Eighteen Munsch Hardt Attorneys Named Super Lawyers
Munsch Hardt, a law firm with over 100 attorneys and offices in Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas, announced that 18 attorneys were designated Texas "Super Lawyers," which will be published in the October 2009 Texas Monthly by Key Professional Media, Inc. Frederick W. Addison, III, Nancy J. Bush, William (Chip) T. Cavanaugh, Jr., Mark D. Downey, Ben B. Floyd, Stewart Hoffer, James D. Jordan, Robert R. Kibby, Carl Klinke, Mary W. Koks, Richard O. Kopf, David C. Mattka, E. Lee Morris, Russell L. Munsch, D. Ronald Reneker, Randall A. Rios, Patty Tomasco and Joseph J. Wielebinski were among those recognized, which spans a wide variety of practice groups.
Published since 1991, "Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement," said Key Professional Media, Inc. Polling, research and selection are performed by Law & Politics, a publication of Key Professional Media, Inc.
Frederick W. Addison, III
Rick has over 30 years of experience in environmental and commercial counseling and litigation as well as other government regulatory matters including:
- Representation of corporations, individuals and organizations involved in litigation and administrative proceedings including the Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Endangered Species Act (ESA) and comparable state laws.
- Representation of clients in complex litigation and disputes including antitrust and securities and product liability litigation, Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), loans and other commercial contract claims, enforcement of covenants not to complete, and business and personal torts.
Nancy J. Bush
Nancy handles a broad range of general commercial litigation issues with an emphasis on employment law. Nancy focuses on discrimination and retaliation cases, whistleblower and workers' compensation retaliation claims, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) related litigation and non-compete litigation. She also analyzes employment issues in connection with corporate acquisitions and transactions and drafts employment non-competition and severance agreements. She frequently counsels clients on lawsuit avoidance in an employment context and represents a broad range of commercial and real estate clients in general contract litigation and arbitration.
William (Chip) T. Cavanaugh, Jr.
Chip is the Section Head of the firm’s Real Estate group, which consists of over 25 attorneys in Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas. His practice focuses on real estate, hospitality and health care companies with respect to a variety of real estate, corporate/securities and general business matters. In his career, Chip has represented investors, developers, private equity funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT's), management companies, lenders and corporations in the acquisition, financing, development, leasing, management and sale of office, retail, multifamily, industrial, hospitality, health care, seniors' housing and residential properties. Chip has particular experience in the formation of partnerships, joint ventures and funds for the investment of capital in real estate opportunities.
Mark D. Downey
Mark focuses his practice on Employment & Labor and has defended management for several Fortune 100 companies and smaller public or privately held corporations. He advises and trains clients on state and federal employment issues consisting of employee benefits, discrimination, and wage and hour matters. Mark's experience has included appearances before state and federal agencies and regulatory boards, litigation in both state and federal courts, defense of class actions and appearances before courts of appeal. Some of these employment related matters include age, race, national origin, disability and sex discrimination charges, sexual harassment claims, wrongful termination suits, defamation actions, family leave issues, employee benefits, health and safety matters, and wage and hour disputes. Mark is a frequent speaker and author on employment and labor related issues and assisted in the development of the employment law pattern jury instructions for use in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Ben B. Floyd
Ben is a member of the firm’s Management Committee and has served two terms as a member of the firm’s Compensation Committee. Ben has practiced law for over 30 years and has represented creditors, creditors’ committees, indenture trustees, trustees and foreign representatives as well as individual, partnership and corporate debtors. He has served as receiver, trustee and examiner in liquidation and reorganization cases under both the Bankruptcy Act and the Bankruptcy Code. He has appeared in cases throughout the United States and its territories and has an active international practice in cross-border insolvency matters.
Stewart Hoffer
Stewart is a commercial litigator and employment lawyer. He has appeared as counsel for numerous publicly traded and privately held companies in many different industries in courts not only in his home state of Texas, but also in Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska and New York. Some of Stewart’s recent accomplishments include:
- After successfully securing a preliminary injunction against a client's former employee who had posted the client's trade secrets on various Internet blog sites and convincing the Internet sites to voluntarily remove the offensive postings, Stewart secured a $6.5 million judgment in January 2009 against the former employee.
- After a two day evidentiary hearing in December 2008, Stewart and his co-counsel obtained a directed verdict in which the plaintiff, alleging a corporate raiding of employees and theft of trade secrets, sought a temporary injunction to severely curtail or eliminate the clients’ rights to perform services for their existing and potential clients.
- In August 2008, Stewart convinced a Harris County District Court Judge to deny a temporary injunction in a trade secrets case that, if entered, would have effectively shut down the client's nationwide construction operation pending trial, causing the client to lose millions of dollars in revenue.
- In October 2006, Stewart served as lead trial counsel in New Mexico for a successful mass tort lawyer accused of legal malpractice and obtained a complete defense verdict for the client.
James D. Jordan
Jim served as Munsch Hardt's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1998 to 2005. He is currently a member of the Compensation Committee. The Dallas Business Journal has named Jim one of the six most influential leaders in the Dallas/Fort Worth legal community and one of the top 15 business defense attorneys in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Key Professional Media, Inc. has named him a Texas Super Lawyer and his peers have selected him for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, trade secrets, trademarks and covenants not to compete. In addition to his litigation docket, Jim regularly provides experienced counsel to companies seeking practical business solutions to difficult legal problems.
Robert R. Kibby
Rob has over 20 years of experience counseling publicly and privately held companies in a wide spectrum of corporate and securities transactions. He has advised clients in merger and acquisition transactions ranging in value from $5 million to over $1 billion. Rob has also handled dozens of venture capital, financing and recapitalization transactions that have generated substantial proceeds for clients and enabled them to realize their goals for growing their businesses. Other clients have sought Rob’s expertise and advice in connection with their initial public offerings and other securities offerings as well as on corporate governance matters.
