Results & News

06/29/22 | Hartline Barger Obtains Full Dismissal on Summary Judgement

Dallas, Texas, June 29, 2022 – Hartline Barger LLP announced another victory for the Hartline Barger Navistar team in Nashville, Tennessee! The lawsuit was part of pattern litigation related to Navistar’s MaxxForce engine. In First Express, Plaintiff purchased 40 trucks with the MaxxForce engine alleging various fraud and warranty claims arising out of the purchase and operation. After careful consideration of the facts and the law of Tennessee, the Court threw out the case entirely. Congratulations to Jeff Patterson, Clayton Callen, Luke Spencer, and Jake Ramsey on obtaining full dismissal on summary judgment!

06/17/22 | Hartline Barger Attorney Jim McInerny Secures a Victory for a Workers’ Compensation Carrier

Dallas, Texas, June 17, 2022 – Hartline Barger LLP Jim McInerny secured a victory for a workers’ compensation carrier by successfully defending against a claim for death benefits, alleging that a worker died after he was exposed to COVID-19 at work.  At an administrative hearing, Jim argued there was no evidence work was the only place the worker could have been exposed to COVID-19, and that the claim for benefits was not filed within the one-year limitations period under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.  The administrative judge agreed, and found in favor of the insurance carrier.  Both the carrier and the insured are pleased with the outcome.

05/09/22 | Hartline Barger Partner Jeff Patterson Obtains Unanimous Defense Verdict

Dallas, Texas, May 09, 2022 – Hartline Barger LLP Jeff Patterson obtains unanimous defense verdict. Patterson’s client, Navistar, won a defense verdict from a Dallas County jury on May 2, 2022 after a six-day trial in Judge Maricela Moore’s court. Plaintiff was driving a 26-foot moving van made by Navistar when he drifted off a New Mexico highway, overcorrected, and turned the truck onto its side. Mr. Forge injured his left arm—resulting in an amputation—when it came in contact with the highway. Plaintiff claimed the truck was not crashworthy, failed to keep Plaintiff inside the truck, and failed to provide adequate ejection mitigation features, including laminated glass in the side window. Navistar argued there was no defect in the truck, and that Forge’s employer, Raphael Djine, failed to train him in safe driving, failed to comply with the federal regulations for on-duty time for drivers, and created an itinerary for his route that did not provide for ten hours of rest per day.

Congratulations to Jeff Patterson, Jake Ramsey, Katrina Colwell-Arp and Judy Vice for another successful defense of Navistar.

03/28/22 | Hartline Barger LLP Announces Opening of its New Office in Lubbock, Texas

Dallas, Texas, March 28, 2022 – Hartline Barger LLP announces opening of its new office in Lubbock, Texas. With four Texas locations and two in New Mexico, the firm’s new Lubbock office bridges the neighboring states and provides additional support to clients in West Texas and the Panhandle.

“Our Lubbock office is an important step in continuing the firm’s dedication to serving its client’s needs in West Texas, including Lubbock, Amarillo, Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, and El Paso,” said Managing Partner Richard Crews. He added, “Our firm is not in the business of expanding just to become bigger, it’s about the maintaining the quality of our work. Having a physical presence in Lubbock allows us to be more available and more responsive to our West Texas clients.”

Hartline Barger attorney and Texas Tech alum, Brennon D. Gamblin, is the lead attorney for the firm’s new Lubbock location. He is licensed in Texas and in New Mexico. Gamblin has significant arbitration, trial, and appellate experience representing individuals, corporations, and insurance carriers, in a variety of civil litigation matters. His practice covers product liability, business and commercial, construction, personal injury, employment, and professional liability cases in both state and federal courts. Gamblin is also a trained mediator in the State of Texas and has successfully mediated a number of civil matters to resolution.

03/22/22 | Ten Hartline Barger attorneys selected for inclusion in the 2022 Texas Rising Stars® list.

03/14/22 | Darrell Barger Named the Recipient of the 2022 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation

Darrell Barger has been named the recipient of the 2022 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation. This distinguished award recognizes only one active trial lawyer each year who, in his or her practice, has demonstrated high ethical and moral standards and has demonstrated exceptional professional conduct, thus enhancing the image of the trial lawyer. Established in June 2002, this award celebrates Ronald Secrest’s life as an outstanding trial lawyer who devoted himself to the highest standards of the trial practice.

02/09/22 | Hartline Barger Attorney Andrew L. Petersen Obtains Texas Supreme Court Appellate Victory

February 9, 2022 – Andrew L. Petersen and Hartline Barger Appellate Team obtained a recent appellate victory when the Texas Supreme Court denied Plaintiff’s petition for review of an award of death penalty sanctions based on Plaintiffs’ bad faith Non-Suit during a Summary Judgment hearing.

