NEWS
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 has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America from 2020-2024. Additionally, Lara was recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Texas Rising Star in 2004, and 2006-2010, and as a Texas Super Lawyer from 2020-2023.
Lara graduated magna cum laude from Baylor Law School where she served as editor of the Baylor Law Review and on Baylor’s moot court team. After graduation, Lara served as a law clerk for the late Judge Samuel D. Johnson on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for the late Justice James A. Baker on the Texas Supreme Court.
Lara is admitted to practice in all Texas state courts, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas.
We are excited to have her aboard!
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 had no jurisdiction over the tort claims brought by plaintiff, Hannah Turner, because, although Tanner filed suit against TSU within the limitations period, she allegedly did not diligently serve citation. Interpreting Government Code 311.034’s statement that all “statutory prerequisites to suit” are jurisdictional, the Court of Appeals held that the general statute of limitations found in CPRC 61.003 is a jurisdictional statutory prerequisite, but that the “diligence” requirement was created by the courts rather than expressly stated in a state, and the diligence requirement is not, therefore, a statutory prerequisite to suit.
You can listen to Tammy’s argument in Tanner v. Tex. State Univ., 644 S.W.3d 747 (Tex. App.—Austin 2022, pet. granted) here.
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 topics of interest and concern to the appellate bench and bar. After the conference adjourned, participants gathered for a luncheon to continue the discussion informally. Santa Fe attorneys Roz Bienvenu and Phil Kovnat were also in attendance.
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 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. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 141 S. Ct. 1017 (2021). The New Mexico Court of Appeals determined that the the fatal accident was sufficiently related to Bridgestone’s New Mexico contacts to give rise to jurisdiction. You can read the opinion here.
This case is another of many personal jurisdiction wins for Roz, making her a top appellate lawyer on this important issue for plaintiff’s firms nationwide.
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, Roy Oliver, as the car Jordan was riding in was leaving a house party. The police officer was criminally convicted of murder in 2018, but continued to claim that his shooting was justified. On April 3, 2023, the civil jury disagreed, finding Oliver liable for using excessive, deadly force, and awarding $10.6 million in actual damages to Mr. Edwards and to Jordan’s estate, and an additional $11 million in punitive damages for the officer’s wrongful conduct. You can read the Dallas Morning News article about the verdict here. You can also view news reports about the verdict here (WFAA), here (Fox 4), and here (NBC 5).
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 to be included on this list. You can read the digital edition of Southwest Super Lawyers magazine here.
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 was heavily litigated for more than three years. In 2021, Plaintiffs successfully defeated partial summary judgment filed by Defendant Epoch Everlasting Play, LLC; although the Defendant argued that it could not be held liable as a matter of law under a negligence per se theory, Plaintiffs convinced the Court of the opposite: that Epoch was negligent per se because the toy violated Consumer Product Safety Commission Regulations, and thus the toy was a “banned hazardous substance.” The Court agreed with the position advanced by Plaintiffs, finding that Epoch was negligent per se because its toy has small parts that presented a choking hazard and, as a “flocked” toy, was intended for children under three years of age. You can read the Court’s opinion here. Shortly after the Court’s favorable ruling, the case was resolved for a confidential sum.
But honoring their clients’ wishes, Martin Walker and DP&S continued to fight to convince regulators that these toys should be removed from the market entirely. Initially, the Court’s decision was cited by CPSC acting commissioner Peter Feldman, who urged the federal agency to expedite enforcement of CPSC regulations against flocked toys to protect the health and safety of children across the country. You can read Commissioner Feldman’s press release here.
After continued lobbying efforts, on March 9, 2023, the CPSC announced a voluntary recall of all Calico Critters animal figure and sets sold with small parts accessories. Commissioner Feldman sent a strong message about the recall and called for the recall as a “first step” urging the CPSC to review similar toys and accessories to ensure safety. You can read Commissioner Feldman’s statement here.
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 judgment was affirmed in its entirety based on the failure to prove damages. You can read the memorandum opinion in Livingston Land, LLC v. Brooker, A-1-CA-38948 (N.M. App. Feb. 15, 2023), here.
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. Roz has extensive experience assisting DP&S’s trial lawyer clients with jury instructions, and her appointment will give her the opportunity to help improve the uniform instructions and committee commentary to clarify New Mexico law. Justin has been serving on the Rules of Civil Procedure for State Courts Committee since his appointment by the New Mexico Supreme Court in 2021. This committee reviews, revises, and drafts new rules applicable to civil cases across the state. Caren has been serving on the Appellate Rules Committee since her re-appointment by the Supreme Court in 2020. The Court had previously appointed her to this committee in 2005 and to serve as chair from 2007 to 2010. The Appellate Rules Committee drafts and amends the rules governing proceedings in the New Mexico Court of Appeals and the New Mexico Supreme Court.