Our office enjoys handling a wide variety of legal matters including:
- Commercial / Business litigation (including breach of contract).
- Mediation services.
- Complex multi-party litigation.
- Business and Real Estate Disputes.
- Construction litigation.
- Landlord / Tenant disputes.
- Business torts including fraud and misrepresentation.
- Personal Injury Litigation.
- Appellate brief writing and appellate argument.
- Alternative Dispute Resolution.
- Medical Malpractice (prosecution and defense).
- Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims.
- Negligence.
- Breach of fiduciary duty.
- Administrative Law (including representing health care professionals before boards and the State Office of Administrative Hearings “SOAH”).
- Criminal law defense (federal court).
- Ad valorem (property) tax disputes.
- Insurance / Disability disputes and litigation.
- Real estate title examination and related issues.
- Real estate contracts and leases.
- Foreclosures.
- Will preparation.
- Creditor's rights.
Apartment not liable for shooting of guest
Plaintiff Amanda Ham was an overnight guest in an apartment unit. An unknown intruder kicked in a patio door to the unit and Ham fled but was shot in the chest. Ham sued the apartment complex alleging in part that the apartment’s failure to (i) secure the premises; (ii) replace burned out light bulbs; (iii) repair holes in the fence and (iv) repair an inoperable gate had caused her injuries by allowing an assailant to gain entry into the apartment complex. In discussing this case, the June 1, 2010 opinion of the Dallas Court of Appeals in Ham v. Equity Residential Property Management noted that while Ms. Ham had produced evidence that the criminal act was foreseeable by the apartment complex, Ms. Ham had failed to produce evidence that the shooting could have been prevented if the apartment complex had done the things she said the apartment complex should have done. In ruling for the apartment complex the court said in part, where a defendant’s negligence merely furnishes a condition which makes the injury possible, then the plaintiff cannot establish the causation and cannot prevail on her personal injury claim.