Author name: Thad Spalding

Congratulations to trial counsel Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP and Santa Fe partner, Roz Bienvenu, who successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to reverse the trial court’s dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction in a wrongful death product liability case based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. […]

Congratulations to Daryl Washington and Greg Marks who, with help from DP&S’s Shelby White and Thad Spalding, won a $21.6 million jury verdict for their client, Odell Edwards, in a civil rights case involving the use of excessive, deadly force. The plaintiff’s 15-year-old son, Jordan, was shot and killed by a Balch Springs police officer,

Congratulations to Santa Fe partner, Caren Friedman, who was named a 2023 Southwest “Super Lawyer” in the appellate practice category.  Southwest Super Lawyers magazine covers New Mexico and Arizona.  Caren is one of only seven New Mexico appellate practitioners, and the only one from Santa Fe, to be recognized.  This is Caren’s 17th consecutive year

DP&S is proud to have assisted trial counsel Jack Walker and Reid Martin of Martin Walker PC in a defective product case with national and international ramifications.  This tragic case involved the death of a two-year-old child who died from choking on a Calico Critters Yellow Labrador Twins toy.  Initially filed in 2018, the case

Congratulations to Santa Fe partners, Caren Friedman, Justin Kaufman, and Rosalind Bienvenu, who successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to affirm a judgment rejecting contract and fraud claims against state licensed medical cannabis growers, Ken and Irene Livingston, the founders of Healthy Education Society.  The Livingstons prevailed at trial, and on appeal, the

DP&S is proud to announce that Santa Fe partners Roz Bienvenu, Justin Kaufman, and Caren Friedman will be serving on three important New Mexico rules committees in 2023.  Roz was recently appointed to the Uniform Jury Instructions Civil Committee, where she will serve a one-year term with eligibility to serve for an additional six years. 

Congratulations to Santa Fe partner, Caren Friedman, who presented argument on behalf of the Plaintiff in the New Mexico Court of Appeals on January 12, 2023.  Plaintiff was catastrophically injured when the grossly overloaded and untethered scaffold on which he was working collapsed.  In New Mexico, a negligence claim against an employer is barred by

Congratulations to Santa Fe partners, Caren Friedman and Rosalind Bienvenu, who, along with trial counsel Joseph Zebas of Hobbs, New Mexico, successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to reverse summary judgment in a medical malpractice case.  The defendant hospital mixed up two patients with the same name and then administered incorrect blood pressure

Congratulations to Santa Fe partners Caren Friedman, Rosalind Bienvenu, and Justin Kaufman, who successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to affirm the judgment in a complex water law appeal.  DP&S, along with Paul Hultin and the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, represented a consortium of individuals and entities (“Protestants”) who opposed Aquifer Science’s

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard who was featured in the Summer 2022 edition of Baylor Law School’s Docket Call. You can read the article here.

Congratulations to DP&S attorney, Shelby White, who won another qualified immunity appeal to the Fifth Circuit. The appeal was by two police officers who used excessive force to remove and arrest a student at a high school basketball game. The trial court denied the officers’ claim of qualified immunity because of material fact disputes between

Congratulations to Santa Fe partner and Chair of the New Mexico State Bar Appellate Practice Section, Rosalind Bienvenu, who moderated the Appellate Judges Candidate Forum on October 18.  The Forum featured nine candidates for seats on the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Court of Appeals, including Justice Julie J. Vargas, Justice Briana

Congratulations to DP&S attorney, Shelby White, who–along with Thad Spalding, and trial attorney, Daryl Washington–successfully reversed a summary judgment order granting qualified immunity to a police officer. 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 of

Congratulations to DP&S Dallas partners Leighton Durham, Kirk Pittard, Thad Spalding, and Rick Thompson who were, once again, named “Super Lawyers” in the Appellate category by by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Thomson Reuters publication, for 2022.

