Dick Schwartz, Suzanna Bonham, Parker Fauntleroy, Kenneth George, Roger Greenberg, Ed Junell and Monica Oathout have been selected as Texas' Top Rated Lawyers receiving an AV Preeminent rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review ratings. An AV Preeminent rating is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence. In recognition of this honor these SJGO attorneys will be featured in Texas' Top Rated Lawyers, a special stand alone magazine that will be distributed in the Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News and The Wall Street Journal on March 30th. It will also be distributed with The Texas Lawyer, The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel magazine.
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SJGO Lawyers Receive Peer Recognition
Dick Schwartz, Ed Junell and Roger Greenberg were recently recognized in the Super Lawyers - Business Edition 2011. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The new Business Edition features those attorneys who were previously selected in 2010 to the Super Lawyers list in specific business practice areas and is distributed to in-house counsel, and CEOs and presidents of Fortune 500 companies. Dick and Ed were selected in Business Litigation while Roger was selected in Securities Litigation.
Dick and Ed were also included in the 2011 Best Lawyers, Houston Edition, in a special supplement to the National Law Journal and The American Lawyer. Both were selected for Commercial Litigation and Dick was also selected for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
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The Firm Welcomes New Associates and Of Counsel
SJGO welcomes new associates, Kristie Widner, Zach Bowman, Eric Hawley, Kelli Gunter, Christina Vines, Mark Merrell, and Of Counsel, Shawn Bates. Before Kristie Widner joined SJGO, she successfully represented clients in a wide variety of civil matters including complex commercial litigation and arbitration, insurance coverage, and personal injury and premises liability.
Zach Bowman and Eric Hawley are both recent law school graduates. Zach attended South Texas College of Law where he graduated Cum Laude. While at South Texas, he was a Varsity Moot Court Advocate and won both a National Championship and a best advocate award. Additionally, he was a member of law review and was selected to the Order of the Barristers and Order of Lytae. Before joining the firm, Zach served as a law clerk to the Honorable Paul W. Green at the Supreme Court of Texas. Eric graduated from University of Texas School of Law. While at University of Texas, Eric was the Recent Developments Associate Editor of the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas & Energy Law and interned for the Honorable Evelyn Keyes, First Court of Appeals, Houston, Texas.
Kelli Gunter and Christina Vines both bring extensive and varied experience to the firm. Kelli primarily handled cases involving insurance coverage defense and first party litigation and Christina worked for the Division of the Special Prosecution Unit for the State of Texas where she successfully tried multiple civil jury trials to verdict. In law school, Christina competed on behalf of South Texas College of Law in National Moot Court and Mock Trial competitions.
Prior to joining SJGO Mark Merrell's practice focused primarily on the representation of governmental entities and landowners in condemnation litigation. In addition to his eminent domain practice, Mark has significant experience in many other types of litigation, including real estate title disputes and landlord-tenant disputes.
Shawn Bates has first chaired numerous cases to verdict in jury trial, bench trial and arbitration settings and holds a Certificate in Advanced Arbitration Skills from the A.A. White Dispute Resolution Center of the University of Houston Law Center. He has been involved in numerous complex commercial disputes and has been named a Texas Rising Star by Texas Monthly Magazine and one of Houston's Top Lawyers by H Texas Magazine.
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Two firm associates, Ruth Karper and Justin Schwartz, recently completed in-house assignments with two firm clients. For Ruth and Justin, the in-house assignments gave them the opportunity to see first-hand how the businesses work. For the clients, it was a chance to work with SJGO lawyers on a daily basis.
Ruth Karper worked in the client's labor and employment group, where she assisted in workplace investigations, responded to EEOC complaints, and researched FMLA and policy issues. Working in-house allowed Ruth to gain insight into the challenges faced by an in-house attorney. Now, back in her role as outside counsel, she is better equipped to help her in-house counterparts meet those challenges.
Justin Schwartz worked in the client's commercial operations legal department, where he provided legal contract support and advice to the business and negotiated multimillion dollar international and domestic sales agreements with the client's customers for the supply of equipment, services and parts. After four months, Justin joined the client's in-house legal department full time as Regional Counsel for Commercial Operations, North America. We miss him and we are excited about his new position.
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SJGO attorneys recently obtained summary judgment in employment discrimination case.
In March 2011, SJGO obtained summary judgment in favor of the firm's client (the employer) in an employment discrimination case. The plaintiff alleged disparate treatment and ultimate termination because of his national origin. The Court found that the plaintiff could not make a prima facie case of discrimination and, even if he could, the firm's client articulated, and supported with substantial summary judgment evidence, legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for disciplining the plaintiff and ultimately terminating him. The Court dismissed all claims. Richard A. Schwartz and Ruth Karper represented the firm's client.
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SJGO attorneys recently obtained summary judgments in two premises liability cases.
Parker Fauntleroy and Todd Foss obtained summary judgment for a utility company in a premises liability suit brought by a worker who was severely injured when a rebar cage being built by the worker's employer collapsed and trapped the worker. The summary judgment successfully asserted (1) the plaintiff's employer was an independent contractor and (2) the utility had no contractual right to control the work of the independent contractor and did not actually control the work.
