Leslie A. Werner, Attorney & Owner

Leslie is the owner of The Werner Law Group. After obtaining her MBA from the University of Detroit, Leslie relocated to Texas with a hometown friend, in search of the American dream. Acting on her long-held desire to become a lawyer, Leslie enrolled in the University of Houston’s Law Center and obtained her law degree in 1984. A few years later, Leslie became board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She is admitted to practice in the Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and the United States Supreme Court.

Leslie started her legal career as a paralegal with Andrews Kurth in Houston and she went on to become a research attorney for the 1st Court of Appeals and a staff attorney for Justice Nelda Rodriguez at the 13th Court of Appeals. While at the 1st Court of Appeals, Leslie had the opportunity to work directly with Justice Michol O’Connor, Chief Justice Frank Evans and his successor, Chief Justice Alice Oliver-Parrott.

Leslie fiercely opposes cases in which she feels justice has not been served. Leslie represents individuals in all areas of family law (child custody, adoptions, divorce, and more), wills and probate, real estate, as well as chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcies. Being a small business owner, Leslie always welcomes clients who are small business owners themselves, who may need legal representation obtaining licensure or litigating disputes.

Leslie takes a child-first approach to helping families in transitions. As a mother of two and having been through a divorce herself, Leslie knows the emotional importance of balancing the needs of children with the desire to receive a fair property settlement. As a certified mediator, Leslie values productive compromise and understands what it takes to resolve difficult conflicts.

Charles C. Ferguson, II, Senior Attorney

Charles is a graduate of Louisiana State University and uniquely holds the degrees of both Juris Doctor and Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.). He started his career in Dallas and has litigated and won family law cases against some of Texas’s most brilliant legal minds in the DFW area. Charles has been practicing law since 2004.

Charles joined The Werner Law Group in 2020 and has quickly become an asset to the firm and our clients. With his proven track record in the big city, he has shown himself as a force to be reckoned as an attorney in The Golden Crescent Region.

While most attorneys need to research options when met with uncommon family law circumstances, Charles can usually provide advice based on having already been met with the scenario. It is uncanny how quickly his mind works; often spouting off case law at the drop of a hat. As an expert strategist, he works his cases with broad strokes, allowing little actions to drop long strings of dominos.

Around the office, Charles only takes breaks to walk around and make sure our staff has a few laughs every day. Otherwise, he’s hyper focused on his computer screen and going through about 100 post-it notes a day.

In Charles’s free time he enjoys keeping up with new Supreme Court laws, going to the beach with his wife and son, and talking about the new mods to his Jeep that we don’t understand. I guess it’s a Jeep thing?

Anne E. Gibson

Attorney Anne Gibson is a graduate of the University of New Mexico School of Law and Arkansas State University, where she obtained her Master of Science in Education in Learning Theory and Instruction. Anne’s background in education and instruction helps her ease clients’ racing thoughts-of-the-unknown by educating them about the various potential outcomes of their case and the many paths that can be taken to get there.

 Anne is an avid learner and puts her wealth of academic and real-world knowledge into everything she accomplishes. She is currently enrolled at the University of Missouri School of Law working towards an LLM in Dispute Resolution. The University of Missouri School of Law’s Dispute Resolution program consistently ranks in the top 5 by the U.S. News and World Report.

Anne joined The Werner Law Group in 2024 and has been a tremendous advocate for its clients in the family law and criminal defense departments. Anne puts extensive courtroom experience, a compassionate mediation background, and meticulous document production expertise to work, providing our clients with the best representation possible.

 After 26 years practicing as an attorney, Anne has seen countless scenarios play out with judges, prosecutors, opposing counsels, and clients; however, she remains “up for the challenge” when met with matters affected by new laws or unique circumstances. Anne is readily accessible to her clients, believing a client’s emotional health is critical to the success of the case – she’s been known to check emails and text messages before going to bed each night. Truly a partner with her clients, Anne values their suggestions, questions, or concerns during every phase of the case.

 When not behind a computer screen or in a courtroom, Anne likes to be outside with no cell phone service. An avid fly fisherman, kayaker, and photographer, Anne, and her husband also raise Texas Longhorn cattle, are known to turn down a dirt road just to see where it goes, and are working on a sled team of Chihuahuas. Hey, nobody can have just one Chihuahua, right?