On September 9, 2022, Santa Fe Partner Rosalind Bienvenu, current Chair of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico State Bar’s Appellate Practice Section, moderated the Section’s 33rd Annual Appellate Practice Institute, a daylong webinar featuring distinguished panel members from the appellate bench and bar.  The Institute addressed topics such as United States Supreme

DP&S is pleased to announce that Phil Kovnat has joined the firm as an attorney in the Santa Fe Office. Phil comes to us from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia where he was an appellate and trial attorney handling all phases of litigation. Phil also worked closely with the

Congratulations to Jeffrey Pitman and Benjamin Reyes of Pitman, Kalkhoff, Sicula & Dentice on their victory in the New Mexico Court of Appeals.  Mr. Pitman and Mr. Reyes, along with Feliz Rael of The Law Offices of Feliz A. Rael, and Keller & Keller, successfully defended an $11 million jury verdict on appeal in a

DP&S is proud to announce that Kirk Pittard is, once again, one of the Best Lawyers in America, in the Appellate Practice category.

Congratulations to DP&S partners Dana Levy and Kirk Pittard on back-to-back wins in the Texas Supreme Court! On May 6, 2022, Dana successfully reversed a court of appeals’ opinion that the plaintiff’s expert report failed to satisfy Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. In E.D. v. Tex. Health Care, P.L.L.C., No.

Congratulations to DP&S partner, Kirk Pittard, who, for the 11th year, was named “Best Lawyer” in the Appellate category by D Magazine for 2022.

Congratulations to DP&S partner, Thad Spalding, who successfully defeated a police officer’s qualified immunity appeal to the Fifth Circuit.  The case involves the fatal shooting of a teenager, Jordan Edwards, by Balch Springs police officer Roy Oliver.  Oliver moved for summary judgment, claiming his shooting–into a car full of teenagers who were leaving a party

DP&S is proud to announce that Santa Fe-based partners Caren Friedman and Justin Kaufman have been named Southwest (New Mexico and Arizona) “Super Lawyers” for 2022, an honor based on professional achievement and peer recognition. Caren was named in the Appellate practice category.  She is one of only eight New Mexico appellate practitioners, and the

Last week, Kirk Pittard appeared on D. Todd Smith and Jody Sanders‘s Texas Appellate Law podcast to discuss serving as the appellate counsel on the trial team, and was invited to speak on this topic by the Dallas Bar Association’s Appellate Law Section.  You can listen to Kirk’s podcast here.

DP&S is pleased to announce that our Santa Fe partner, Rosalind B. Bienvenu, has taken the helm of the New Mexico State Bar Appellate Practice Section. Roz will serve as the President of the Board of Directors for a one-year term in 2022. She will bring to the Section her exceptional skills as an appellate

DP&S is pleased to announce that, beginning January 3, 2022, Shelby White joined the firm’s Dallas office.  Shelby brings a wealth of appellate experience to the firm, having spent three years with the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Appellate Section where she served as lead attorney in over 50 appeals.  Before that, Shelby was with the

Congratulations to Cynthia Huerta, David Glenn, Reed Morgan,  Jake Glenn, and Kirk Pittard for getting a $1,265,000 jury verdict in Johnson County on November 23, 2021. They represented a plaintiff who had worked for BNSF railroad for 37 years until he injured his knee and back while on the job.

DP&S is proud to announce that it has been named to the “Best Lawyers” 2022 “Best Law Firms” list as a “Tier 1” firm–the highest ranking available–in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Appellate Practice!  According to U.S. News–Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms,” “[a]chieving a tiered ranking . . . signals a unique combination of quality law

Congratulations to DP&S Santa Fe partner, Caren Friedman, who, along with trial counsel Kristina Martinez, successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to reverse the final decree in a domestic relations case.  Representing the Mother in this custody dispute, DP&S argued that the district court violated the Rules of Civil Procedure by failing to

DP&S’s Houston partner, Dana Levy, was in the Texas Supreme Court again on a case involving responsible third party practice.  Dana argued in defense of the trial court’s order, and a Dallas Court of Appeals opinion letting that order stand, which struck a responsible third party designation by the owner of a gas facility of

DP&S is proud to announce that Kirk Pittard, Leighton Durham, Rick Thompson, and Thad Spalding have all been named “Super Lawyers” in the Appellate category by by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Thomson Reuters publication, for 2021.         Kirk Pittard was also named, once again, to the “Top 100” list for Dallas/Fort Worth

