Author name: michelle

A $21.6M Civil Rights verdict that DP&S attorneys Thad Spalding and Shelby White assisted in winning for client Odell Edwards in 2023 was recently recognized as the Number 1 Verdict in Texas in the category of Excessive Force, Police Brutality, Police Misconduct, and Law Enforcement Misconduct. This case also placed number 21 in the Top […]

Congratulations to Santa Fe attorneys Caren Friedman and Philip Kovnat who successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to affirm the judgment in its entirety in this consolidation of two domestic relations appeals in which DP&S represented the Father as Appellee. The Appellant had argued that the district court abused its discretion in refusing

Congratulations to Dallas partner, Thad Spalding, along with DP&S summer intern and second-year law student at the University of Oklahoma, Claire Moulton, on getting their co-written article published in this month’s Headnotes, a publication put out by the Dallas Bar Association. The article, titled “DIY Clerk’s Records – How Could this Possibly Work?” explores the

Congratulations to Santa Fe partner, Roz Bienvenu, who presented argument in the New Mexico Supreme Court on October 4, 2024. Roz argued on behalf of the Plaintiffs-Real Parties in Interest in Shook, Hardy & Bacon v. Wilson, an extraordinary writ proceeding arising from two lawsuits filed by the Alvarez Law Firm. The Plaintiffs-Real Parties in Interest developed

Attorney At Law Magazine has just published its 2024 Athletes in Law special issue celebrating lawyers who played collegiate sports.  This issue features our own Shelby White, who was on the Equestrian team at Baylor University for four years.  Click here to read about Shelby and all the other amazing “Athletes In Law”. 

We are thrilled to announce that our Houston partner, Lara Hollingsworth, has been recognized as one of the 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America! This prestigious honor highlights Lara’s exceptional skill, dedication, and impact in the legal field, confirming her standing as a top litigator in the country. Please join us in congratulating Lara

Five of our talented attorneys have been selected to the prestigious 2024 Texas Super Lawyers list, an accolade reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in the state. Congratulations to Kirk Pittard, Thad Spalding, Leighton Durham, Rick Thompson, and Lara Hollingsworth for this much-deserved honor! Dallas partner, Kirk Pittard, was also included in the Top 100

Congratulations to Thad Spalding who, along with trial counsel Charlie Reed and Tom Herald, successfully defended Allstate’s appeal of a judgment against them, including attorney’s fees, in a UM/UIM case.  Allstate challenged virtually everything that the trial court did, including the award of past medical expenses, prejudgment interest, and declaratory judgment act attorney’s fees.  The

DP&S is pleased to announce that Aditi Deal has joined our team as an associate in our Houston office. Prior to joining the firm, Aditi practiced commercial litigation at Locke Lord LLP. While there, Aditi worked on commercial cases at the state and federal level in Texas, Maryland, and Louisiana, and briefed appeals to the

Congratulations to Santa Fe partner Caren I. Friedman, who has accepted an invitation to become a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. AAAL was founded to recognize outstanding appellate lawyers and promote the improvement of appellate advocacy and the administration of the appellate courts. Membership in the Academy is by invitation only.  Fellows

This month, DP&S partner Kirk Pittard traveled around Texas on the speaking circuit delivering presentations on Legal Issues Related to Non-Economic Damages: Gregory v. Chohan to the San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association, Effective Use of Appellate Counsel on Your Trial Team to the Corpus Christi Bar Association, and Ethical Issues in Contracting Appellate Counsel to

Houston attorney Lara Hollingsworth was a highlighted speaker at the Texas Trial Lawyers Association’s CLE Seminar on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas. The day-long seminar covered how to tackle 21st Century car wreck cases.   Lara provided insight on how plaintiff’s counsel can use motions practice to their advantage.

Congratulations to Rick Thompson, Valerie Farwell, and trial counsel, Richard Dodd, who convinced Houston’s 14th Court of Appeals to reverse an asbestos MDL summary judgment ruling on causation.   The Court of Appeals found there to be a fact issue on direct causation, precluding summary judgment, where there were no other “plausible sources” of asbestos exposure,

Congratulations to Dana Levy and trial counsel, Scott Hendler and Grayson McDaniel, who successfully defended a challenge to their nursing administrator and forensic pathology expert reports.  In this nursing-home negligence case in which a resident died of hypothermia during Winter Storm Uri, the defendants objected that licensed nursing home administrators and a forensic pathologist were

Congratulations to Shelby White, Thad Spalding, and trial counsel, Daryl Washington, who settled a civil rights case against the City of Arlington and one of its officers for $1.9 million.  The case involved the fatal shooting of Tavis Crane by Arlington police officer Craig Roper after Crane was stopped when his toddler threw a candy wrapper out

Congratulations to Roz Bienvenu, Justin Kaufman, and trial counsel, Jim Hada, who successfully moved to remand a case from federal to state court in New Mexico for the family of a student killed in a bus crash returning from a college golf tournament. The district court held that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations do

On December 28, 2003, Leighton Durham and Kirk Pittard started a law firm concept in Dallas that did not yet exist—an appellate boutique.  They decided to focus on what they did best– handling appeals as well as substantive motion practice, legal issues, and litigation support at the trial level—and would do so for medium to

Congratulations to Santa Fe attorneys, Caren Friedman and Phil Kovnat, who, along with Dallas trial counsel C. Kyle Pugh and appellate counsel Jeffrey Levinger, successfully convinced U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas to deny a Motion for New Trial, for Remittitur, or to Alter or Amend the Judgment filed by

DP&S is pleased to announce that Lara Hollingsworth has joined our team as a partner in our Houston office. Lara comes to us from Rusty Hardin & Associates where she was a lawyer and partner for over 20 years. Lara has been recognized as one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America by Lawdragon and

Tammy Holt, of our Dallas office, argued at the Texas Supreme Court on November 29, 2023.  At issue in this case is whether diligence in service of process is a “statutory prerequisite to suit” for claims brought under the Tort Claims Act.  Texas State University filed a plea to the jurisdiction, asserting that the court

Santa Fe attorney Caren Friedman was one of four New Mexico appellate practitioners asked to participate in panel discussions at the Appellate Bench and Bar Conference, held in the supreme court courtroom on Friday, October 20, 2023.  Caren joined a distinguished panel of supreme court justices, court of appeals judges, and court staff to discuss

Congratulations to DP&S Dallas partners Leighton Durham, Kirk Pittard, Thad Spalding, and Rick Thompson for being named “Super Lawyers” again this year in the Appellate category by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Thomson Reuters publication, for 2023. Way to go!

Congratulations to KDP partner Kirk Pittard for a recent win in the Tyler Court of Appeals.  The defendant in this medical malpractice case attempted to postpone a second special setting with a last minute petition for mandamus.  After briefing and oral argument, the Tyler Court of Appeals denied the mandamus allowing the case to proceed

KDP Partner, Leighton Durham, was part of a trial team in an automobile products liability case in which the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for $41,935,624.17.

Congratulations to Maria Wormington of Wormington & Bollinger and Christy Wollin and Peter Kelly of Kelly, Durham & Pittard for an excellent appellate win in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals in which the court held that the lower standard of care—“wilful and wanton”—applicable in hospital emergency rooms does not apply to healthcare provided to