Parker Fauntleroy and Jim Marrow obtained summary judgment for a utility district and a water service company in a premises liability suit filed by a customer (an invitee), who fell into a water meter box and lacerated her foot. The summary judgment successfully asserted (1) the water meter box did not pose an unreasonable risk of harm, (2) the utility district and water service company had no notice of any claimed defect, and (3) any alleged defect did not proximately cause any of the customer's injuries.
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On September 7th, 2011, Zach Bowman spoke on the topic of "Petition for Review Practice Before the Supreme Court of Texas" at the Texas Bar Continuing Legal Education course titled "Texas Bar's Civil Appellate Practice 101." Zach was a co-presenter with Doug Alexander of Alexander Dubose & Townsend, LLP. The paper and presentation covered briefing before the Texas Supreme Court and the Court's internal operating procedure.
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Best Lawyers Announcement
Richard A. Schwartz and William E. Junell, Jr. were named among the Best Lawyers in Commercial Litigation for 2011 in the Special Supplement to the National Law Journal and The American Lawyer.
Richard A. Schwartz was named among the Best Lawyers in Alternative Dispute Resolution for 2011 in the Special Supplement to the National Law Journal and The American Lawyer.
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SJGO Attorneys Obtain Defense Verdict in Multi-Million Dollar Trial
In October 2010, after three years of litigation and a two-and-a-half week trial, a Houston, Texas jury returned a unanimous defense verdict in favor of SJGO’s client in CenterPoint Energy Services, Inc. v. Air Products and Chemicals, LLC and The Premcor Refining Group. CenterPoint sought $22.5 million in past damages and future price increases valued at over $25 million. CenterPoint contended that the price index used to calculate the sales price of the natural gas under two long-term gas purchase contracts no longer reflected the prevailing market price in the area in question. The index in question is one of Platts’ monthly natural gas indexes; Platts publishes indexes for natural gas, crude oil and numerous other commodities. Steve Rech and Dianne Friedl tried the case for the defendants. The Premcor Refining Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO), America’s largest independent domestic refining company. Air Products (NYSE:APD) serves customers in industrial, energy, technology and healthcare markets worldwide with a unique portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services.
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The Firm Welcomes New Associates
SJGO welcomes new associates: Jim Marrow, David Stockel, and Jim Barnish. Before Jim Marrow joined SJGO, he participated in the Texas Supreme Court’s landmark decision in American Transitional Care Centers of Texas, Inc. v. Palacios, which revolutionized the manner in which Texas courts consider and rule upon the adequacy of expert reports in medical-malpractice cases. Jim has several more published appeals to his credit, and has authored more than 35 appellate briefs and mandamus petitions.
Before David Stockel joined SJGO, he handled a wide variety of commercial, labor and employment, and products liability disputes. David also brings experience in compliance with regulatory requirements to enhance efficiency of natural gas asset marketing and trading.
Jim Barnish is a recent law school graduate and attended South Texas College of Law where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. While at South Texas, he was a Varsity Moot Court Advocate and won both a National Championship and a best brief award. Additionally, he was a member of law review and was selected to the Order of the Barristers.
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Michael P. Jones to be presented Scribes award from American Society of Legal Writers
The most prestigious legal writing award in the country will be presented to SJGO Associate and 2009 South Texas College of Law Graduate Michael Jones. The Scribes award from the American Society of Legal Writers is given to authors of the best written legal brief submitted in a national moot court competition this past academic year. The award will be presented at the American Bar Association's annual meeting this August in San Francisco.
The winning brief, written by Michael Jones and his teammates, won the majority of the votes from selection committee members for the brief that was written for the John Marshall Law School International Moot Court Competition in Information Technology and Privacy Law last October. The judging is done by attorneys, judges, and professors from across the nation. Briefs are written for each moot court competition where students from law schools across the nation argue a hypothetical case against each other.
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William E. Junell, Jr. elected to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA)
In May, 2010, William E. Junell, Jr. was elected to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and its Houston Chapter. Membership in this preeminent national organization of trial attorneys is by invitation only after thorough background research and investigation. To be elected, prospective members must have had extensive civil jury trial experience and have also exhibited the virtues of civility, integrity and professionalism throughout his or her legal career. Mr. Junell has practiced law in Houston, Texas for over 35 years and before joining Schwartz, Junell in 1997, had been a partner in the firms of Reynolds, Allen & Cook and Andrews & Kurth. Mr. Junell continues his general commercial litigation practice in Houston, Texas.
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In January, SJGO was honored by the Bar for its outstanding service and the firm's willingness to accept an extraordinary number of challenging cases on behalf of those who could not otherwise afford legal counsel. At the annual Houston Bar Foundation awards ceremony, SJGO was recognized for its Outstanding Contributions as Volunteer Lawyers. SJGO received this award because it accepted and handled three times the number of cases to which the firm committed when it became an Equal Access to Justice Champion.
