Cindy V. Tisdale is the immediate past president of the State Bar of Texas, trusted by the 113,000 lawyers in the state for her leadership and vision. Notably, she was honored with the prestigious 2023 Dan Price Award by the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas for her outstanding contributions to the field of family law in Texas. Cindy is a distinguished member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, an exclusive national organization comprised of seasoned trial lawyers and judges. This rare distinction sets her apart in the realm of family law.
Cindy is also a fellow in both the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, underscoring her exceptional expertise in the field. Additionally, she is Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Committed to advancing and enhancing the family law process throughout Texas, Cindy is a recognized author of numerous articles. She is a sought-after presenter at continuing legal education seminars and bar associations throughout Texas, solidifying her reputation as a thought leader in the legal community.
Honors & Awards
Inclusion in The Best Lawyers in
America© in the field of Family Law, Best Lawyers, 2025 & 2026
Texas Super Lawyer, Thomson Reuters, 2023 –
2025
Selected to the “Top 100: Dallas/Fort Worth
Super Lawyers” List, Thomson Reuters, 2024
Selected to the “Top 50: Women Texas Super
Lawyers” List, Thomson Reuters, 2024
Top Attorney, Fort Worth Magazine, 2024
Named to the 500 Leading Family Lawyers List,
LawDragon, 2025 – 2026
Dan Price Award Recipient, 2023
Standing Ovation Award for Outstanding
Volunteer to Texas Bar CLE, Recipient
Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas
Board of Legal Specialization
Texas Young Lawyers Association’s Believe
Award
Presidential Citation from Allan DuBois,
President of the State Bar of Texas
Presidential Citation from Trey Apffel,
President of the State Bar of Texas
Hood County Attorney of the Year Award, 2004
& 2007
Presentations
“Family Law Specifics,” Handling Your First
(Or Next) Voir Dire, Austin, TX, April 2026
“How to Secure Your Own Oxygen Mask First-Tips
for Developing Business,” Women and the Law Webcast, April 2026
“Family Law Case Update,” Women and the Law
Symposium and Wellness Retreat, Irving, March 2026
“Professionalism in the Law: What Would Ted
Lasso Do?,” Collin County Bar Association, March 2026
“Challenging Topics in Challenging Times,”
Advanced Family Law, San Antonio, TX, August 2025
“Child Support by Any Other Name—Still Child
Support,” Texas Association of Domestic Relations Offices, Fort Worth, TX, October
2024
“Child Support by Any Other Name—Still Child
Support,” Advanced Family Law, San Antonio, TX, August 2024
“State Bar Update,” Tarrant County Bar
Association meeting, July 2023
“Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: Authenticity
and Admissibility of Salacious Evidence,” Spring Regional Judiciary Conference,
April 2023
“Discovery Made Easy(er),” Wild West CLE
Paralegal Seminar, April 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Tarrant County
Bench Bar, April 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Hopkins County Bar
Association, April 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Southwest Louisiana
Bench Bar Meeting, March 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Panhandle Family
Law Association, March 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Rockwall County
Bara Association, February 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Hidalgo County Bar
Association, January 2023
“What Would Ted Lasso Do,” Webinar, January
2023
“Professionalism in the Courtroom,” Advanced
Trial Skills for Family Lawyers, New Orleans, LA, December 2022
“Professionalism: What Would Ted Lasso Do?,”
Advanced Family Law, San Antonio, TX, August 2022
“Cutting Edge Apps and Technology to Win at
Trial,” Texarkana Bar Association, Texarkana, TX, March 2022
“Closing the File,” Corpus Christi Bar
Association, March 2022, Via Zoom
“What Lawyers Need to Know to Be the Better
Advocate in a Disputed Custody Case—Judges Panel,” Advanced Family Law, San
Antonio, TX August 2021
“Temporary Orders,” Texas Bar College 23rd
Annual Summer School, Galveston, TX July 2021
“Disfunction and Disorders in Complex Custody
Cases,” Panel Discussion, Innovations: Breaking Boundaries in Custody
Litigation, Webcast, May 2021
“The Brady Bunch: SAPCR Case Law Update,”
Marriage Dissolution, Webcast, April 2021
“The New Discovery Rules: The Who, What, When,
How and What,” Wild West CLE, State Bar of Texas Paralegal Division, Granbury,
TX, April 2021
“Evidentiary Issues: Text Messages, Facebook
and Social Media,” Advanced Child Protection Law Course, Webcast, March 2021
“Property Issues,” Handling Your First (Or
Next) Divorce, Webcast, February 23, 2021
“The 30-Minute Cross, 3-Minute Direct,
5-Minute Witness: Including Presenting and Managing Exhibits,” Advanced Trial
Skills, Webcast, December 2020.
