Meet Desirée Flye Marshall: Trial Attorney, Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law

Texas State Bar Number: 24052160 | Licensed: 2006

Who is Desirée Flye Marshall, and What Does Nearly Two Decades of Family Law Experience Mean For Your Case?

There is a meaningful difference between an attorney who has handled family law cases for a few years and one who has spent nearly twenty years litigating exclusively in the most difficult corners of family court—high-conflict divorces, contested custody battles, and cases where the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has intervened in a family’s life. Desirée Flye Marshall is the latter. She is a Trial Attorney at Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law, and she brings a depth of family law litigation experience that is rare at any firm. Licensed by the State Bar of Texas in 2006, Desirée spent nineteen years operating her own law practice in Harris County, Texas, building a career that courts trusted enough to appoint her repeatedly as Attorney Ad Litem and Amicus Attorney in cases involving the welfare of children and parents. She has litigated jury trials and bench trials across the full spectrum of family law. She is a trained trauma-informed advocate. She has mentored other attorneys in family law practice. And she has built a professional reputation that her peers have independently vouched for. When prospective clients ask whether their attorney truly understands what they are about to face in a Texas family court, Desirée Flye Marshall’s answer is grounded in nearly two decades of standing inside those courtrooms and doing exactly that work.

Credentials at a Glance

Full Name: Desirée Flye Marshall
Title: Trial Attorney
Firm: Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law
Texas State Bar Number: 24052160
Texas Bar License Date: 2006
Bar Status: Active, Good Standing
Years of Practice: 19+ years
Primary Practice Area: Family Law, including DFPS/CPS cases
Former Firm: The Marshall Law Group, Houston, Texas
Fort Bend County Bar Association Member
Judicial Appointment Roles: Attorney Ad Litem, Amicus Attorney

Education & Background

Desirée Flye Marshall’s path to becoming one of Texas’s most experienced family law trial attorneys began on the West Coast and took her through one of the most historically significant law schools in the country. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and graduated from Bishop Gorman High School in 1999. She then earned her undergraduate degree from Clark Atlanta University—one of the nation’s preeminent historically Black colleges and universities, renowned for producing leaders in law, medicine, public service and social justice—graduating in 2003.

High School: Bishop Gorman High School, Las Vegas, Nevada, Class of 1999
Undergraduate: B.A. — Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, Class of 2003
Law School: Juris Doctorate — Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas, Class of 2006
Texas State Bar: Licensed and admitted 2006; passed the Texas State Bar Exam the same year she earned her J.D.

The significance of Desirée’s law school cannot be overstated for clients who want to understand who their attorney is. Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University is named after the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and it carries a mission that is explicitly rooted in expanding access to justice and training attorneys to serve communities that have historically been underrepresented in the legal system. That mission shaped how Desirée approaches every client relationship—with the understanding that access to skilled, committed legal representation is not a privilege, it is a right, and that her job is to deliver it without exception.

A Nineteen-Year Career Built Entirely in the Courtroom

Following her 2006 bar admission, Desirée Flye Marshall did not join a large firm and spend years on research and document review. She opened her own practice—The Marshall Law Group—and began litigating family law cases in Harris County, Texas immediately. For nineteen years, she operated as a solo practitioner concentrating exclusively on complex family law cases, including cases involving the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. That track record of solo practice is important context for prospective clients. A solo practitioner does not have a safety net of senior partners to fall back on, a team of associates to handle difficult filings, or institutional resources to absorb the pressure of hard cases. Every matter Desirée handled over those nineteen years was her personal responsibility from intake to verdict. That experience forges a level of self-reliance, case management discipline, and courtroom readiness that attorneys who have spent their careers inside large firms often lack.

Career Timeline

2006: Admitted to the State Bar of Texas; opened solo practice in Houston, Texas
2006–2011: Oil and gas law and early family law and criminal defense practice
2011: Refocused practice exclusively on family law and criminal defense following the birth of her first child; founded The Marshall Law Group
2006–2025: Solo practitioner, Harris County, Texas — complex family law litigation, DFPS/CPS cases, jury and bench trials, judicial appointments as Attorney Ad Litem and Amicus Attorney
Fort Bend County Bar Association — active member during Houston-area practice
Current: Trial Attorney, Barton & Associates, Attorneys at Law

Judicial Appointments: What it Means That Courts Trusted Desirée Flye Marshall With Their Most Vulnerable Cases

Not every attorney earns judicial appointments. When a Harris County family court judge appoints an attorney as Attorney Ad Litem or Amicus Attorney, it is a deliberate choice based on the attorney’s demonstrated competence, courtroom professionalism, ethical standing and ability to handle high-stakes matters involving children and families with both rigor and sensitivity. Desirée Flye Marshall became, in the words of the existing record, a staple for judicial appointments and referrals in Harris County’s family law system. That means judges in one of the most active family court systems in the United States—Harris County handles more family law cases annually than most entire states—repeatedly selected her for the most sensitive roles available in family litigation.

