Hartline Barger LLP

06/28/21 | Hartline Barger Speaks at Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership Summit

Partner Melissa Dorman Matthews and Associate Amanda A. Saputo from Hartline Barger’s Dallas office were honored to speak at the Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership Summit. Over the last four years, women, minorities, LGBTQ individuals, and individuals with disabilities represented almost 70% of our attorney hires at Hartline. This has coincided with our tremendous growth with opening three new offices since 2019, and D&I will continue to be key priorities for the firm.

04/08/21 | Hartline Barger Partner Don DeCandia Selected to 2021 Southwest Super Lawyers List

Hartline Barger Partner Don DeCandia has been selected to the 2021 Southwest Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.

Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

For more information about Super Lawyers, visit SuperLawyers.com.

04/02/21 | Hartline Barger Managing Partner Larry Grayson Selected to America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators® for 2021

April 2, 2021 – Hartline Barger is pleased to announce the selection of Larry Grayson among America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators® for 2021. Selection to America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators® is by invitation only and is reserved to identify most exceptional Civil Defense Litigators in throughout the nation.

Candidates are carefully screened through comprehensive Qualitative Comparative Analysis based on a broad array of criteria, including the candidate’s professional experience, litigation experience, significant case results, representative high stakes matters, peer reputation, and community impact in order to rank the candidates throughout the state.

Only the top 100 qualifying defense litigators in each state will receive this honor and be selected for membership among America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators^®. With these extremely high standards for selection to America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators®, less than one-half percent (0.5%) of active attorneys in the United States will receive this honor — truly the most exclusive and elite level of litigators in the community.

Hartline Barger is a Southwest-based law firm founded in 1994, Hartline Barger LLP serves clients throughout the state and across the country, with offices in Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, Waco, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque. The firm is nationally recognized for its work in product liability litigation and a broad spectrum of practice areas—from personal injury defense, commercial litigation and toxic torts to warranty and deceptive trade practice litigation. For more information, visit hartlinebarger.com. ##

04/01/21 | Hartline Barger LLP Begins Q1 with Partner Promotions and New Hires

DALLAS, TX – Hartline Barger LLP closes its first quarter of 2021 with the promotion of attorneys Casey Batchelor, Sarah Jones, and Lisa Massey to partners, and the addition of nine attorneys firm-wide.

The offices of Hartline Barger proudly announced the addition of Casey Batchelor, Sarah Jones, and Lisa Massey to the firm’s partnership earlier in the year.

Casey Batchelor

Sarah Jones

Elizabeth “Lisa” Massey

In addition to partner promotions, Hartline Barger hired nine new attorneys throughout its offices within the first quarter of the year.

Caroline Sileo Lawhorn

Michael Smith

Fanny Turcios

03/23/21 | More Than 10 Hartline Barger Attorneys Selected for the 2021 Texas Rising Stars® List

More than 10 attorneys at Hartline Barger LLP have earned recognition from their peers by being selected for inclusion in the 2021 Texas Rising Stars® list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor.

These annual selections are based on a rigorous, multiphase process, including peer nominations and review, and independent research. Eleven of the firm’s attorneys received this recognition, including partners Roy B. McKay, Stephanie J. Roark, and J. Reid Simpson.

Hartline Barger congratulates its attorneys listed in Texas Rising Stars 2021:

About Hartline Barger

Hartline Barger LLP is a Southwest-based law firm specializing in civil litigation and trials, with offices in Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, Waco, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe. The firm’s attorneys pride themselves on providing uncompromising excellence to their clients in a variety of areas, including products liability, commercial litigation, class action and multidistrict litigation, personal injury defense, premises liability, labor and employment, healthcare, construction, and dealer/franchise litigation. For more information about Hartline Barger, visit hartlinebarger.com

01/29/21 | DRI For The Defense published Amanda A. Saputo and Meghann Reeves’ in-depth article regarding spoliation. The article focuses on strategies for companies facing a product liability claim when the product at issue has not been preserved.

DRI For The Defense published Amanda A. Saputo and Meghann Reeves’ in-depth article regarding spoliation. The article focuses on strategies for companies facing a product liability claim when the product at issue has not been preserved.

Click below to read full article.

01/29/21 | Hartline Barger Wins Summary Judgment in Dallas 18-Wheeler Accident Case

Dallas, Texas; February 1, 2021 — Hartline Barger LLP today announced a victory after attorneys Brian Rawson, Roy McKay, and Stephen Elkind were successful on summary judgment while defending a construction company in an 18-wheeler accident case.

The case arose from a July 2018 auto-accident in Dallas, Texas. The two plaintiffs were driver and passenger in an automobile and allegedly ran over a metal part that fell off an 18-wheeler, causing them injuries. They filed suit against the construction company, arguing that it employed the driver of the 18-wheeler and was negligent in doing so.

Hartline Barger LLP responded with a summary judgment motion, arguing that the plaintiffs had sued the wrong company because the defendant did not employ the driver nor have any other relevant relationship with either the driver or the 18-wheeler.

On November 6, 2020, District Judge Aiesha Redmond in the 160th District Court in Dallas County, Texas granted the summary judgment motion and dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice.

