John V. McShane is one of the top divorce lawyers in Texas and has represented numerous celebrities, sports figures (including several Dallas Cowboys) and entrepreneurs. As stated by his client of 25 years, Dallas oil titan and billionaire T. Boone Pickens: “You can’t do any better than John McShane. He has fought many battles for me, and we have never had a loss. We have a long history of winning together.”
For over forty years, board-certified family law attorney John McShane has been helping families throughout Texas and other states navigate the legal world of divorce, child custody, and child support. John has also been successful in handling many high-profile criminal cases and hundreds of professional disciplinary cases brought by regulatory boards against lawyers, physicians, dentists, etc. John has been board certified as a specialist in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1981 (only approximately 5% of Texas lawyers are board certified in a field). John was also board certified in Criminal Law from 1980 until 2004 (less than 2% of Texas lawyers are board certified in two specialties).
John may be one of the most unique lawyers in the world. Twenty-six years ago, D Magazine published a profile of John. A number of John’s opponents were interviewed, and they described John as overbearing, self-righteous and much-too-confrontational in representing his clients. John acknowledges there was truth to these criticisms at the time because John was then a relentless “take no prisoners” warrior. While trekking in the wilds of Africa in 1997 on a month-long journey of self-discovery he learned the Masai saying “A good warrior is fierce. A great warrior is both fierce and gentle. But the greatest warrior of all knows when to be fierce and when to be gentle.”
This saying became the impetus for John to reinvent himself by learning and practicing the skills of a healer and peace maker whenever possible while being able to revert to the warrior mode when necessary. In addition to continuing to hone his litigation skills, John has spent over 2 decades becoming a world renown expert and teacher in the field of Therapeutic Jurisprudence which views the law as a healing profession and the practitioners as potential healers.
John has given hundreds of lectures on Therapeutic Jurisprudence to local and state bar associations, law schools, continuing education conferences, and in-house at law firms. These lectures were given throughout the United States and in a number of foreign cities including Lisbon, Portugal; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Zurich, Switzerland; Edinburgh, Scotland; Sydney, Australia; Melbourne, Australia; Brisbane, Australia; and Quebec, Canada. When the Queensland area of Australia was devastated by storms and floods which destroyed many law offices, John conducted a workshop on resilience and restoration for Queensland lawyers by video conference. Combining his legal skills with over 20 years of experience as a certified life coach, John brings a healing orientation to each case, helping clients see the opportunities for growth and transformation that come with conflict.
Former Family Court District Judge Dee Miller whom he has appeared before dozens of times over the years has described John as a family law attorney who is “a great detail man and a great big-picture man. He’s a visionary and an idealist who is also extremely thorough in exploring all the possibilities of settlement and meditation.”
John’s extraordinary technical skills, his passionate advocacy for his clients, and his unique creativity have resulted in him having received numerous recognitions and awards for excellence in the practice of law including:
John’s achievements and contributions have also been profiled in many newspapers, magazines, and journals. To name just a few:
B. A. Cum Laude, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX
Doctor of Jurisprudence, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, TX
Family law clients have a significant advantage when they are represented by an attorney possessing riveting courtroom advocacy skills and highly refined conference room negotiation and communication techniques. Public speaking and private communication excellence have fascinated John since he was a young boy. After family dinners, John’s dad helped him practice with vocabulary enhancement cards designed for adults. This pastime gave John the vocabulary of a well-educated man before he graduated from the 8th grade. Driven by his passion for powerful expression and clear, concise communication, John excelled in speech contests in high school, speech and debate projects in college and moot court in law school. John was also heavily involved in Toastmasters International and attended the weekly meetings for nearly a decade. John has given hundreds of speeches nationally and internationally and continues to be an active member of the National Speakers Association. Fort Lauderdale attorney Mayer J. Cohen summed it up: “John McShane is, without doubt, one of the most powerful and sincere speakers it has been my privilege to hear. He is an example of the ideal of what this profession was and hopefully can be again one day, one lawyer at a time.”
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