays True to Their Ethics Start by having an honest conversation with yourself.

Meet the Attorneys:

Mark Altman has always been called to a life of public service. As the son of a career US Army officer, Mark decided to follow in his father's footsteps and join the military after college. He graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering (focusing in Astronautics) and a commission as an officer in the US Navy. Mark's path eventually lead him to law school at Baylor University. While there, Mark served as the Clinic Coordinator for the Baylor Law Veterans Clinic, was an Associate Editor on the Baylor Law Review, and competed on multiple mock trial and moot court teams. Mark received his J.D. from Baylor Law School and an M.B.A. from Baylor's Hankamer School of Business in 2016 before returning to active duty as a member of the Navy JAGC.

While in the JAGC, Mark served in a multitude of roles including serving as the Staff Judge Advocate for multiple commands, culminating in working for NAS JRB Fort Worth. Mark left Active Duty in August of 2020 to start Altman Legal Services, PLLC. Mark was recently selected for promotion to Lieutenant Commander and continues to serve in a reserve capacity.

Mark is a graduate of LeadershipSBOT where he received the Pedro "Pete" Serrano Leadership Award, currently serves as the Texas Young Lawyers Assocation (TYLA) District 9 Director, is on the Board for the McLennan Young Lawyers Association, is a frequent volunteer at the Baylor Veterans Legal Clinic, and coaches mock trial at Baylor Law School.

Mark's focus is on general civil litigation and small business/start-up advice, where he applies his unique set of skills and perspective to come up with creative solutions to meet client needs.

Mark is married to Jacqueline Altman, another local attorney. They have a wonderful son, Mark Altman III, and two dogs, Nimitz and Kalev.

Meet the Attorneys:

Jeanine Rispoli was inspired to be a family lawyer from an early age after learning of her adoption. She graduated from Baylor University Scholars Program, completing a thesis in American Divorce, and later received her J.D. from Baylor Law School and was licensed as an attorney in 2011. After practicing for several years in Houston, she returned to Waco in 2015. Her passion for helping families led her to open the Rispoli Law Firm in 2018, and her passion for public service lead her to working closely with the Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA), first as the Director for District 9 and now as the President of TYLA.

She is a graduate of LeadershipLSBOT and LeadershipPlenty Waco, a Bar Foundation Fellow, a member and mentor in the Judge Abner V. McCall Inn of Court, a frequent volunteer with the Baylor Law Veterans Clinic, and frequently gives back to Baylor through teaching and mentoring law students. She co-chaired the TYLA project "Texas Courts for Texas Veterans," and served on the Local Affiliates and Attorney Wellness committees. Jeanine is a member of the Junior League of Waco.

Jeanine's experience includes complex property disputes involving characterization, tracing, and valuation of businesses, real property, and other significant assets. Jeanine frequently works in custody and child support matters, including cases involving psychological evaluations and custody evaluations.

Jeanine is married to her husband Stephen Rispoli, an Assistant Dean at Baylor Law. They enjoy time outdoors with their Labrador, Khaleesi.

We are so unbelievably proud of Jeanine Novosad Rispoli and her amazing work with the Texas Young Lawyers Association. She gives so much of her self in time and energy in service to the young lawyers in our state through her advocacy on their behalf, to law students through her amazing mentorship, and to every member of our state through the service programs TYLA does.

We're so happy to be able to bring this case to a close. The truest calling for an attorney is helping people during some of the most difficult times in their lives. Luckily we could be there for this client.

We are grateful to Mark Altman II, a U.S. Navy JAG veteran, Baylor Law School alum, and former Veterans Clinic coordinator, for spending over 30 hours helping the surviving spouse of a Vietnam veteran clear title to the real estate left behind when her mother passed away. Mark has been working with the clinic since law school and continues to dedicate significant time to serving those who served.

Attorney Mark Altman was able to give some time up this last Friday to talk to some Veterans that need help. So proud to be able to work with such an outstanding program and to see all the hardworking young law students show up to give up their time and energy to help a worthy cause.