Your Property, Our Focus
Education
- The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas
- J.D. - 1995
- Honors: Order of the Coif
- Honors: With Honors
- University of Texas, Austin, Texas
- B.A. - 1991
- Honors: With Honors
Bar Admission
- Texas, 1995
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
Published Works
- Protecting Private Property Rights After the Public Use Ship Has Sailed, Litigation Magazine, American Bar Association, Fall, 2007
- The TXDOT Funding Crisis, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, January, 2008
- Ten Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Condemnation Attorney, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, December, 2007
- TXDOT's Draft Schematic Drawings Now Available Online, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, August, 2007
- The Public Hearing on TXDOT's Draft Environmental Impact Statement, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, July, 2007
- Property Owners Contacted for Surveying, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, June, 2007
- U.S. 290 Corridor Project Pushed Back Again, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, December, 2006
- Design Schematic for U.S. 290 Corridor Project Over 80 Percent Complete, V&E Condemnation and Land Use E-Lert, May, 2006
- Picking Fights: Inverse Condemnation, Regulatory Takings, and Challenging the Right to Take, CLE International Eminent Domain Super Conference, Austin, Texas, 2020
- A River Runs Through It—Water Rights and Takings, ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, Nashville, Tennessee, 2020
- Texas Land Laws for Engineers and Surveyors (Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law), HalfMoon Education, Online Webinar, 2019
- Run for the Border: Fence and Wall Condemnations, ALI-CLE Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation, Palm Springs, California, 2019
- The Larger Parcel and Just Compensation, CLE International Eminent Domain Super Conference, Austin, Texas, February 2012
- The Exclusion of Experts in a Condemnation Case, CLE International Eminent Domain Super Conference, Austin, Texas, February 2010
- Representing the Property Owner, CLE International Eminent Domain Super Conference, Austin, Texas, January 2009
- Lessons (To Be) Learned from PR Investments and FKM Partnership, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Austin, Texas, February 2008
- Protecting Private Property Rights After the Public Use Ship Has Sailed, Litigation Magazine, American Bar Association, Fall 2007
- Listening and Matching, the Keys to Witness Examination, Proof Newsletter of the Section of Litigation’s Trial Evidence Committee, American Bar Association, Fall 2007
- Hot Topics: The Project Influence Rule, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Austin, Texas, March 2007
- Trial Tactics, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Austin, Texas, March 2006
- Errors And Omissions In A Condemnation Case: Legal Malpractice Issues For Condemning Authority And Property Owner Representations, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Houston, Texas, October 2004
Representative Cases
- City of Houston v. Commons at Lake Houston, Ltd., 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 9083, 2019 WL 5158725 (Tex. App.—Houston (14th Dist.) Oct. 15, 2019)
- Farabi, Inc. v. Harris County, 2014 WL 3698451 (Tex. App.—Houston (14th Dist.) 2014, pet. denied)
- City of Corpus Christi v. Scorpio Development, LLC, 2014 WL 1007880 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg2014, no pet.)
- PR Investments and Specialty Retailers, Inc. v. State, 251 S.W.3d 472 (Tex. 2008)
- Eye Plus Vision, Inc. v. CBH Tract III, L.P., 2007 WL 3293732 (Tex. App.—Houston (1st Dist.) 2007)
- State v. Beeson, 232 S.W.3d 265 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2007)
- Motiva Enterprises, LLC v. McCrabb, 248 S.W.3d 211 (Tex. App.—Houston (1st Dist.) 2007, pet. denied)
- State v. Target Corp., 194 S.W.3d 46 (Tex. App.—Waco 2006, pet. denied)
- Harris County v. Inter Nos, Ltd., 199 S.W.3d 363 (Tex. App.—Houston (1st Dist.) 2006)
- CenterPoint Energy Houston Elec., L.L.P. v. Old TJC Co., 177 S.W.3d 425 (Tex. App.--Houston (1st Dist.) 2005)
- City of Houston v. Van De Mark, 83 S.W.3d 864 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2002)
- State v. Northborough Center, Inc., 987 S.W.2d 187 (Tex. App.—Houston (14th Dist.) 1999)
Pro-Bono Activities
- Houston Bar Foundation
- Member, The Counselors of Real Estate
- Past President, Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists
Honors
- Keeton Fellow, University of Texas School of Law
- Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Houston Bar Foundation
- Best Lawyers in America, Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law, 2011-2020 (2020 Lawyer of the Year)
- Texas Super Lawyers, Eminent Domain, Thomson Reuters, published in Texas Monthly, 2012-2020
- AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell
Classes & Seminars
- Hot Topics: The Project Influence Rule, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Austin, Texas, 2007
- Trial Tactics, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Austin, Texas, 2006
- Errors And Omissions In A Condemnation Case: Legal Malpractice Issues For Condemning Authority And Property Owner Representations, CLE International Eminent Domain Conference, Houston, Texas, 2004
- Proximity Damages - From Carpenter to Schmidt and Back Again: The Interstate Northborough Case, International Right of Way Association's Eminent Domain Seminar, 2002
- The Separate Economic Unit: Smaller or Larger than the Whole?, International Right of Way Association's Eminent Domain Conference, 2000
Past Positions
- Vinson & Elkins LLP
Fraternities or Sororities
- Kappa Sigma
Professional Associations
- State Bar of Texas, Member
- American Bar Association, Member
- Houston Bar Association, Member
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Member
- American Bar Association, Past Chair, Damages Subcommittee of the Condemnation, Zoning and Land Use Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation