We go the extra mile to humanize our clients, which helps us help them more.
I want to know who they really are, or who their loved ones were. I want to see their fly-fishing pictures on the wall, to smell their flowers in the garden, to hear their children playing upstairs. I want to talk to their neighbors, their friends, their football coach.
The courtroom can be a cold place, full of strangers. But if I know my client – really know them – I can paint the picture that brings my client justice.
And I don’t settle for quarter justice or half justice.
I want to see that a young mother t-boned by a commercial truck has enough money to cover her mental health care.
I want to see that the rehab center where a young man with a lifelong brain injury died trimming trees changes their supervision practices for good.
I want to see that a boy who fell from an apartment’s faulty second story window will always have a home, and the medical equipment and care he needs to live the fullest life he can.
There are so many sweet glorious victories that allow me to put my head on my pillow at night — justices that let me know I’m on the right path.
But my career was not always a righteous one.
Before opening my own firm, I worked as a defense attorney for manufacturers.
My job was to make sure these companies paid as little as possible in the catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases that came our way.
I remember going down the elevator from that ivory tower for the last time, knowing I would never be back, and with only one case lined up for my new business.
I was scared, sure, but I knew I was doing the right thing.
I knew I wanted to bring about positive change and prevent injury and harm — not keep the same system in place that allowed it to happen.
That’s why I bend over backwards to make sure my firm does whatever we need to go the extra mile for our clients.
Yes, it can be emotionally tiring. And leaving work at work is challenging.
Growing up poor as church mice, I remember my daddy and his daddy before him working on the ranch. It became my dream to do the same.
And I realized that dream.
So when I’m not practicing law, you will find me at the ranch, feeding animals, repairing fences or working on the tractor.
It’s my therapy, spending time out on the ranch with my wife, Ginger, and our children, Jackson and Jordan.
The secret to my sauce is thinking outside the box.
When someone has been hurt or killed by the negligence of others or by a defective product, experience matters. Having the necessary resources to go toe-to-toe with large corporations and their insurance company, matters.
And I get giddy thinking about the good we can do for our clients, and the harm we can prevent from happening to other people down the road.
I’m in the business of holding people accountable so that we can have a world where we don’t see this type of negligence happen any more.
But until that happens, I have the honor of working with some of the kindest people in the world, getting them the justice they deserve.
And that’s mighty amazing.
Accolades and Recognition:
• National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Medal of Honor recipient
• Star Volunteer Award for services as a Law Enforcement Appreciation Team
• Member for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) – Central Texas Advisory Board (2007-present)
Community Engagement:
• Former chairman of the Board/Advisory Board Member for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Central Texas (2007-present)
• Former Chairman of the Board for Crime Victims First
• Director, Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and South Texas
Professional associations and memberships:
• Multi Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• American Association for Justice
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association Director
• State Bar of Texas Association
• Austin Bar Association