McFarland PLLC announces that Billy Coe Dyer has joined the firm’s Houston office as a partner. Dyer brings over 30 years of experience in condemnation and eminent domain matters to the Texas condemnation boutique.
“We’re pinching ourselves,” said Charles McFarland, managing partner of McFarland PLLC. “Billy is, among other things, a powerhouse trial lawyer, and there isn’t another lawyer practicing in the State of Texas—myself included—that can match his achievements for landowners against the government in condemnation cases. There is no question that Billy makes us better, and we are really looking forward to what he brings to the table for our landowner clients.”
It is a reunion of sorts for Dyer and McFarland, who practiced together for over 14 years with Dixon Montague in V&E’s Condemnation Practice Group before McFarland left the group to form a firm exclusively focusing on this area of the law. Like McFarland, Dyer’s career has focused on the representation of property owners against the government and other public-use entities.
Widely recognized as an authority in the condemnation and eminent domain arenas, Dyer’s lengthy list of notable victories includes the largest jury verdict for a property owner in a condemnation case in Texas and representation of the landowner in Interstate Northborough, the Texas Supreme Court case establishing a property owner’s right to recover proximity damages from an interstate highway project, which has been cited more than 300 times since the ruling. Dyer routinely ranks as a top legal expert on industry lists produced by The Best Lawyers in America©, Super Lawyers, and Chambers USA. Most recently, he was recognized by Best Lawyers in America© as the 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” for Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law in Houston. Dyer previously achieved this recognition in 2017.
Dyer is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and, like McFarland, achieved this certification by trying condemnation cases. Dyer is admitted to practice in all Texas courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Southern Districts of Texas. He earned his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Trinity University.
With offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, McFarland PLLC focuses exclusively on eminent domain and condemnation litigation on behalf of landowners, guiding their clients through the appraisal, special commissioners’ hearings, negotiation and, if necessary, litigation phases of a taking. The firm helps owners of retail, commercial, industrial, and special-use properties maximize their recoveries when the government takes private property for public use, including highway, roadway, and other public infrastructure projects.