NEWS
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 not create a private right of action for personal injury or wrongful death, and the plaintiffs’ complaint did not raise federal questions turning on the substantive construction of federal law. Therefore, the defendant’s removal of the case to federal court was improper. The case is Lopez v. Univ. of the Southwest, No. 2:23-cv-00327-DHU-JHR, 2024 WL 68531 (D.N.M. Jan. 5, 2024).
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 smaller sized law firms, with a particular emphasis on contingency fee work. Fast forward 20 years . . . that dream and vision now consists of 14 attorneys in three cities across Texas and New Mexico. Today, Durham Pittard & Spalding is the largest appellate and litigation support firm with a presence on both sides of the Pecos River with a strong reputation of excellence, attention to detail, and success for their clients. Leighton, Kirk, and everyone at DP&S greatly appreciate the trust our clients have placed in us and the opportunity to serve those clients over the past 20 years and we look forward to many more successful years ahead.
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 the United States of America in a Federal Tort Claims Act case. Following a bench trial involving a collision between a United States Postal Service truck and a motor vehicle operated by Michael Le, which rendered Mr. Le a quadriplegic, Judge O’Connor awarded Plaintiffs over $26 million in damages, including damages for past and future physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and loss of consortium. The Government sought to dramatically reduce the judgment by invoking the Fifth Circuit’s “Maximum Recovery Rule.” Judge O’Connor agreed with Plaintiffs, however, that the Maximum Recovery Rule either was inoperative, or that the Court’s award was a reasonable departure from the rule, given the unique nature of Mr. Le’s injuries. Denying the Government’s motion in its entirety, Judge O’Connor repeatedly rejected the Government’s efforts to “dress up” other cases as factually similar and its attempts to “retry or minimize” the damages. You can read the Memorandum Opinion and Order here and a Law360 article about the case here.
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.