Robert Morales

Robert S. Morales joined The Werner Law Group in June of 2024, after having practiced Family Law and Immigration in the Greater Houston area since 2011. As a son of two immigrant parents, Robert has a clear understanding of the difficulty immigrants can face on the path to naturalization. Knowing there are good, better, and best paths to citizenship in the United States, Robert went back to law school in 2017 and obtained an LL.M in Immigration and Naturalization Law so he could be that guy who not only knew how to help someone with their immigration issues, but the best path(s) to take. Robert graduated 6th in his class at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, and Summa Cum Laude from Lamar University, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice.

Early in Robert’s career, he had the opportunity to work for the Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney General. This gave Robert a behind-the-scenes look at the Attorney General’s role and responsibilities in child support enforcement and modification, and he learned how he could effectively address these issues for child support obligors and obligees in the private sector.

Robert’s discipline, integrity, and reliability may in part be due to his service to our country in the United States Army. After high school, Robert served as an Intelligence Analyst (96B) from 2000-2004. Just as intelligence analysts gather, analyze, and interpret information for military operations, as an attorney, Robert gathers information about his clients’ cases and develops a plan based on the factors relevant to each client’s case; and you can bet Robert has analyzed these factors to the nth degree!

As one of Victoria’s few Spanish speaking attorneys, Robert works alongside Law Clerk Marianela Velasquez and Legal Assistant Viviana Ramos to help our Spanish speaking clients understand complex concepts and legal strategies in their native language.

During Robert’s free time, he enjoys trying new food and playing video games with his children.

Mary Brown, Senior Paraprofessional

If you’ve had the opportunity to speak with Mary Brown, you know what a blessing she is to our firm. Mary is Leslie’s right-hand person in the firm’s statewide probate, estate planning and elder law practice. Mary has worked in law firms and real estate companies for over 35 years. Leslie often refers to Mary as her “sister from a different mister” and, once our clients interact with both, they understand why.
Whether Mary is going back and forth conferring with Leslie on potential legal solutions or taking deep dives into the estates or property code, Mary’s energetic zeal and tireless work ethic keep our probate and estate planning departments running like a well-oiled machine.

A fifth generation Texan, Mary’s heart is deep in Texas, but she is an avid traveler and is happiest when planning her next trip. She has traveled to 49 of the 50 states (Alaska is on the “go to” list) and has visited 28 national parks, often camping with her husband. This year Mary traveled to Nashville, Philadelphia, Honolulu, Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, Kalispell, Red Lodge, Cody, Denver, Amarillo, New York City, Prague, and Berlin. Mary enjoys “retail therapy” and laughs that her shoe closet attests to the healing power of shopping.

Jim Hoffman, C.P.A.

James (Jim) Hoffman is a native Texan who spent his childhood in San Antonio. He is a graduate of the University of Texas, class of 1970, and has been in Victoria since 1979.

Having been a Certified Public Accountant for fifty years, Jim is uniquely qualified to understand the options and potential long-term outcomes our bankruptcy clients are concerned about. He is well-versed in the financial language of bankruptcy creditors when it matters most. He’s passionate about not only securing realistic, manageable payments for clients going through a bankruptcy, but also educating our bankruptcy clients in ways to move forward with their finances in a constructive manner so that they can prevent financial turmoil in the future.



In financial divorces concerning vast amounts of property, missing money, or business income, Jim is oftentimes used as a consultant in our client’s family law case. Equally, having been in business himself for years, he plays an active role in the strategy behind our business litigation cases and business formations.

During Jim’s free time, he’s Mr. Available to his children and grandchildren with household projects or helping them fix issues with their vehicles. We’ve even heard he’s hosted a tea party or two with his granddaughter. However, his very favorite pastime is ragging on his children and grandchildren for going to Texas A&M.

Michael Hughes, Business Manager

Michael Hughes is a serial entrepreneur who had his first business selling cups of ice water for 25 cents on a hot playground with a lukewarm water fountain in second grade. Michael established his career by creating strategic partnerships between businesses, their customers, and other businesses. He has formed a business network with entrepreneurs and civic organizations in Dallas, Austin, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, and Portland, OR.

Michael came to The Werner Law Group in the Spring of 2019 with a goal to expand his wife’s law firm in a meaningful way. Michael has implemented the texting feature to Leslie, which has helped many people in our community get simple legal questions answered for free without any obligation. As business grew, Michael made it his mission to find attorneys that would fight fiercely, outthink our competition, and stand strong on legal ethics. Michael also sources our other staff; often seeking character over everything.

During Michael’s free time, he’s managing his other businesses, keeping his network alive, and running household errands so Leslie can have fabric therapy.