Carl Klinke
Carl's practice focuses on real estate, timber, finance and commercial transactions, including telecommunications services and access agreements for multifamily and commercial clients. He primarily represents commercial real estate developers, investors and owners in connection with acquisition, development, financing, operation and sale of multifamily, office, industrial and retail projects of all sizes. He served as lead General Counsel for a large multiple dwelling unit (MDU) developer in negotiating a $650+ million equity/partnership deal with a large institutional investor and represented the developer in numerous restructures of that arrangement. He works with developers in negotiating private/municipal participations, like tax abatement agreements, special use districts and tax increment finance districts.
Mary W. Koks
Mary has more than 26 years of experience in a practice focusing on environmental compliance and litigation. Her experience includes:
- Representation of potentially responsible parties in environmental lawsuits including bankruptcy matters, toxic tort and property claims, and petitions brought under various environmental acts.
- Representation of clients in administrative and civil enforcement cases before the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH).
- Assisting and advising clients on environmental aspects in real estate related transactions as well as interpretation of federal and state environmental regulations, supervision of environmental compliance audits and the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) plans.
Richard O. Kopf
Rick was one of the firm's founding partners, is currently the firm's Vice Chairman and has served in virtually every position of responsibility within the firm including Managing Partner, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for over 12 years and as a member of our Compensation Committee for over 15 years. Rick's representation of entrepreneurial real estate investors includes acquisition, development, construction, financing, leasing and sale transactions of all types of income and non-income producing real property. That representation has a strong emphasis on the lodging and resort industries, comprising the acquisition and development of mixed-use projects, hotels, condominiums and golf course properties. He has had extensive experience in the structuring of transactions and the preparation, review and negotiation of contracts, management and operating agreements, partnership agreements, leases and conveyancing and financing documentation. The diversity of Rick's practice gives him the ability to see all sides of a transaction and to anticipate and deal with potential issues and problems that may be raised by opposing counsel.
David C. Mattka
David's practice covers all aspects of complex business litigation, with a particular emphasis in business tort, contract, director and officer liability, shareholder derivative actions and securities fraud litigation involving investment transactions including corporate mergers and acquisitions, commercial mortgage backed securitizations, collateralized loan obligations, private equity and hedge funds, venture capital syndications, partnerships, limited liability companies and joint ventures. David also represents corporate boards, directors and officers, audit committees, special litigation committees and other board committees in internal investigations addressing liability, disclosure, remediation and compliance issues in connection with actual or potential litigation claims.
E. Lee Morris
Lee has a broad range of bankruptcy expertise, having been in practice for 14 years and represented clients in all phases of reorganization and liquidation including debtors, committees, trustees, lenders, insurers, receivers, major creditors and directors and officers in a number of industries and commercial sectors including real estate, oil and gas, food service, retail, telecommunications, health care and financial planning. Lee also has a strong litigation background, having served as lead counsel in a number of complex commercial disputes and appeals involving avoidance action claims and claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and breach of contract.
Russell L. Munsch
Russ is one of the firm’s founding partners and serves as Section Head of the Insolvency, Restructuring & Creditors' Rights group, which consists of over 20 attorneys in Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas. He has also served as the firm’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. His experience relates to all phases of creditor rights, insolvency, bankruptcy and commercial law. His primary emphasis during the last several years has been in the representation of major creditors, bank groups and financial institutions in large loan workouts, restructure and bankruptcies. Russ represents trustees and creditors committees in cases throughout the country and has also served as trustee and examiner in cases in Texas.
D. Ronald Reneker
During his 37 year career, the primary emphasis of Ron's practice has been business litigation on both sides of the docket. He also handles insurance coverage matters on behalf of both carriers and policyholders, and has often represented lawyers and law firms in matters relating to professional liability and law firm withdrawals and dissolutions. Ron has tried numerous jury and non-jury cases, handled many appeals and served as counsel in arbitrations. In addition, Ron serves as an expert witness in the areas of professional responsibility and attorneys' fees, is an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs. He is also a lecturer in law at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Randall A. Rios
Randall has represented debtors, creditors, creditors' committees, landlords, investors and asset purchasers as well as trustees in numerous reorganization and liquidation bankruptcy cases. He has also represented the legal representative for future claimants and numerous asbestos claimants in certain mass tort bankruptcy cases. Throughout his career, Randall has been involved in reorganization proceedings involving businesses in a wide variety of industries including oil and gas, chemical, retail, health care, finance and manufacturing. He has also prosecuted and defended bankruptcy litigation and various types of bankruptcy related commercial litigation matters including appeals.
Patty Tomasco
Patty's practice consists of corporate reorganization and bankruptcy, where she specializes in workouts, reorganizations, distressed acquisitions, and debtor and creditor representation in Chapter 7 and 11 cases.
Joseph J. Wielebinski
Joe's practice focus is on bankruptcy, creditors' rights and financial restructuring for almost 25 years and is active throughout the United States in a variety of complex restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy cases.
Munsch Hardt, a commercial law firm, provides the highest quality legal services and strategic business advice to companies and individuals of all sizes. Whether you’re a big business or a growing company seeking cost-effective results — Munsch Hardt is the Right Firm. Right Now.® Our practice groups include all aspects of Business Litigation; Corporate & Securities; Energy & Environmental; Finance; Insolvency, Restructuring & Creditors’ Rights; Intellectual Property; Real Estate and Tax. Munsch Hardt is a multispecialty firm where experienced practitioners work together as a team across disciplinary lines to solve legal problems. For more information, visit munsch.com.
