Business Litigation
We have many years of experience in pursuing and defending professionals and organizations in general business disputes. Business fraud can arise out of a misrepresentation of facts in the valuation of a business, a breach of a fiduciary duty by a shareholder or partner, or a conflict of interest. Business fraud involves fraudulent practices in business contracts, contracts involving the sale of a business, transactions between companies, theft, embezzlement, or the conversion of assets by an employee, officer, or board member. Sometimes the disagreement can be remedied through a series of phone calls and a few letters, other times, a party must vigorously pursue recovery through the litigation process. We have encountered numerous situations that cover the entire spectrum of disputes. We have represented oppressed minority shareholders, defended management, unraveled complex transactions, and pursued recovery for defrauded investors.

Business litigation may also arise when a partner or member of a corporation breaches a duty of loyalty and competes with the corporation, uses a corporate business opportunity for their own personal gain, or misappropriates the corporation's trade secrets. If you believe that a partner or member of your business organization has defrauded your business through improper or unauthorized competition with business opportunities or by misappropriating business opportunities for their own personal gain, we can assist you in prosecuting a claim against the proper parties and help you recover your lost business funds, assets, profits, and property. We are experienced in handling complex business fraud cases and filing civil lawsuits to recover losses suffered.

We are equipped to handle claims ranging from a claim involving an injunction/ restraining order to a failed business transaction with multiple parties, institutions, and professionals.

Real Estate and Mortgage Fraud
Residential real estate transactions can start out as a simple transaction between a buyer and a seller, or can involve numerous parties including: real estate agents, loan officers, mortgage brokers, mortgage bankers, banks, escrow officers, title companies, appraisers, mortgage insurance companies, securitizers, secondary market investors, and more! These transactions can use simplified uniform forms or be heavily negotiated. With recent changes in the economy, many parties to real estate transactions are reevaluating closed deals and finding problems ranging from accidental errors to purposeful fraud. These past errors and fraudulent actions often lead to present losses and the need for an attorney to help recover damages.

Tom Kapioltas has a very unique background with real estate transactions. He has overseen the regulatory compliance, structure, and disclosure requirements for hundreds of real estate transactions. He has also counseled industry clients on requirements to ensure a loan can be sold on the secondary market. This unique experience and knowledge provides the basis for developing strategic and efficient litigation strategies when conflicts develop between any of the parties in a real estate transaction.

ERISA Litigation
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) is a federal law that generally applies to all employee benefit plans established by an employer. Employee benefit plans include health coverage, long term disability benefits, severance agreements, profit sharing plans, 401(k) plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOP), and defined benefit plans. An example of some of our recent cases include, a failed business transaction involving the sale of company stock to an ESOP, fraudulently inducing a business to adopt an ERISA plan, and an employee who was wrongfully denied his long term disability.

Mike Forni has a very unique background with employee benefit plans. For several years, Mike Forni assisted companies ERISA litigation practice, he focused almost exclusively on assisting clients to design, adopt, administer, merger, amend, and terminate employee benefit plans. This unique experience has provided our firm with the tools to tackle and defend the most sophisticated ERISA claims.

Insurance Coverage
Our firm's insurance coverage practice complements our ERISA litigation practice. ERISA governs employee benefit plans (group plans) that are offered though the "employee-employer" relationship. These benefits are offered under a group policy, where the employer determines the term of coverage. However, "group" insurance policies can also be offered through associations or unrelated parties. Under some of the relationships, the group policies are governed by state law and not ERISA we have handled both types of cases, including coverage offered under an individual policy.

Oil and Gas
Texas has a robust oil and gas industry and our practice has grown with the states growing demands. As the price of gas increases, there is an economic incentive to develop new oil and gas wells. These wells can challenge existing city zoning and ordinance laws, or producers can explore in unproven lands and go after a "wildcat" well.

Our firm has counseled clients in a variety of matters. We have helped parties negotiate oil and gas leases, litigate disputes between the mineral estate and the surface estate owners, and assisted publicly traded companies with esoteric legal issues and transaction due diligence.

Securities
There are several laws that govern the purchase and sale of securities. The determination of whether a financial instrument (stock, bond, promisory note, investment contract, etc.) is a "security" may be a critical legal point in a disputed transaction. For example, the sale of a partnership interest in a start-up company may be considered a security. This determination will have a direct impact on the controlling laws governing the transaction and the remedy/defenses the parties may rely on to pursue/defend the claims. There claims are usually coupled with fraud or the promoting company did not properly disclose investment risk.

We have handled very unique cases involving securities in the brokerage industry, transactions in the commodities, and start-up companies that have failed.

Personal Injury
Our firm handles very selective personal injury claims.  We represent individuals and estates in wrongful death cases, sexual assault and work-injury claims (employer not subscribed to Texas worker’s compensation).  In most situations, our clients have sustained both catastrophic injuries and permanent disabilities.  These situations are traumatizing to both the victims and the immediate family. We serve as both counselors and attorneys in these situations and maintain the upmost confidence and professionalism.  We often assist in health care treatment, counseling and disability assistance to the victims and their families.  

Appeals
Our appellate practice has been driven from our tenacious attitude toward litigation. In every engagement that we accept, we have the capacity and confidence to present your case before the Supreme Court of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. We have also advised other attorneys with their cases, our firm's expertise could be applied to the legal issues at hand.