Patricia Nellenbach Carter, has over 24 years of dedicated Family Law litigation experience and is board certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and in 2012 she was granted fellowship in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Texas Monthly magazine has named her as a Super Lawyer every year since 2008 and before that named a “Rising Star” among Texas attorneys four years in a row.

Patricia was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a German mother and career-serviceman father. After spending much of her childhood moving between Europe and the United States, her family settled in Texarkana, Texas, where she graduated from East Texas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She obtained her law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1997.

While at Texas Tech, Patricia was a member of the 1996 and 1997 TYLA National Mock Trial and 1996 AAJ Tournament of Champions Mock Trial teams. In 1997, she was an advocate on the first team from Tech to win the TYLA State Moot Court Competition. Patricia also received the Jurisprudence Award for Trial Advocacy and was inducted as a member of the Texas Tech Board of Barristers and the National Order of the Barristers.

After graduation, Patricia served a Judicial Clerkship with Justice Ben Z. Grant of the Sixth District Court of Appeals. In 1998, Patricia married, moved to Houston, and joined a local law firm, becoming a partner in 2001. She joined Short Jenkins Kamin in 2004 and formed Short Carter Morris – now Carter Morris – in 2008. Patricia has authored and presented numerous continuing legal education articles. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Houston Bar Association – Family Law Section (member, board member, treasurer and 2016-2017 chair), the State Bar College, the Texas Association of Family Law Specialists and the Gulf Coast Family Law Specialists of which she was President from 2011-2012. Patricia is also trained in Collaborative Law and is a past chair of the Collaborative Law Section of the Houston Bar Association.

In addition to practicing law, Patricia enjoys spending time with her husband and three children, volunteering in the Houston-area community with her family and through the National Charity League’s Post Oak Chapter (for which she served as president in 2021-2022), and reading just about any book she can find.

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