Congratulations to DP&S partner, Roz Bienvenu, who worked with trial counsel William Angelley, Craig Schllapprizzi, and Tom Crosley, to successfully defend a Bexar County trial court’s order denying a special appearance by an aircraft manufacturer, Cirrus Design Corp., in a wrongful death products liability case. The plaintiff’s husband, an Air Force major stationed in Texas,

DP&S is proud to announce that Kirk Pittard and Rick Thompson are, once again, selected to be among the Best Lawyers in America, in the Appellate Practice category.

DP&S is proud to announce that it has elevated Roz Bienvenu to the position of partner!  Roz, now a partner in DP&S’s Santa Fe office, has worked with Justin Kaufman since 2015 and has been an instrumental part of not just the Santa Fe office, but the firm’s entire practice since 2018.  We are so

Congratulations to DP&S lawyers Kirk Pittard and Tammy Holt who were part of a trial team lead by Steve Laird, Robert Collins, Seth McCloskey, and Bracken Millar, that recently settled a double-fatality trucking case for $19 Million (for non-economic damages only) the day before the case was set to go to trial in Tarrant County.

We are proud to announce that, on June 1, 2021, Lauren Harbour joined DP&S’s Houston office.  Lauren brings significant appellate and litigation experience, having first clerked for the Texas Supreme Court before focusing on complex commercial and insurance litigation, and appeals.  Lauren was named a Texas Monthly “Rising Star” from 2017-2019. Lauen is a 2009

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard who was named “Best Lawyer” in the Appellate category by D Magazine for 2021.  This is Kirk’s 11th year to be named to the list.

Congratulations to Thad Spalding and trial counsel Jon Hanna, Robert White, and Greta Braker, who successfully convinced the El Paso Court of Appeals that summary judgment based on the Workers’ Compensation Act’s exclusive remedy provision was not proper because of fact issues as to whether killed and injured passengers’ travel from a drilling site to

DP&S is proud to announce that every lawyer in our Santa Fe office has been named Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico) “Super Lawyers” for 2021, an honor based on professional achievement and peer recognition. This is Rosalind Bienvenu‘s first year to be named a “Rising Star”!  Roz was one of only six attorneys named “Rising Star”

Congratulations to Dana Levy who convinced the El Paso Court of Appeals to reverse a summary judgment granted in favor of an oil well services company and against our injured client.  The court found fact issues as to the company’s liability for a collision caused by one of its workers, who was returning to remote

Once again, DP&S was proud to sponsor the Ultimate Writer Competition at Baylor Law School.  Students compete not only for a cash prize, but also the opportunity to interview for a possible internship with our firm.  This year’s winners were William de los Santos, first place; Grace Bregard, second place; Catherine Helm, third pace; and

Congratulations to Tammy Holt who successfully defeated a Mandamus Petition filed by a Defendant claiming that In re North Cypress entitled him to broad medical expense discovery and claiming that the doctor’s objections should  be overruled because (1) he sought the amounts actually reflected as payment in full on the doctors’ books (as opposed to

Congratulations to Lana Beverly who, along with trial counsel, Brian Steward, successfully defended the medical expert report by a radiologist who testified regarding another radiologist’s failure to diagnose the plaintiff’s breast cancer. On appeal, Lana persuaded the court that the expert radiologist was qualified to provide a causation opinion regarding the delayed cancer diagnosis and

DP&S was in the Texas Supreme Court twice this week!  Thad Spalding, along with co-counsel, Tex Quesada, argued Tuesday on behalf of an injured worker in a case dealing with a general contractor’s right of control over a worksite.  You can see the argument here.  The next day, Kirk Pittard argued a case addressing medical

Congratulations to DP&S’s Santa Fe partner, Caren Friedman, on her victory in the New Mexico Court of Appeals in a domestic relations appeal arising under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.  The appeal raised six issues, and the Court unanimously affirmed the judgment, including an attorney fee award.