“With a Little Help From My Friends: Working
with Financial Experts,” Advanced Family Law, August 2020
“Initial Client Interviews and Contract
Basics,” Texas Bar College 22nd Annual Summer School, Galveston, TX June 2020
“Property,” Trying Your First (Or Next)
Divorce, Austin, TX October 2019.
“Family Law Legislative Update,” Hood County
Bar Association, Granbury, TX, September 2019.
“Representing the Compromised Parent,”
Advanced Family Law, San Antonio, TX, August 2019.
“Family Law Legislative Update,” Texas Bar
College Summer School, Galveston, TX, July 2019.
“Initial Client Interviews and Managing Client
Expectations,” Marriage Dissolution, Galveston, TX, April 2019.
“Is ICWA Ancient History?” Advanced Child
Protection Law Course, Dallas, TX, April 2019.
“The Art of Case Analysis,” Moderator of
Panel, Mastering Your Practice: Family Law, The Woodlands, TX February 2019
(Lecture Only).
“Managing Your Law Practice,” Panelist,
Mastering Your Practice: Family Law, The Woodlands, TX February 2019 (Lecture
Only).
“Exposing Confirmatory Bias: The Example of
Sexual Abuse Allegations,” Family Justice Conference, Austin, TX January 2019.
“Preparing Your Client for Trial: Managing
Emotions and Expectations,” Advanced Trial Skills for Family Lawyers, New
Orleans, LA, December 2018.
“Unusual Possession Schedules” and “Closing
the File,” Texas Association of Paralegal Specialists, Addison, TX September
2018.
“Exposing Confirmatory Bias: The Example of
Sexual Abuse Allegations,” Advanced Family Law, San Antonio, TX August 2018.
“Family Law Basics: From the Beginning to the
End,” Texas Bar College 20th Annual Summer School, Galveston, TX July 2018.
“Getting Information to Value a Business,”
Marriage Dissolution Institute, Dallas, TX April 2018.
“Closing the File: Are We There Yet?” Advanced
Family Law Drafting, Fort Worth, TX December 2017
“Managing Your Law Practice,” Mastering Your
Practice: Family Law & Estate Planning and Probate, Horseshoe Bay, TX
September 2017 (Lecture Only)
“The Art of Case Analysis,” Mastering Your
Practice: Family Law & Estate Planning and Probate, Horseshoe Bay, TX
September 2017 (Lecture Only)
“Valuation Demonstration,” Advanced Family
Law, San Antonio, TX August 2017
“Legislative Update,” Texas Bar College Summer
School, Galveston, TX July 2017
“Family Law Update,” Solo and Small
Practitioner CLE, Fredericksburg, TX, April 2017
“Courtroom Evidence and Demonstration,”
Marriage Dissolution, Austin, TX April 2017
“Dr. Strangelaw: Or How I Stopped Fighting and
Learned to Love Collaborative Law,” Abner V. McCall Inn of Court, October 2016
(Lecture Only)
“Getting It In and Keeping It Out,” Advanced
Family Law, San Antonio, TX, August 2016
“Drug Testing,” Marriage Dissolution,
Galveston, April 2016
“Drafting Documents to Close the File,”
Advanced Family Law Drafting, Dallas, December 2015.
