Representative Matters

Represented the purchaser of an approximately 55,000 square foot, single-tenant facility located within the Tuscany Technology Center, a 600,000 square-foot multi-building office and industrial park development in northeast Austin, Texas.

Represented executive bankers in state court lawsuit asserting claims for violations of non-competition agreement and breach of fiduciary duty and related week-long arbitration before the American Arbitration Association in which over $15,000,000 in damages was in controversy.

Successfully briefed and defended against motion for summary judgment on plaintiff and client’s affirmative claims in Delaware Superior Court on behalf of IT/telecommunications client. Plaintiff’s summary judgment motion was denied in its entirety, resulting in the case settling favorably on the eve of trial

Won a summary judgment on behalf of an independent geologist in a case brought by a working interest owner concerning acquisition and development of oil and gas leases. Claims included breach of contract, tortious interference with contractual relations and conspiracy. Plaintiff failed to consent to additional acreage under the Joint Operating Agreement and sued fellow working interest owners for almost $10 million in damages.

Representing Houston-based real estate developer in Texas state court action involving claims for breach of contract and declaratory judgment related to a retail anchor-tenant’s breach of its lease and the resulting delay in funding and construction of a sizeable mixed-use commercial retail development.

Pursuing claims on behalf of a Texas-geoscience company against a crime insurance policy carrier. A former employee defrauded the company by stealing more than $2 million worth of iPhones and Blackberries. The carrier denied coverage under a commercial crime policy.

Won a unanimous jury verdict of $1.3 million on behalf of two former partners of an accounting firm based on the accounting firm’s failure to pay amounts owed to the partners following their separation from the firm, including amounts owed to them for the repurchase of their shares of stock in the accounting firm. The jury also unanimously rejected a counterclaim filed by the accounting firm in which the firm sought more than $750,000 in damages based on alleged breaches of non-compete provisions, confidentiality provisions, and buy-sell provisions of the partners’ employment agreements which would have required the former partners to pay the firm for any clients that left with the former partners.

Represented client in connection with the sale of approximately 262 acres to a residential subdivision developer. The transaction included the negotiation and drafting of access easements and of development agreements to ensure appropriate allocation of costs and responsibilities for completion of regional roadway, utility and drainage facilities serving the residential subdivision to be developed, and the client’s retained land to be developed for commercial uses. The subject property covers jurisdictions of two different municipalities (Conroe and Willis) and two separate in city municipal utility districts contributing to the water, wastewater, drainage and roadway facilities and improvements serving the intended development. In this regard, the transaction also included financing and development agreements with MUDs in the City of Willis and the City of Conroe.

Defended two Conroe-area physicians against claims by their former employer. The former employer, a Conroe-area hospital, alleged the physicians breached a noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreement when they started their own family practice. The hospital also claimed the physicians breached fiduciary duties of loyalty by unfairly competing with the hospital. The trial court denied the hospital’s request for a temporary injunction, allowing the physicians to continue serving their patients and the Conroe area. The case settled soon after the denial of the temporary injunction.

Successfully negotiated resolution of complex, multi-million dollar dispute involving production of steel rig kits for use in offshore jack-up drilling rig application between an overseas steel mill, Houston-based steel fabricator, and offshore drilling systems provider in Mississippi.

Won a jury verdict for an independent oil and gas exploration company for damages to one of its production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. After a week-long trial, the jury awarded damages that were caused by another oil company’s crew boat running into the platform.

Represented one of the nation’s largest manufacturer’s representative firms serving the electrical industry in its strategic merger which resulted in a combined business that together employes more than 500 people.

Represented several entities in connection with their conversions and migratory mergers from California to Texas, and from various other states to Texas

Represented the seller in the $50,000,000 acquisition of a business specializing in providing nitrogen gas and other related services to customers in the oil and gas industry.

Expansion of a cloud-based voice, internet and unified communication services provider through multiple acquisitions of regional VoIP service providers, including negotiation and simultaneous closing of an amended credit agreement to provide financing for the transactions, negotiation of buyout and freeze out transactions relating to minority interests in subsidiaries and satisfaction of outstanding warrants, and utilization of representations and warranty insurance to mitigate post transaction risk and provide added security for loan.

Successfully defended a restaurant group in a lawsuit brought by a former employee claiming sexual harassment based on allegations that manager made sexual advances towards the employee and sent sexually explicit photographs to the employee. The lawsuit centered almost entirely on alleged conduct that occurred outside the workplace during non-working hours and presented unique issues relating to the employer’s affirmative defense under the Faragher/Ellerth line of cases.