Congratulations to DP&S’s Santa Fe partner, Caren Friedman, who presented argument on behalf of the Appellant in the New Mexico Supreme Court on January 15, 2021.  The case is a direct appeal to the Supreme Court under the New Mexico Constitution because the Appellant was sentenced to life imprisonment.  Caren argued for the reversal of

Congratulations to Rick Thompson who, along with co-counsel Matthew Butler, successfully defeated an effort by a solid waste operator to challenge to Westlake’s authority to impose a license fee on all commercial solid waste operators within the town.  You can read Rick and Matthew’s briefing here, and the Fort Worth Court of Appeals opinion here.

Congratulations to Tammy Holt, who–on a motion for rehearing–convinced a panel of the Dallas Court of Appeals to reverse itself and award Plaintiffs the total damages ($1,070,050) awarded by jury, rather than a drastically reduced amount ($200,000) based on the amount originally pled.  Rejecting its original position that the Plaintiffs’ attempt to amend its petition

Congratulations to DP&S associate, Lana Beverly, who along with trial counsel Steve Laird and Seth McCloskey, successfully defeated State Farm’s mandamus petition in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals.  Lana convinced the court of appeals that the trial court was correct when it allowed discovery to be conducted regarding State Farm’s claims-handling process and procedures

Congratulations to DP&S partner, Caren Friedman, who prevailed before the New Mexico Supreme Court!  Caren represented individuals whose appeal was dismissed by the New Mexico Court of Appeals as untimely.  Caren successfully convinced the New Mexico Supreme Court to reinstate Plaintiffs’ appeal.  The Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals improperly gave “greater weight

Congratulations to DP&S’s Santa Fe Partner, Caren Friedman, who was named a Southwest (New Mexico and Arizona) “Super Lawyer” in the Appellate category for 2020.  This is Caren’s 14th year to be included on this list, and she is one of only five New Mexico attorneys to be included in the Appellate category.

Congratulations to DP&S’s New Mexico partner, Caren Friedman, on her victory in the New Mexico Court of Appeals in a domestic relations appeal.  The Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the district court’s method of calculating the community’s interest in Husband’s retirement benefits and valuing Wife’s share.  The Court of Appeals also affirmed the district court’s

DP&S is pleased to announce that, once again, its Dallas partners Kirk Pittard, Leighton Durham, Thad Spalding, and Rick Thompson have been named “Super Lawyers” in the Appellate category by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Thomson Reuters publication, for 2020.  Kirk was also named, once again, to the “Top 100” list for Dallas/Fort Worth and–for the

Congratulations to Dana Levy who successfully convinced the Dallas Court of Appeals to reinstate a medical malpractice case that had been dismissed.  On appeal, Dana convinced the court that a cardiologist with hospital administration experience was qualified to opine as to a hospital’s policies and procedures for providing cardiac care.  You can read Dana’s briefing

Congratulations to Tammy Holt and trial counsel, Rey Perez, who won an appeal in the San Antonio Court of Appeals this week.  The interlocutory appeal was filed by a private entity who contracted with a governmental entity to manage a nursing home.  Claiming derivative sovereign immunity, the private entity tried to claim that it could

Congratulations to Santa Fe Partner, Caren Friedman, who presented argument on behalf of the Petitioners in the New Mexico Supreme Court on September 16, 2020. The case involved the death of the Petitioners’ 20-year-old daughter when the airbag system in her Ford Ranger truck failed to deploy.  To pile tragedy upon tragedy, after years of

Congratulations to Dallas partners Kirk Pittard and Rick Thompson who have been, once again, named “Best Lawyers” in the Appellate Practice category by The Best Lawyers in America for 2020.  You can see Kirk and Rick’s listing here.

