Barton R. Bentley /  Shareholder  /

Bart Bentley has practiced law for 40 years focusing on transactional matters such as real estate and business deals, business organizations and transactional estate planning.

Educational Background

• B.A. (with honors) Southern Methodist University 1973
• J.D. (with honors) Southern Methodist University 1976
• Order of the Coif
• Barristers
• Articles Editor, Southwestern Law Journal

Professional Organizations & Memberships

• Texas Bar Association, admitted November 1976
• Arizona Bar Association, admitted May 1987
• Fellow, American College of Real Estate Lawyers
• Member: Houston Real Estate Lawyers Council
• Member: Council of the Real Estate, Probate & Trust Section of the State Bar of Texas (1994-1998)
• Co-Chair, Committee on Title Insurance (1992-2000)
• Chair, Real Estate Law Section of the Houston Bar Association (1986-87)

Professional Awards & Specializations

• Board Certified—Commercial Real Estate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1983-present

Publications & Speeches

Frequent speaker at various CLE programs, including:

• What Every Estate Planner Needs to Know About Real Estate, State Bar of Texas (2016)
• Drafting Tips for Real Estate Documents, Estate Planning & Probate Drafting Course, State Bar of Texas (2014)
• Aerial Encroachments & Trespass, Houston Real Estate Lawyers Council (2008)
• Estate Planning to Preserve Assets, Houston Bar Association Probate & Trust Law Section (2007)
• SMU School of Law Transactions-in-Depth (1997, 1999 and 2000)
• SMU School of Law Leases  In-Depth (1995-96)
• SMU School of Law Mortgages in Depth (1994)
• Texas Land Title Institute, Deeds in Lieu of Foreclosure (1991)
• State Bar of Texas Advanced Real Estate Law Course 1983-86, and 1990
  • Recent Developments (1983-84)
  • Seller Financing (1985)
  • Wrap-Around Mortgages (1986)
  • Partnership Restructuring (1990)
• Practical Considerations in a Changing Real Estate Market (State Bar of Texas 1989)
• Renewals and Extensions of Liens, Advanced Real Estate Short Course (South Texas College of Law 1989)
• Basic Real Estate Law in Texas (National Business Institute 1989)
• Deeds in Lieu of Foreclosure, Real Estate Reorganization Seminar (National Business Institute 1988)
• Houston Bar Association Real Estate Law Section
  • Recent developments - (1983-84)
  • Deeds in Lieu of Foreclosure - (1988)
• 1994 CPE Expo: Family Limited Partnerships
• Houston Bar Association Business Organizations Institute (organizing a Texas corporation) 1981
• Co-Author, Annual Survey of Texas Law - Real Property, Southwestern Law Journal (1977-1979)

Civic Involvement

• President, Board of Trustees of Chinquapin Prep, a Texas non-profit corporation (2016-2018)
• Member, Board of Trustees of the Boyd & Evelyn Mullen Charitable Foundation and the Anne & Don Fizer Foundation

Interests

• Guitarist, Mid-Life Crisis & the Hot Flashes