| Judge Don Koons is a 1957 graduate of the University of Iowa. In 1962, he received his law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law and was admitted to practice that same year.
After graduation from law school, he joined a Dallas law firm who were corporate house counsel to a multi-corporation organization. He joined the Dallas County District Attorney as an assistant district attorney in 1963 in the trial section, prosecuting both misdemeanor and felony offenses.
In 1966, Judge Koons entered the general practice of law as a sole practitioner, a practice that included family law. In 1977 Governor Dolph Briscoe appointed him to the newly created 255th Family District Court in Dallas County. Judge Koons was elected to a four year term in 1978 and reelected in 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994.
While he was a sitting judge, the Dallas Bar Association judicial evaluation poll consistently gave Judge Koons high approval ratings. In 1998, he retired from the bench, and currently limits his legal activities to writing and family law mediation.
Known for his innovative approach to problems, Judge Koons served two terms as chairman of the Dallas County Juvenile Board. While in this position, he initiated computerization of the child support office accounts, which formerly had been hand posted. He was also instrumental in bringing computerization to the Dallas family court dockets.
Judge Koons’ most significant accomplishment, which has had state-wide impact, was his initiation of the family court master system within Texas.
Recognizing the need to modernize and streamline badly crowded dockets, with the encouragement of local attorneys and the agreement of Commissioners Court, Judge Koons in 1978 employed the first full time family law court master in Texas.
Costing far less than the creation of new courts and adding hearing officers to assist with the dockets, the masters program was immediately successful. Each of the seven family district courts in Dallas presently has a full time court master, now designated an associate judge, and the program is used now in many metropolitan areas of Texas.
Judge Koons is admitted to practice in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the Federal Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and Dallas Bar Family Law sections. He is also a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas.
In addition to his more than twenty years as a family law judge, Judge Koons served as an adjunct instructor at El Centro College in Dallas, teaching family law to paralegal students.
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| Judge Don Koons is known for his innovative approach to problems |
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| Judge Koons is the author of the Handbook of Texas Family Law, a prime example of his work and efforts. In 1993, noting that the typical written material for family law consisted of an annotated family code, Judge Koons recognized the need for a comprehensive, portable text. |
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| The Handbook discusses not only family code provisions, but substantial areas not in the code, such as the law concerning the division of retirement benefits, federal provisions, and the rules for dividing property. |
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| By using the Handbook, a lawyer can save many hours of research by reviewing the text material on a relevant point of law, using the case law cited within the text as authority or using the citations for additional research when necessary.
The Handbook of Texas Family Law, published by Thomson West, has been updated annually since 1993 and can be found as a desk reference in many law offices, containing what Judge Koons calls “the best index in Texas on family law.”
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