Congratulations to Lana Beverly who won an appeal in front of Houston’s First Court of Appeals this week.  The case involved a facility for young people with disabilities in which the Defendants filed a second Ch. 74 motion to dismiss claiming the case was a medical malpractice case and required an expert report.  Given that

Congratulations to firm client Parker Waichman LLP on securing a denial of a motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. in a case pending in the District of New Mexico alleging that Novartis hid serious side effects of its blood cancer drug Tasigna.  Novartis argued that the plaintiff failed to allege the exact

Congratulations to Thad Spalding who, along with Kevin Parker, Richard LaGarde, and Manfred Sternberg, was successful in convincing the Texas Supreme Court to deny immunity to GTECH, a private contractor hired by the Texas Lottery Commission to design and manufacture instant scratch-off tickets.  You can see the Nettles briefing and argument here and here, and

Congratulations to Dana Levy on her successful defense of medical malpractice expert reports before Houston’s Fourteenth Court of Appeals.  The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of Chapter 74 motions to dismiss filed by various health care providers, finding that the challenged experts were qualified and that their reports satisfied Chapter 74’s gate-keeping

Congratulations to Dany Levy, DP&S’s newest partner!  Dana joined the firm in 2017 as Of Counsel and, since January 2019, has headed up the firm’s Houston office.  We are proud of all that Dana has accomplished and look forward to many more successes.

Congratulations to Tammy Holt and Thad Spalding who, along with trial counsel Kenneth Chaiken, successfully reversed a summary judgment in a dispute over the terms and requirements of a Cross Purchase Agreement, and whether that agreement required remaining shareholders in a closely-held corporation to purchase their client, a retiring shareholder’s shares.  The Court of Appeals

Congratulations to DP&S attorney Tammy Holt who successfully reversed a summary judgment granted against the plaintiff in a dog bite case!  Tammy successfully convinced the court of appeals that the plaintiff’s claims of strict liability, negligent handling, and gross negligence were supported by deposition testimony that dog was “leery” around strangers, prone to nip at

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard and Thad Spalding  who have been named “best lawyers” by D Magazine in the Appellate category for 2020.

Congratulations to Dana Levy who successfully defended a $500,000 default judgment in Houston’s Fourteenth Court of Appeals!  Dana prevailed by arguing that the defendant’s 2019 appeal of a 2015 default judgment was untimely.  The court of appeals agreed, rejecting the defendants’ argument that the default judgment was interlocutory because an unserved defendant was never nonsuited. 

DP&S, for the fourth year in a row, proudly sponsored the Ultimate Writer Program at Baylor Law School.  Students compete not only for a cash prize, but also the opportunity to interview for a possible internship with our firm.  Congratulations to this year’s winner, Christina Rosendahl, second place contestant, William de los Santos, and third

Congratulations to Dana Levy, and trial counsel Jason Stephens, on successfully defeating a mandamus petition filed in the Dallas Court of Appeals, seeking relief from the trial court’s striking of a responsible third party designation.  The defendant, an owner of a gas facility where our client was injured, tried to designate and assign blame to

DP&S is proud to announce the addition of Caren I. Friedman as a partner in the firm’s Santa Fe office.  After serving as a judicial clerk in the Tenth Circuit, and later specializing in appellate practice, Caren has garnered a reputation as one of New Mexico’s top appellate attorneys.  Caren joins colleagues Justin Kaufman and

Congratulations to Dana Levy, who won an important medical malpractice case in the Texas Supreme Court!  Dana successfully overturned a court of appeals holding that would have required a party to produce an expert report simply for purposes of seeking discovery from a nonparty physician.  The Texas Supreme Court held in In re Turner that

DP&S associate, Jessica Foster, presented argument Thursday in the Texas Supreme Court in Cherlyn Bethel, et al. v. Quilling, Selander, Lownds, Winslett & Moser, P.C., a case that presents important issues regarding the scope of Rule 91a, a relatively new early-dismissal procedural rule, and attorney immunity, in a case that involves the destruction of crucial evidence. 