Judicial Appointment Roles

Attorney Ad Litem — appointed by courts to represent the legal interests of a specific party, typically a child or incapacitated parent, in family proceedings
Amicus Attorney — appointed by courts to investigate family circumstances and make recommendations to the court regarding the best interests of a child, operating as an independent voice for the child’s welfare separate from either parent’s legal representation

These roles require an attorney who can walk into a contested family case, quickly assess the dynamics, interview children and parents, review records, and present findings to a judge with objectivity and precision—all while navigating the emotional and legal pressures that both sides of a custody dispute generate. Desirée Flye Marshall did this repeatedly, in a major Texas urban court system, for nearly two decades. That is the foundation she brings to every family law case she handles at Barton & Associates.

Trauma-Informed Advocacy: Why This Matters in Family Law

Desirée Flye Marshall has pursued specialized training as a trauma-informed advocate—a distinction that sets her apart from attorneys who approach family law purely as a procedural exercise. Understanding trauma and its effects is directly relevant to how family law cases are handled, particularly cases involving children, domestic violence, CPS intervention and high-conflict custody disputes. Trauma affects how clients communicate, how children present in interviews, how parents make decisions under stress, and how judges and juries perceive the parties before them. An attorney who has trained specifically to recognize and respond to trauma is better equipped to present a client’s circumstances accurately, to protect children from further harm during litigation, and to develop legal strategies that account for the full human reality of a family in crisis—not just the paper record. This is not a soft skill. In cases where CPS has intervened, where a parent is alleging abuse, or where a child’s testimony may be relevant, trauma-informed legal representation is a strategic and ethical necessity.

Peer Recognition: What Other Attorneys Say About Desirée Flye Marshall

The most credible measure of a trial attorney’s competence is how their peers assess them—particularly peers who have seen them work in settings where performance cannot be obscured. A professional mediator who has observed Desirée Flye Marshall across multiple mediations offered this direct assessment: “I endorse this lawyer. I’ve done several mediations with her. She comes prepared, is a strong advocate for her clients and is very detail oriented. I wish that every attorney was as thorough as Ms. Flye is when she comes to my office. I look forward to working with her again.” That endorsement—from someone whose professional role requires them to be a neutral observer of both sides—speaks directly to the qualities that matter most in a family law attorney: preparation, attention to detail and committed advocacy. Those are not qualities that can be performed for one mediation. They are the product of nearly twenty years of disciplined legal practice.

Areas of Practice

Desirée Flye Marshall focuses her practice at Barton & Associates on family law, with deep specialized experience in DFPS and CPS cases that very few Texas attorneys can match.

Family Law — Divorce and Separation

Contested and uncontested divorce
High-conflict and fault-based divorce
High-net-worth and high-asset divorce
Divorce involving business owners and complex asset structures
Community property and separate property characterization, tracing, and reimbursement claims
QDRO preparation and retirement account division
Annulment proceedings
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

Family Law — Child Custody and Conservatorship

Contested child custody and conservatorship disputes
Suits Affecting the Parent-Child Relationship (SAPCR)
Emergency custody orders and temporary restraining orders
Standard and expanded Standard Possession Orders
Father’s rights and paternity actions
Grandparents’ rights and third-party custody matters
Attorney Ad Litem representation for children and parents
Amicus Attorney representation in best-interest proceedings

Family Law — CPS and DFPS Cases

Representation of parents in Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) investigations
Defense of parents in CPS removal proceedings and adversarial hearings
Representation in termination of parental rights proceedings
Family reunification advocacy in CPS cases
Service plan compliance and review hearings
Jury trials in termination of parental rights cases

Family Law — Child Support and Financial Matters

Initial child support orders under Texas Family Code guidelines
Child support enforcement and contempt proceedings
Modification of child support based on material and substantial change
Spousal maintenance and contractual alimony
Post-divorce enforcement of financial orders
Post-divorce modification of custody and support

Family Law — Additional Matters

Adoption proceedings
Legal guardianship — adult and minor guardianship
Domestic violence protective orders and emergency protective orders
Divorce mediation and alternative dispute resolution

Mentorship & Professional Community

Desirée Flye Marshall is not only committed to her clients—she is committed to the elevation of family law practice itself. She actively mentors other attorneys who practice in this field, sharing her accumulated knowledge of trial strategy, family court procedure, DFPS case management and client communication developed over nearly two decades of practice. This commitment to professional community reflects a lawyer who understands that the quality of legal representation available to Texas families depends on the quality of the attorneys practicing in these courts. By investing in the next generation of family law advocates, Desirée ensures that the standards she built her career around extend beyond her own caseload.

How to Reach Desirée Flye Marshall and Barton & Associates

If you are facing a divorce, child custody dispute, CPS investigation, termination of parental rights proceeding, or any other family law matter in San Antonio, Bexar County or anywhere in South or Central Texas, Desirée Flye Marshall and the legal team at Barton & Associates are prepared to help. The firm offers free consultations and is available evenings, weekends and holidays—because family law crises do not respect business hours, and the decisions made in the earliest stages of a CPS case or custody dispute often determine the outcome.