NEWS

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard who was sworn in today to the New Mexico Bar Association!  He joins Leighton Durham and Morgan McPheeters as members of the New Mexico bar.

KD&P is pleased to welcome Michael Kawalek as its newest associate.  Formerly an associate with Bell, Nunnely, & Martin LLP, and Bickel & Brewer before that, Michael is a 2010 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law and brings some significant complex litigation experience to the firm.

Congratulations to David Lopez and Leslie Hyman, of Pulman, Cappucio, Pullen, Benson & Jones, LLP, who, along with the help of Peter Kelly, successfully defended their judgment before Houston’s First Court of Appeals.  The appeal involved the validity of an abstract of judgment filed under a Hispanic judgment debtor’s maternal surname.  David, Leslie, and Peter successfully convinced the court of appeals that the abstract was sufficient to give notice of the judgment to the public.  You can read the opinion here.

Congratulations to KD&P partners Peter Kelly, Kirk Pittard, Leighton Durham, and Thad Spalding who were once again named “Super Lawyers” in the Appellate category by Super Lawyers Magazine, a Thomson Reuters publication.  Peter Kelly was even more super, being named to the Houston region’s list of Top 100 lawyers overall for the second year in a row.

KD&P is proud to sponsor a new writing competition at Baylor Law School, “The Ultimate Writer Competition,” through its Legal Writing Center.  Top prize, in addition to cash, is a clerkship opportunity with our firm.

Congratulations to KD&P partner Thad Spalding and associate Christy Wollin for their win Friday in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals.  The case arose out of the faulty installation of the HVAC unit in the Young family’s new house which resulted in severe mold damage to the home and personal injury to the family.  After the trial court dismissed the parents’ claims for failing to disclose them in bankruptcy, and then sanctioned the young-adult children for even filing their claims, Thad and Christy were able to convince the Fort Worth Court of Appeals to reverse the judgment, allow the parents’ claims to proceed to trial, and set aside the sanctions award against the kids.  You can read the opinion here.

Congratulations to KD&P’s Thad Spalding, and trial counsel—Marty Rose and Bryan Rose of Rose Walker—for successfully defending a common law trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition jury verdict on behalf of their client, Premier Pools—a North Texas, family-owned pool builder who had been in business for almost 30 years before an out-of-state licensor started to unfairly compete in the North Texas market using a nearly identical name.  After Marty and Bryan convinced a Dallas jury that the licensor’s and Texas licensee’s conduct constituted trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition, Premier Pools was awarded lost profits, disgorged profits, and permanent injunctive relief.  The licensor and Texas licensee appealed and, on August 12, 2016, the Dallas Court of Appeals affirmed all of the jury’s findings and the bulk of the trial court’s judgment.  You can read the Dallas court’s opinion here.

Congratulations to Peter Kelly who, on July 26, 2016, successfully upheld a commercial verdict in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals.  The case–a commercial fraud-by-nondisclosure case involving the development and operation a fried chicken franchise–involved a duty to disclose on the part of the defendants that arose when the defendants only partially disclosed the ownership of the real property on which the store as built.  Peter successfully convinced the Court of Appeals to uphold nearly $600,000 in damages, including $100,000 in exemplary damages.  You can read the opinion here.

Congratulations to Dava Greenberg-Spindler and Kirk Pittard who won a family law case yesterday in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals.  Dava and Kirk represented the parents of a child.  The child’s grandparents filed a suit affecting the parent-child relationship (SAPCR) seeking managing conservatorship over the child.  Dava and Kirk successfully convinced the court of appeals that the grandparents did not have standing to file the SAPCR because they did not have actual care and control over the child for the statutory required six months.  Therefore, the child gets to stay with her mother and father.  You can read the opinion here.

Congratulations to KD&P associate, Morgan McPheeters, who successfully convinced Houston’s First District Court of Appeals to affirm the trial court’s ruling, allowing her client’s personal injury claims against the City of Houston to proceed.  After a police dog attacked and injured his minor son, Jesus Roman filed suit against the City of Houston, alleging that the Houston police officers charged with handling the dog were negligent. The City, however, claimed it was immune from suit under the Texas Tort Claims Act because the officers’ conduct was actually an intentional tort for which cities are immune from suit.  The court of appeals rejected the City’s argument, holding that the injuries caused by the police dog were claims arising out of the City’s negligent use of tangible personal property—claims for which the Act allows the City to be sued.  You can read the court of appeals’ opinion here.