Congratulations to DP&S partner, Kirk Pittard, along with a trial team that included Steve Laird, Seth McCloskey, Tim Brandenburg, and Pete Kestner, who, after a two-week trial, secured a $12.5 million settlement in an 18-wheeler-motorcycle collision case in Rockwall County.  The collision occurred when the plaintiff, who was alleged to be going 60 m.p.h. in

Congratulations to David Harris, Craig Sico, and Louie Cook of Sico Hoelscher Harris LLP on a $40.5 million verdict in a wrongful death trucking case in Santa Fe County against Werner Enterprises.  DP&S’s Justin Kaufman and Rosalind Bienvenu assisted on the trial team through the course of the 2-week trial.  The jury found Werner, one

DP&S partner, Kirk Pittard, recently wrote a law review article that has been published in the Summer 2019 edition of the Texas Tech Law Review concerning the recovery of medical expenses under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 41.0105 subsequent to the 2003 Tort Reform legislation.  See Recovery of Medical Expenses Under Texas Civil Practice

DP&S is proud to announce that, on September 30, 2019, Lana Beverly joined its Dallas office.  Lana brings significant appellate and litigation experience, coming from a litigation boutique that specialized in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death matters in addition to complex commercial litigation cases.  Lana received her B.A., with distinction, from the University of North

For the second day in a row, DP&S was proud to represent clients before the Texas Supreme Court.  Dana Levy presented argument in In re Comaneche Turner, a case dealing with whether the deposition of a non-party doctor in a medical malpractice case still requires an expert report as a mandatory prerequisite, as if the non-party

Kirk Pittard presented argument this morning in LaDonna Degan, et al. v. Dallas Police and Fire Pension System Board of Trustees, a case certified to the Texas Supreme Court from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to answer whether certain changes made to the pensioners’ ability to withdraw money from their own accounts violate the

Congratulations to Dallas partners Kirk Pittard, Leighton Durham, Thad Spalding, and Rick Thompson for being named “Super Lawyers” once again in the Appellate category by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Thomson Reuters publication, for 2019.  Kirk was also named to the “Top 100” list for Dallas/Fort Worth.

Congratulations to DP&S partners Kirk Pittard and Rick Thompson who were recently named “Best Lawyers in America” in Appellate Practice by Best Lawyers magazine.  You can see Kirk and Rick’s listing here.

Congratulations to DP&S attorney, Dana Levy, who successfully defended a jury verdict in Houston’s First Court of Appeals! In addition to rejecting the defendant’s many challenges to the jury’s causation and damage findings, Dana also convinced the court of appeals to reject an evidentiary argument regarding the improper admission of liability insurance.  You can see

Congratulations to Rick Thompson who won an important insurance appraisal case in the Texas Supreme Court.  The case, Barbara Techs. Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, No. 17-0640, 2019 WL 2710089 (Tex. June 28, 2019), involved hail damage to a business and the appraisal provision in the business’s insurance policy, which is designed to provide the

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard for his win in The Univ. of Tex. M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. v. McKenzie, No. 17-0730, 2019 WL 2710037 (Tex. June 28, 2019).  The case involved medical malpractice under the Texas Tort Claims Act and whether a public hospital’s immunity from suit is waived if a negligent decision is coupled with

Congratulations to DP&S associate, Morgan McPheeters, who won an important venue ruling in a Texas Dram Shop Act case in the Dallas Court of Appeals on May 14th.  In addition to successfully maintaining venue in Dallas County, the court of appeals also unanimously held–on an issue of first impression–that the plain language of the Dram

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard who was named “Best Lawyer” in the Appellate Category by D Magazine for 2019.  This is Kirk’s 9th year to be named to the list.

Congratulations to Morgan McPheeters who was, once again, named a “Rising Star” in the appellate category by Texas “Super Lawyers” for 2019.  You can see Morgan and the other appellate “rising stars” here.

Congratulations to Justin Kaufman and Rosalind Bienvenu who successfully defeated a Rule 12(b)(2) motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction filed by Navistar in New Mexico federal district court.  Justin and Roz successfully argued that Navistar, who has been registered to do business in New Mexico since 1966, could be sued there for the

DP&S is proud of its partners, Kirk Pittard and Rick Thompson, who went back-to-back in the Texas Supreme Court this week. On Tuesday, Kirk presented argument on behalf of the Respondents in University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center v. Lance McKenzie and Deborah Diver, No. 17-0730.  The case involves a question of sovereign immunity claimed

DP&S is pleased to announce that Tammy Holt has joined the firm’s Dallas office, effective February 11, 2019.  Tammy brings not only significant appellate experience to the firm, but also significant litigation experience, having tried a number of complex commercial cases.  Prior to joining DP&S, Tammy was Of Counsel at Rose Walker from 2007 to

