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Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti
A joint interview with Jean and Richard — colleagues whose practices cover almost everything a Texas general firm handles between them. Jean anchors family law, estate planning and probate; Richard takes the civil, business and property matters. Together they describe how they came to law, how they approach clients in crisis, and how they see each other across the office.
THE FAMILY & ESTATES SIDE
ADMITTED: May 1999
PATH IN: Mental health work led to an interest in health law and eventually law school.
STYLE: Client-centered, case-by-case
STRENGTH: Compassion for people who are often walking through the door during one of the most difficult periods of their lives.
PRIMARY PRACTICE
THE CIVIL & BUSINESS SIDE
ADMITTED: November 1985 — 40+ years
PATH IN: Originally wanted to become a scientist, but discovered that mathematics was not his strength and became drawn instead to the intricacies of law and the opportunity to help people.
STYLE: Intensive research, strong legal grounding, and strategy tailored to the problem at hand.
STRENGTH: Research and the ability to present a well-grounded legal argument persuasively.
PRIMARY PRACTICE
Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti
Neither took a straight line into law. Jean arrived from mental health work. Richard traded his childhood plan of being a scientist for the intricacies of legal reasoning. Their clients today reflect the full range of humanity. They handle problems for families and civil clients of all ages, classes, and demographics.
JEAN:
“After I graduated in social work, I worked for the Mental Health Authority corporate or committee work and I did not have a specified interest in health law.”
RICHARD:
“Love the intricacies of law and the ability to help people, not just in the early times.”
JEAN:
“Since May 1999”
RICHARD:
“Since November 1985, which puts him at more than 40 years in practice.”
JEAN:
Family law, estate planning, and probate.
RICHARD:
Civil and business litigation, general civil law, property matters, and HOA disputes.
JEAN:
Clients vary widely. Family law includes people of all ages, while estate planning and probate often involve older clients dealing with family or property matters.
RICHARD:
There is no “average” client. Most come to him because they are facing a lawsuit, business problem, property dispute, or another situation where they need legal advice and help finding a solution.
JEAN:
Adaptable and client-specific. Estate planning and probate are more structured, while every family-law case requires a different approach based on the client’s circumstances.
RICHARD:
Research-intensive and strategic. He investigates thoroughly, researches the law, and develops the best strategy while making sure every approach has a firm legal foundation.
JEAN:
Garden, perhaps run a small farmer’s-market stand, and spend more time with her granddaughter.
RICHARD:
Work in the cigar industry as a blender, creating different flavor profiles, or simply spend more time with his wife and son.
LIVES CHANGED
Asked whose life they had changed, each reached for a different kind of victory — Richard for a piece of legal engineering with no precedent in Texas; Jean for a client whose safety, not paperwork, was the measure of success.
One of Richard’s most unusual matters involved property that had been incorporated into a city, rather than annexed, but had never received municipal services.
The problem was particularly difficult because the legal issue had apparently never been addressed in Texas.
When the initial approach began to run into obstacles, Richard modified the petition and walked the city’s attorney through what would happen next if the city continued prevailing at each stage.
His message was essentially:
Even if you win this issue, we will move to the next one.
And then the next.
Eventually, the city agreed to disincorporate a portion of itself.
Richard says there was no existing Texas law specifically providing for that remedy.
The client also recovered some attorney’s fees despite having no clear right to them.
“There’s no law in Texas that allows for disincorporation. But we got that, and we got our client some attorneys’ fees back.”
Jean remembers a domestic-violence matter in which the immediate priority was not simply winning a legal argument.
It was getting the client safe.
Jean helped the woman get out of the dangerous situation, complete her divorce, and move forward with her life.
Today, that former client is happily remarried.
Jean says she does not necessarily enjoy being in the middle of cases like that because of how difficult they are.
But the outcome can be incredibly rewarding.
“The outcome is so rewarding for me and the client.”
ACROSS THE OFFICE
When asked to describe their colleague, both moved past résumés and pointed at character — Jean at Richard’s under-recognized humor; Richard at Jean’s quiet reliability as a wordsmith and lawyer.
JEAN ON RICHARD
“Probably the most entertaining person in the office.”
Jean says Richard has a great sense of humor, although someone meeting him for the first time might not immediately realize it.
“He has such the best sense of humor. I don’t think when you look at Richard, you realize the sense of humor that he has. But he is probably the most entertaining of the folks here in the office.”
RICHARD ON JEAN
“She’s an excellent attorney.”
Richard says Jean is one of the people he turns to when he needs help finding exactly the right words or working through something outside her normal practice area.
He references Mark Twain’s observation that the difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
When Richard asks Jean for help, she may initially say:
“I don’t know.”
Then she helps him figure it out anyway.
“She’s an excellent attorney.”
ADVICE FOR PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS
Both partners were emphatic: while promises of the moon are a warning sign. Fit, honesty and focus matter more than optimism.
Find a lawyer you feel comfortable with and who communicates clearly with you.
Your attorney should understand what you are actually trying to accomplish.
They will evaluate a case honestly rather than promise a result they do not believe they can deliver.
Clients sometimes need emotional support, particularly when dealing with highly stressful personal matters.
LOOKING FORWARD
Both expect to still be working, but with different centers of gravity. Jean tilts toward grandchildren; Richard toward taking it easier at seventy-seven. Neither would change much about themselves — Jean because she is always “a work in progress,” Richard because he is, in fact, satisfied.
JEAN
Jean expects grandchildren to become an even larger focus of her life.
She believes she will probably still be working, but she wants more of her time centered around her family.
Ten years out: Likely still practicing
Center: Grandchildren
What would she change about herself? She describes herself as very self-critical and “always a work in progress.”
RICHARD
Richard will be 77 in ten years and expects that he will need to take life a little easier.
He still expects to work in some capacity.
Ten years out: Still working to some extent
Goal: Take things a little easier
What would he change about himself? Not much.
“I’m pretty satisfied with how I am.”
Richard jokes that between his satisfaction with himself and Jean’s self-critical nature:
“Between the two of us, we have a nice, healthfully rounded human being.”
CLOSING MESSAGE — JEAN, ON HER COLLEAGUE RICHARD
When asked what viewers should know, Richard points to the strength of the firm itself.
He says that while he has not been a member of many other firms, he has worked extensively alongside lawyers in other practices.
Based on that experience, he considers Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti one of the most focused and skilled groups of lawyers he has encountered.
“Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti is one of the, or is the best, most intensely focused and skilled firm of lawyers I’ve ever known.”
Copyright © 2025 Looney Smith Conrad & Hefti, P.C. All rights reserved. The site is designed by JSBC Marketing.