CAUSE/CASE NO: DC-19-12966

Judge: Aiesha Redmond

Contact:

Brian Rawson

Partner

Hartline Barger LLP

214-369-2100

brawson@hartlinebarger.com

01/29/21 | Hartline Barger Wins Summary Judgment for BYOB Establishment

Dallas, Texas; February 1, 2021 — Hartline Barger LLP today announced a victory after attorneys Brian Rawson, Tyler Stuart, and Courtney Kenisky were successful in obtaining a full dismissal for their client in an overservice of alcohol case in Austin, Texas.

This lawsuit arises out of an automobile accident that occurred on June 22, 2018, in Bastrop County, Texas, when a vehicle driven by Brandon Casey Lee Gonzales crossed onto the wrong side of US-290 and struck another vehicle head-on. Plaintiff, age 21, was a passenger in Gonzales’ Ford F-150 at the time of the accident and was trapped in the vehicle when it rolled over and caught fire. Plaintiff sustained third-degree burns on her left arm and left side, a broken foot, and cuts and bruises. Plaintiff received stitches on her chin, thigh, the back of both of her legs, and the bottom of her leg. She had surgery to insert a plate into her left foot. Plaintiff also underwent a skin graft procedure during which half of the skin was taken from her back to cover the areas that were burned on her left side and stomach.

Prior to the subject accident, Gonzales had been a patron at Hartline Barger’s client’s establishment, which was a BYOB club, where he allegedly consumed alcohol that he brought to the club. Plaintiff left the club with Gonzales. The subject accident occurred approximately 25 minutes after Gonzales and Plaintiff left the club together. Blood tests revealed that Gonzales’ blood alcohol content was found to be 0.17 g/dl, a little over two times the legal limit to drive in Texas. Plaintiff, who was represented by plaintiffs’ attorney Thomas J. Henry, sued the club for negligence, negligence per se, and gross negligence. They were seeking over $2 million for her alleged injuries and damages.

Hartline Barger filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Plaintiff’s negligence claim fails because (i) under Texas law there is no duty to control the conduct of a third party, absent the existence of a special relationship or some other unusual fact pattern, not found here, and (ii) in light of the onerous burden to recover against a commercial alcohol provider for alcohol provision under the Texas Dram Shop Act, over and above that required to prove negligence, it would be improper to allow recovery on the less demanding negligence standard against a commercial BYOB enterprise for simply allowing alcohol consumption on its premises. On October 6, 2020, Judge Dustin Howell of the 419^th Judicial District Court in Travis County agreed with Hartline Barger, finding no duty for a BYOB establishment to monitor, regulate, or prevent a patron from overconsuming alcohol on its premises and then driving, and granted full summary judgment, which dismissed Hartline Barger’s client from the case.

CAUSE/CASE NO: D-1-GN-18-003747

Judge: Dustin Howell

Contact:

Brian Rawson

Partner

Hartline Barger LLP

214-369-2100

brawson@hartlinebarger.com

01/29/21 | Hartline Barger Wins Dismissal in Houston Slip and Fall Death Case

Dallas, Texas; February 1, 2021 — Hartline Barger LLP today announced a victory after attorneys Brian Rawson and Roy McKay were successful in getting a Harris County premises liability death case dismissed against the Houston Country Club.

This lawsuit arises from an alleged fall that occurred in the early morning hours of December 12, 2018 at the Houston Country Club. Plaintiff alleges that he was working as part of an overnight cleaning crew at the club when he allegedly fell and hit his head on two pipes that were on the kitchen floor, which resulted in his death later at the hospital. Plaintiff’s wife brought suit individually and as the representative of her husband’s estate against the Houston Country Club under theories of premises liability, negligence, wrongful death, and survival causes of action. She was seeking over $1 million in damages.

Hartline Barger was successful in obtaining a complete dismissal of the Houston Country Club from this case on July 23, 2020, after it had filed a motion for summary judgment.

CAUSE/CASE NO: 2019-24685

Judge: Tanya Garrison

Contact:

Brian Rawson

Partner

Hartline Barger LLP

214-369-2100

brawson@hartlinebarger.com

01/29/21 | Hartline Barger Wins Summary Judgment in Houston Nightclub Shooting Case

Houston, Texas, February 1, 2021 — Hartline Barger LLP today announced a victory after attorneys Brian Rawson, Tyler Stuart, and Roy McKay were successful on a summary judgment while defending a commercial landlord in a premises liability case brought by a man who was shot while visiting the landlord’s property.

The case arose from a July 2018 shooting at a Houston nightclub. The plaintiff was a patron at the club when he was shot in the abdomen by an unknown person. He filed suit against the landlord in October 2018, seeking over $1 million in damages.

Hartline Barger LLP responded with a summary judgment motion, arguing that under Texas law, a landlord is not liable for injuries suffered by invitees of its tenants, and that none of the narrow exceptions to the general no-duty rule, such as injury sustained in an area still under the landlord’s control, applied.

On June 30, 2020, Harris County District Judge Rabeea Collier granted the motion for summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims entirely with prejudice.

CAUSE/CASE NO: 2018-72545

Judge: Rabeea Collier

Contact:

Brian Rawson

Partner

Hartline Barger LLP

214-369-2100

brawson@hartlinebarger.com

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