“Direct and Cross Examination of Collateral
Witnesses,” Advanced Family Law, San Antonio, TX, August 2015
“Property Update,” State Bar of Texas Annual
Meeting, San Antonio, TX June 2015
“Property Update,” Marriage Dissolution, Dallas,
TX, April 2015
“Family Law Update,” Essentials for General
Practitioners, Sugarland, TX March 2015
“Family Law Update,” Essentials for General
Practitioners, Lubbock, TX January 2015
“Family Law Update,” Essentials for General
Practitioners, San Antonio, TX, December 2014
“Family Law Update,” Tarrant County Family Law
Bar Association CLE, Fort Worth, TX, November 2014
“Family Law Update,” Solo and Small
Practitioner’s CLE, Galveston, TX, September 2014
“Using Form Discovery,” Marriage Dissolution,
Austin, TX, April 2014
“Unusual Possession Schedules,” Advanced
Family Law Drafting, Dallas, TX, December 2013
“Unusual Motions,” Advanced Family Law, San
Antonio, TX, August 2013
“Enforcement and Clarification Proceedings
Under Chapter 9,” Marriage Dissolution Institute, Galveston, TX, April 2013
Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists Trial
Institute, Panelist, Colorado Springs, CO, February 2013 (Lecture Only)
“The Trial Notebook,” Trying Your First Jury
Trial, Austin, TX, December 2012.
“The Top 10 SAPCR Cases You Need To Know,”
Advanced Family Law, Houston, TX August 2012.
“Closing the File,” Family Law Drafting,
Dallas, TX, December 2011
“Admissibility of Electronic Communication in
Family Law,” Texas College for Judicial Studies, Austin, TX April 15, 2011
Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists Trial
Institute, Panelist, Las Vegas, NV, Feb. 2011 (Lecture Only)
“Discovery and Drafting in the Computer Age”,
Advanced Family Law Drafting Course, Houston, TX, December, 2010
“Collecting Child Support,” Advanced Family
Law 2010, San Antonio, TX, August 2010
“Advocating and Defending Unusual Child
Support Requests,” Family Law On The Front Lines, San Antonio, TX July 2010
“Electronic Evidence: How to Avoid Getting
Shocked,” Ultimate Trial Notebook, San Antonio, TX December 2009 (Voted one of
the Best for 2009 CLE)
“Maximizing Results at Mediation,” Family Law
Essentials, Victoria, TX October 2009
(Lecture Only)
“Third Party Discovery,” Marriage Dissolution
Institute, Fort Worth, TX April 2009
Moderator, Family Law Essentials, Stephenville, TX July 2009 (Lecture Only)
Professional Associations
International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers,
Fellow
American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers,
Fellow
President, Texas Chapter of the American
Academy of Family Lawyers, 2025
Board Member, Texas Board of Legal
Specialization, 2025 – Present
Member, Council of the Women and the Law
Section of the State Bar of Texas, 2025
President of the State Bar of Texas,
2023-2024
Pattern Jury Charge, Family Law Committee Vice
Chair, 2020-Present
Pattern Jury Charge, Family Law Committee
Member, 2019-Present
Member, Tarrant County Bar
Association, Present
Member, Tarrant County Family Law Bar
Association, Present
Board of Disciplinary Appeals, member,
appointed by the Texas Supreme Court 2020-2022
Executive Committee for the Texas Academy of
Family Law Specialists 2017-present
Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists, Board
of Directors, 2012-present
Co-Chair State Bar Workgroup on Texas Lawyer
Needs Arising From the 2020 Pandemic and 2021 Winter Storm
Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees,
2015-2019
Chair of the Texas Bar Foundation, 2017-2018
Chair to the Council for the Family Law
Section of the State Bar of Texas 2017-18
Council for the Family Law Section of the
State Bar of Texas, 2008-2018
Co-Course Director, Annual Meeting for the
State Bar of Texas, June 2016
Co-Course Director, the Texas Academy of
Family Law Specialists Trial Institute, January 2015
Co-Course Director, New Frontiers in Marital
Property Law, October 2015
State Bar of Texas Executive Committee,
2012-2015
Chair of the Board of Directors for the State
Bar of Texas, 2013-2014
State Bar of Texas Board of Directors,
District 14 Representative, 2011-2014
Course Director, Trying Your First (Or Next)
Divorce – January 18, 2013
Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters –
Committee Member 2012-2013
Supreme Court Task Force for the Delivery of
Legal Services to the Poor – Committee Member 2012-2013
State Bar of Texas Affordable Legal Services –
Committee Chair 2012-2013
Co-Course Director, Advanced Family Law Course
– August 2011
James C. Watson Inn of Former Officers and
Directors, Member
State Bar of Texas Family Law Section,
Member
Texas Academy of Family Law Specialists,
Member
College of the State Bar of Texas, Member
Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar
Foundation
American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
Hood County Bar Association, Member
Children’s Advocacy Center of Hood and Somervell
County – President 2011-2012, Board of Directors
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