Legal Services & Lawyers

Aimee was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1949. The oldest of nine children, she was raised in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit Michigan.

Aimee graduated from Marian High School in Birmingham, Michigan in 1967, with honors. She graduated summa cum laude from Southern Methodist University in 1973 with a B.A. in Economics. She spent a year in graduate studies in economics at SMU, and then attended Southern Methodist University Law School, graduating in 1977. While in law school, she was a law clerk for the Texas Attorney General's Office and wrote for the Southwestern Law Journal.

After graduation from law school, Aimee joined the Dallas firm of Besing, Baker and Glast, and became a partner in 1978. In 1981, she began her own firm, Law Offices of Aimee Hess P.C.

Aimee is currently admitted to practice before the Texas Supreme Court, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts in the Northern, Eastern and Western Districts and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in the Northern, Eastern and Western Districts.

Aimee concentrates her practice in the areas of real estate and equipment financing (representing both lenders and borrowers), real estate conveyancing (representing both sellers and buyers), real estate and equipment leasing (representing both lessors and lessees), real estate defaults (including work outs and foreclosures), oil and gas law (primarily representing land owners and mineral owners in connection with testing agreements, oil and gas leases and pipeline or access easements), construction law (representing contractors, lenders, and consumers), development law (representing developers from project planning through zoning, construction and lease-up) and representation of rural water and sewer companies (rate-setting; preparation of corporate documents such as tariffs, bylaws and conflicts policies; government loan applications and loan management; and developer and nonstandard service contract negotiations and oversight).

Aimee and her husband Carl Ward, a petroleum engineer, enjoy sailing, hiking, kayaking, windsurfing and finding homes for abused and orphaned dogs, and parrots, many of which share their home at any given time.

The philosophy that guides and informs her law practice is to deliver the very highest quality of legal services to clients on a cost effective basis. She is not only dedicated to her clients' success, she is accessible and down to earth, and keeps an eye on her clients' bottom line.

Most of her clients have been with her for nearly thirty years. Representative clients over the years have included Trammell Crow Company (the largest privately held real estate development company in the world), The Equitable Life Assurance Society, (currently AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company), Coldwell Banker Commercial, and many other real estate investment, development and management companies both large and small. Currently, her clients include several banks and savings and loans, real estate management, development and investment companies, rural water and sewer companies and several construction and manufacturing companies, as well as many small businesses and individuals.

The charges for her services are tailored to fit her clients'needs. Many clients prefer to be billed on an hourly basis. In other cases, where a client prefers and where the subject matter of the representation allows, she offers fixed or a la carte fees.

Buffie Campbell is a highly skilled attorney practicing in the areas of oil and gas, real estate and estate planning/probate. Through her firm Campbell & Castillo, she provides title opinions and abstracts to oil and gas companies all throughout Texas. She is experienced in understanding and researching title chains and has performed title research in Tarrant, Dallas, Nacogdoches, Gregg & Upshur counties. Her knowledge of Texas title law has provided Buffie with greater resources as she aides clients in the acquisition and negotiation of real estate transactions and when preparing estate plans. Whether it be a simple deed or a complex wills and trusts matter, Buffie strives to provide clients with the most beneficial resolution.

Buffie is a member of the Tarrant County Bar Association, the Tarrant County Energy Law Section, the Denton County Bar Association and the Flower Mound Bar Association. She regularly volunteers as a mediator with the Denton County Alternative Dispute Resolution Program and serves as an Attorney/Guardian Ad Litem for the Denton County Probate Court.

Real Estate and Business Litigation along with Transaction Documentation are the focus of the law practice of Charles Holt. Attorney Charles Holt has been putting his clients first since 1977.

Darryl V. Pratt practices law in all areas of estate planning, asset protection planning, probate, bankruptcy (Chapter 7), real estate, taxation, corporate and business law. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Pratt focuses his practice on estate and business planning and is a regular speaker on a variety of estate planning, asset protection, tax, real estate and business law topics. Mr. Pratt is a member of the Collin County, Denton County and Dallas County Bar Associations and the State Bar of Texas (Member, Real Estate, Estate Planning and Taxation Sections), American Bar Association (Member, Real Estate, Estate Planning and Taxation Sections), the North Texas and Dallas Estate Planning Councils, the Dallas Chapter of the National Council for Planned Giving, the America Institute of CPAs; the Texas Society of CPAs, and the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Pratt is admitted to practice law in all courts by the Texas Supreme Court, and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas; and the United States Tax Court. Mr. Pratt was recently named as a "Texas Rising Star" "Super Lawyer" by Texas Monthly and Law & Politics magazines.
Along with his family, Mr. Pratt is an active member of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.