Latest News
DP&S welcomes Phil Kovnat to its Santa Fe office!
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.
Caren Friedman & Justin Kaufman help protect $11M verdict on appeal!
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 nursing home wrongful death case. In a published opinion, the Court of Appeals rejected the defendants’ bid to overturn the verdict and procure a new trial and, on cross-appeal, reinstated a jury finding that the various defendant-entities operated as a joint venture, making them all responsible for the nursing home’s conduct. DP&S partners Justin Kaufman and Caren Friedman assisted with the appellate strategy and briefing.
Kirk Pittard is a “Best Lawyer” again for 2023!
DP&S is proud to announce that Kirk Pittard is, once again, one of the Best Lawyers in America, in the Appellate Practice category.
Back-to-Back Wins in the Texas Supreme Court!
On May 6, 2022, Dana Levy 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. The following week, Kirk Pittard successfully reversed a court of appeals’ opinion dismissing an appeal on jurisdiction grounds.
Kirk Pittard featured in Docket Call!
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.
Kirk Pittard is a “Best Lawyer” once again according to D Magazine!
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.
Thad Spalding wins civil rights appeal in the Fifth Circuit!
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 and driving away–was justified based on his belief that the vehicle was an immediate threat to his partner, Officer Gross. Officer Gross, however, testified that the vehicle was not a threat to him and the officers’ body cam video shows the vehicle passing and driving away from the officers at the time Oliver opened fire into the vehicle. The district court denied Oliver’s motion for summary judgment and Oliver appealed that ruling. The Fifth Circuit rejected Oliver’s appeal, allowing the claims against Oliver to proceed to trial.
Congratulations to our 2022 New Mexico “Super Lawyers”!
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.
Kirk Pittard helps win $1,265,000 jury verdict in Johnson County!
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 named to “Best Lawyers” 2022 “Best Law Firms” List!
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 practice and breadth of legal expertise. Ranked firms, presented in three tiers, are recognized on a national and regional-based scale. Firms that received a tier designation reflect the highest level of respect a firm can earn among other leading lawyers and clients from the same communities and practice areas.”
Caren Friedman wins in the New Mexico Court of Appeals!
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 conduct a hearing on her objections to a domestic relations hearing officer’s recommendations. In a formal published Opinion, the Court of Appeals stated that “Mother’s interpretation [of the rule] is the most plausible expression of the drafter’s intent, and we adopt it here.”
Roz Bienvenu begins term as President of the New Mexico State Bar Appellate Section!
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 practitioner, and we wish her well!
Dana Levy defends responsible third party ruling in the Texas Supreme Court!
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 the former minority-interest owner and contract-operator. You can watch Dana’s argument here.
Congratulations to our 2021 Texas “Super Lawyers”!
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 speaks about being the appellate counsel on the trial team!
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.
Roz Bienvenu wins jurisdictional challenge in the San Antonio Court of Appeals!
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, was killed when the Cirrus aircraft he was piloting crashed in Bexar County. Cirrus argued that it should not be subject to suit in Texas because the plaintiff’s claims did not arise from or relate to any purposeful activity it conducted in Texas.
Kirk Pittard and Rick Thompson are Best Lawyers for 2022!
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 promotes Roz Bienvenu to partner!
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 appreciative of all of Roz’s hard work and dedication to our clients, and we look forward to her continued success in her new role.
DP&S welcomes its newest attorney, Shelby White!
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 appellate and litigation section of Harris, Finley & Bogle, PC in Fort Worth where she worked on commercial cases at the state and federal level in Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, and briefed appeals to the Texas Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and numerous intermediate appellate courts. Shelby is a graduate of Baylor undergraduate and law schools, a past board member of the Tarrant County Young Lawyers Association, a past president of the Tarrant County Bar Association’s Appellate Section, where she still serves on the section committee, and a top attorney according to Fort Worth Magazine since 2015. Shelby will be an excellent addition to our team.
DP&S attorneys involved in case that recently settled for $19 Million
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.