Congratulations to Jessica Foster, Justin Kaufman, and Roz Bienvenu who, along with trial counsel, Paul Hultin, secured an important ground water victory this week in New Mexico, on behalf of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center and the San Pedro Creek Estates Homeowners’ Association, among many others.  The Second Judicial District Court of New Mexico

This week, Thad Spalding presented argument in the Texas Supreme Court in Rey Garza v. Roxana Regalado Harrison and Joseph Santellana, individually and as representative of the Estate of Jonathen Anthony Santellana, Deceased, a case involving whether an off-duty police officer, working security for his apartment complex, is immune from suit after shooting and killing Jonathen Sanatellan. 

As we say goodbye to our good friend Peter Kelly, who starts his new chapter as a Justice on Houston’s First Court of Appeals today, we start one as well–as Durham, Pittard & Spalding, LLP. Good luck Peter and a very Happy New Year to everyone!

Congratulations to Dean Boyd and Lucas Williams of Attorney Dean Boyd PLLC and KD&P’s Morgan McPheeters on a $250,000 verdict in a car wreck case in Dallas County involving a defendant who decided to avoid gridlocked traffic by cutting over double white lines and through plastic barriers into the HOV lane, causing a wreck that resulted in

KD&P is pleased to announce that Rick Thompson joined the firm’s Dallas office as a partner on November 1, 2018.  Rick is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and was formerly a partner at Hankinson, LLP and an Assistant Solicitor General at the Solicitor General’s Office of the Attorney General

KD&P is proud to announce that Dallas associate, Jessica Foster, is featured in the Fall Newsletter published by the Texas A&M University School of Law Natural Resources Systems Program.  A copy of the digital newsletter, with an abbreviated version of Jessica’s interview, can be found here.  The full interview can be found here.  Jessica is

Congratulations to KD&P’s Houston partner, Peter Kelly, who was elected to serve on Houston’s First Court of Appeals yesterday.  Peter will take office beginning January 1, 2019, and will make an outstanding justice on the First Court of Appeals.  The firm will miss Peter dearly, but the firm’s loss is the Houston area’s gain.  We

Kelly, Durham & Pittard, LLP is proud to announce that Associate Morgan McPheeters was awarded the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association’s 2018 John Howie Award for her “courageous pursuit of justice in the face of adversity” and ultimate victory at the Texas Supreme Court in State of Texas v. T.S.N.  Morgan’s work on this case helped

Peter Kelly and Kirk Pittard were at it again last week, both arguing cases before the Texas Supreme Court. Peter argued on Tuesday, Texas Health Presbyterian Hosp. v. D.A. and M.A., regarding whether the heightened standard of proof applicable to emergency care physicians applies to a birth injury case in which the mother was not first seen

Congratulations to KD&P associate, Morgan McPheeters, who successfully defended a Chapter 74 medical expert report in Houston’s 14th Court of Appeals!  The case, Pettway v. Olvera, No. 14-17-00532-CV, 2018 WL 4016949 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Aug. 23, 2018, no pet. h.) (mem. op.), affirms the sufficiency of a report of a a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who offers

Congratulations to Justin Kaufman, who was sworn in today to the State Bar of Texas by our own Kristi Lassiter at our Dallas office.  Justin, who heads up KD&P’s Santa Fe office, is now licensed to practice in Texas, New Mexico, and New York.

Congratulations to KD&P Partner, Peter Kelly, and Of Counsel, Dana Levy, who secured two reversals in the Fifth Circuit in the last two weeks of June! The first, Garcia v. Wal-Mart Stores Texas, involved a slip-and-fall in which the Court reversed a summary judgment finding that circumstantial creation evidence—evidence that the owner of a premises created the

Congratulations to KD&P associate Morgan McPheeters who won an important expunction case in the Texas Supreme Court, affirming the right of wrongfully accused people, acquitted of a crime, to have the records related to that acquitted offense expunged from public records.  You can read a copy of the opinion here.