Carlos Y. Benavides, IV, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Marymount University, earned a Juris Doctorate from St. Mary’s University School of Law, and is a licensed attorney in the State of Texas.
In 2015, Carlos served as an Assistant District Attorney for Hidalgo County, Texas. In that role, Carlos prosecuted cases in both the Hidalgo County Court at Law No. 1 and the 389th District Court. At the same time, Carlos practiced civil law in the areas of fiduciary and transactional law and occasionally as a court-appointed guardian ad litem in personal-injury and family-law cases.
During his tenure at the District Attorney’s Office, Carlos assisted in the creation of the first Domestic Violence Specialty Court in South Texas and was appointed the program’s first specialty prosecutor. As part of a joint project between the Buffett-McCain Institute Initiative to Combat Modern Slavery and the District Attorney’s Office, Carlos went on to help establish, and serve as, the first labor trafficking specialty prosecutor for a state District Attorney’s Office in the State of Texas.
Carlos was also appointed to the non-profit Texas Council on Family Violence’s Prosecutor Leadership Core to provide advice on legislation relating to domestic violence for consideration in the Texas Senate, to assist prosecutors addressing crimes of domestic violence by forming continuing legal education modules, and to help spread the Council’s mission across Texas.
In 2019, Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed Carlos to serve a six-year term on his Specialty Courts Advisory Council. As a member of the Council, Carlos evaluates applications from specialty courts across Texas for grant funding and makes recommendations to the Office’s criminal-justice division regarding best practices for these courts.
In 2020, Carlos continued to enrich his knowledge of fiduciary litigation by joining the Ikard Law firm in Austin, Texas. While at Ikard Law, Carlos grew his familiarity and understanding of trust and estate litigation and administration, probate and guardianship matters, and the administration of partnerships and other business entities.
In 2023, Carlos decided to fully commit his time and energy in to his own solo law firm. At the CYB Law Firm, Carlos assists clients with fiduciary, trust, estate, probate, guardianship, and partnership law.
Carlos has attended the University of Texas School of Law’s mediation program at the Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution and is qualified to serve as a mediator in both court-ordered and voluntary mediations.