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Chargois Harper: A Former Law Enforcement Career Behind an Energy Corridor Family Law Practice

Kirk Chargois spent more than three decades combining law enforcement work with legal practice — compliance, ethics, and police procedures alongside toxic tort litigation and family law — before co-founding this Energy Corridor firm with Sherlyn Smith Harper, whose own practice centers specifically on family law and probate matters.

At a Glance

Origin and Background

Sherlyn Smith Harper is a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Valparaiso University School of Law, and is highly proficient in both Spanish and English, having helped families for more than 20 years. Kirk A. Chargois brings more than 30 years of combined law enforcement and legal practice, with documented experience in compliance, ethics, police procedures, toxic tort litigation, personal injury, real estate, consumer law, and elder law in addition to family law. The firm operates from Houston’s Energy Corridor and also serves clients in Illinois.

Practice Concentration

The firm handles divorce, child custody, child support, paternity, grandparents’ rights, guardianship, and parenting plan matters, alongside a genuinely separate real estate practice (quiet titles, evictions, landlord-tenant disputes) and estate planning and probate work. See this Houston Family Law directory for how this multi-practice-area Energy Corridor firm compares to other Harris County family law practices. The firm specifically assists with enforcing existing child support, alimony, and other family law court orders when a party fails to comply — a distinct post-judgment enforcement service beyond initial case resolution.

Track Record

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published, itemized case-results table with specific settlement or property-division figures on the firm’s site, consistent with the confidential nature of most family law resolutions. This has not been independently re-verified against court dockets by this profile; past results do not guarantee similar outcomes, and every case depends on its own specific facts.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a substantial volume of public consumer reviews for the firm on major review platforms at the time of this research. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a pattern of negative or unresolved reviews warranting disclosure.

Beyond the Courtroom

Chargois’s 30-plus-year career spanning law enforcement compliance and ethics work alongside legal practice reflects a documented cross-disciplinary background distinct from a purely legal career path. Harper’s bilingual practice specifically serves Houston’s Spanish-speaking community in family law matters.

Recognition

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification for either Chargois or Harper and discloses that absence directly rather than implying a certification that could not be confirmed. The firm’s combined family law, real estate, and probate practice areas reflect breadth of service rather than a single-specialty peer-review credential.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Texas child support enforcement for a non-paying parent can include wage withholding, license suspension, and in serious cases contempt proceedings that carry potential jail time, distinct from the initial support order itself. Grandparent access in Texas requires meeting a specific statutory standard under Family Code Chapter 153, generally requiring proof that denial of access would significantly impair the child’s physical health or emotional well-being. None of this is legal advice; anyone facing a family law matter should consult a licensed Texas attorney about the specific facts of their case.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Chargois Harper’s clearest, most checkable differentiator is the combination of Kirk Chargois’s cross-disciplinary law enforcement and legal background with Sherlyn Harper’s bilingual, 20-plus-year family law focus, operating from a genuinely multi-practice-area Energy Corridor firm. The honest trade-off: Awesome Attorneys did not identify a TBLS Family Law board certification for either named attorney, which several other Harris County firms in this category do hold, and this research did not find a substantial public review record to independently verify client satisfaction. For a Harris County Spanish-speaking client whose family law matter may also involve real estate or probate questions, this combined practice is a genuine, checkable basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Chargois Harper’s official website (chargoisharper.com), including its published attorney biographies and practice-area pages, and its Yelp business listing confirming address.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Chargois Harper Attorneys and Counselors at Law prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.