212 E. Main Street, Bellville, Texas 77418-1526
Telephone: 979-865-3198 Facsimile: 979-865-9964
Someone expecting a typical lawyer biography, is probably in for a surprise. Anyone who wants a resume can find Jerry’s CV by clicking here. It’s not that Jerry has led a boring (and certainly not short) life. To the contrary! Jerry grew up in the Capitol District of New York State. It’s beautiful country-–mountains, many lakes and gorgeous fall foliage.
Following four years as a Flying Trojan (Troy High School has an unfortunate nickname) Jerry matriculated to New York University, and spent a lot of time entreating pigeons to peck at the desired symbol in what amounted to an air conditioned cooler with a picture window. He also played bridge, drank beer and explored New York City.
Home is where the heart is, and so after graduation, Jerry returned upstate and taught school for a decade. During this time, he also began attending SUNY (State University of New York) at Albany, studying English and then educational administration. In New York state, Jerry had the chops to be a superintendent of schools–they call it building and district level certification.
In 1979, Jerry did Dallas. Jerry’s background in education led to a position as a supervisor of customer service training for one of the big telephone companies – teaching representatives how to seem attentive on the phone. But somewhere, lurking in the recesses of his mind, the course he had taken in education law got him thinking.
In 1986, Jerry gave up standing in front of a class - for listening (yet again) to someone else standing in front of a class. He spent the next three years in law school at the University of Houston, then clerking for law firms and caring for an aging mother. And before you know it, in 1989, he gave the world just what it needs–another new lawyer and...back to Dallas for his first job as attorney.
Jerry really didn’t want to go back to Dallas, but the Dallas law firm offered a lot of money. (the blessing/curse of making law review.) Having gotten his legal sea legs in banking , employment and business disputes, construction litigation and bankruptcy, Jerry opened a small partnership with two other lawyers doing some of the same things, and a great deal of estate planning and probate.
Jerry returned to Houston when a close friend and fellow lawyer invited him to occupy an adjoining office. The Law Offices of Jerry Scheff opened in Bellaire in December, 1997. Jerry began the L.LM. Program in Taxation Law at the University of Houston in January, 1998. Ten years and another college degree later, the lure of living in a community where everybody knows your name led irressistably to the startup of Harle & Scheff, PLLC in Bellville.
The partnership work is mostly fun. Much of Jerry’s time still involves business lawsuits, contested probates, fighting the Internal Revenue Service or planning how people can pay less income, property or estate tax. But now his practice has expanded into custody and divorce and personal litigation.