Marianela “Maria” Velasquez, Paraprofessional – Immigration Department

Maria Velasquez was introduced to our firm by a former client. We will be forever grateful for this introduction. Maria moved to Victoria after having been a practicing attorney in Venezuela for over 20 years. Before moving to the United States, Marianela studied U.S. Immigration for years before moving here and doing her immigration on her own. She is now a green card holding resident and on a direct path towards citizenship.

While in Venezuela, Maria was a contract attorney. She specialized in writing contracts that helped large corporations eliminate landmines. This same approach is taken when she works with immigration clients whose actions will be scrutinized by USCIS for the foreseeable future. She insists on making sure the clients are aware of anything that could cause their immigration case to go awry. With this, she minces no words, and this is why we love her.

Shortly after Maria came on board with The Werner Law Group, we sent her to El Paso to shadow Immigration Super Lawyer Felipe Millan for 3 months. While in El Paso, she worked alongside Felipe prepping clients for USCIS interviews, attending court hearings, visiting immigrant inmates at the jail, and sitting with Felipe during client consultations. Felipe Millan has been licensed since 1992 and has been Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2002. Felipe and his team of immigration lawyers and paralegals continue to be a resource to Maria as The Werner Law Group grows its immigration presence in South Texas.

Maria Velasquez is dedicated to educating immigrants in South Texas on the various avenues they can take towards citizenship or residency. Maria wants immigrants in our area to have the same fair shot she did of staying in the United States; she works days, nights, and weekends to make this happen.

Maria is bilingual and often assists in other areas of our practice when a Spanish translator is needed. Maria can be reached by phone call or text, seven days a week, at 361-885-2883.

Meagan Resendez, Paralegal

Meagan Resendez is a 2014 graduate of Victoria’s East High School and has hit the ground running as a young professional in Victoria. Since 2016, Meagan has worked under the direction of Leslie, who has mentored her with the experience to become a thought leader in family, civil, and financial legal matters. Her can-do attitude and ability to quickly absorb in-depth legal concepts has made mentoring a walk-in-the-park.
Meagan has been exposed to every area of law The Werner Law Group practices, but now devotes much of her time to our Statewide Probate Department. Though some of our probate staff work remotely, Meagan is at the office, being the glue that holds our cases together. Meagan values the closure we are able to give heirs, and works quickly and effectively so families can work toward moving on from the loss of their loved one.

As any paralegal should be, Meagan is highly organized and is able to keep deadlines and court dates from being missed in all the courts where Leslie practices.

During Meagan’s free time, she’s catching every precious moment with her cute toddler, LJ.

Tiffany Blanton, Paralegal & Billing Clerk

Tiffany Blanton originally was introduced to The Werner Law Group as a family member of a client. Tiffany came to every client meeting and was the conduit of communication between the client and our staff. Leslie was highly impressed with the work Tiffany did to make sure Leslie was prepared to win in court, so she offered her a job.

Tiffany’s accounting background helps keep our billing systems accurate and organized. She’s not afraid to push our attorneys to get time keeping records back to her in a timely manner, so clients can be invoiced regularly.

Tiffany often burns the midnight oil coming in on the weekends to help Leslie or Charles strategize for upcoming cases. It is not uncommon to see her sitting Indian style on the floor with a client’s file spread out in a ten-foot circle at 8pm. Her dedication and attention to detail has helped support Charles and Leslie in some landmark wins in the short period of time she has been with us.

During her free time, she enjoys shopping in one of the big cities, going on road trips with her husband and children, and hocking Scentsy to everyone she meets.

Fun fact: Tiffany and her family have been to all 48 of the contiguous United States together.

Viviana Ramos, Legal Assistant

Viviana Ramos was born and raised in Victoria, Texas. Viviana has always thought that being an attorney would be a fascinating job. After being an office manager in the financial industry for thirteen years, she decided to take a leap of faith and apply at a law firm. Viviana tells us she’s happy she did – and we’re equally as happy!

Viviana is the first person people see when they enter our firm. Her efficient nature and helpful attitude (in both Spanish and English!) help visitors to our firm either get checked in quickly for their meeting, or in-and-out quickly when bringing documents for their case.

When Viviana isn’t assisting the firm’s visitors, she has her sleeves rolled up offering legal assistance to the business law, real estate, and immigration departments. The benefit our firm has gained by having Viviana as our primary translator is immeasurable. Our clients feel not only comfortable with Viviana, but confident in her.

While Viviana is away from the office, she can be found shuffling her children to dance competitions and other sporting events or barbecuing with family in the backyard. Her favorite “me” time activity is anything crafty; she often finds DIY’s or videos of handmade items online and tries to duplicate them. We plan on putting Viviana’s craftiness to use.