In the case of Cox v. Vanderburg, 06-20-00078-CV, 2021 WL 4055487 (Tex. App—Texarkana Sept. 7, 2021, pet. denied), Plaintiffs were passengers in a vehicle driven by an independent contractor for Cedar Creek and claimed they were injured when the contractor drove through a red light while part of a police escorted caravan and impacted another vehicle traveling through the intersection with a green light. After almost two years of litigation, Plaintiffs non-suited Cedar Creek right before the depositions of the co-defendant’s corporate representative and the Defendants’ jointly designated Biomechanic expert.  Plaintiffs filed their 10^th and 11^th amended petitions adding Cedar Creek back to the suit after the depositions and the deadline for dispositive motions had passed. Cedar Creek filed motions for summary judgment which were joined by its co-defendant.  During the hearing on the motions for summary judgment, after the Court had granted many of Cedar Creek’s objections to Plaintiffs’ evidence, the Court announced it was likely going to also strike Plaintiffs’ 10^th and 11^th amended petitions.  Plaintiffs’ counsel stood up during Cedar Creek’s argument and non-suited the case without prejudice. Cedar Creek and Co-defendant Premier filed a motion for death-penalty sanctions asking the Court to convert the non-suit to being with prejudice based on opposing counsel’s bad faith actions in addition to requesting lesser sanctions. The Trial Court granted the motion, awarded death penalty sanctions converting the non-suit to with prejudice and ruled Defendants were prevailing parties.  The Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana upheld the Trial Court’s decision finding the non-suit was filed for an improper purpose under Chapter 10 and held that the Texas Supreme Court’s holding in Epps v. Fowler, 351 S.W.3d 862 (Tex. 2011), regarding the determination of prevailing parties extends to matters decided under Chapter 10 where a non-suit is taken to avoid an unfavorable ruling.  As a result the Sixth Court of Appeals upheld the Trial Court’s determination that Defendants were prevailing parties.  Plaintiffs filed a motion for rehearing en banc which was denied and their petition for review to the Texas Supreme Court was also denied.

01/12/22 | Hartline Barger Partner Melissa Dorman Matthews Achieves Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Victory

January 12, 2022 – Partner Melissa Dorman Matthews secures another victory for Hartline Barger at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after a hard-fought battle over attorney’s fees awarded for a class action settlement.

Matthews, who served as lead trial counsel for the matter, argued the case in front of the Fifth Circuit in March of 2021. Plaintiffs’ counsel requested $12,726,376.00 in fees – a lodestar calculation of $4,388,405.50 with a multiplier of 2.9.  The U.S. District Judge awarded Plaintiffs’ counsel more than $4.3 million in fees.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated this award yesterday, and has instructed the District Judge to recalculate the award and take into account the two issues Matthews and her team pointed out throughout the litigation:  1) the fees Plaintiffs’ counsel incurred on behalf of the successful claims were a fraction of the amounts incurred for pursuing all claims, many of which were unsuccessful; and 2) the actual benefit to the class, which counsel estimates to be less than .05% of the requested fee award.

Hartline Barger partner Angela Gordon and attorney Abigail Foreman assisted Matthews in the case, along with appellate counsel from Beck Redden LLP.

01/01/22 | Hartline Barger LLP Promotes Angela Gordon and Daniel Erwin to Partnership, Promotes Clayton Callen and Tyler Stuart to Equity Partners, Elects Peter Blomquist to Management Committee, and Elects Richard Crews as Managing Partner

Dallas, Texas, January 1, 2022 – Hartline Barger LLP is pleased to announce the promotion of Santa Fe attorney Angela Gordon and Houston attorney Daniel Erwin to partners, the promotion of Dallas attorneys Clayton Callen and Tyler Stuart to equity partners, the election of Dallas partner Peter Blomquist to the management committee, and the election of Corpus Christi partner Richard Crews as Managing Partner.

“The past two years have proved to be challenging in countless ways but our firm has persevered, in large part because of attorneys like Daniel, Angela, Clayton, and Tyler, who consistently demonstrate the dedication and drive required to be included in partnership, “ said Managing Partner Richard Crews. “In addition to our partner promotions, we are thrilled to welcome Houston partner, Peter Blomquist, to our management committee. His legal experience and strong character make him a great asset to our leadership team,” added Crews.

With a wide-ranging practice, Angela Gordon handles appeals, class actions, product liability litigation, insurance defense litigation, and has also defended lawsuits filed against governmental entities. Her extensive experience includes successfully obtaining dismissals in cases involving international tire manufacturers, local city governments and other clients.

Daniel Erwin focuses his practice in general civil litigation, commercial litigation and business torts, insurance law, construction defect, professional liability and products liability. He has a particular emphasis on cases involving personal injury litigation as well as transportation matters. He represents multiple Fortune 500 clients across the state and routinely handles complex, catastrophic losses.

Clayton Callen focuses his practice in the areas of civil litigation and political law. He has litigated a wide range of cases in state and federal courts across the country. This includes extensive litigation experience in cases involving complex commercial matters, products liability, constitutional law, election law, and “whistle-blower” claims under the False Claims Act, at both the trial court and appellate court levels. Additionally, Clayton serves as part of the national trial team for a Fortune 500 manufacturing company, implementing strategies for and managing litigation pending nationwide.

Tyler Stuart’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, automotive and equipment product liability, personal injury defense, contracts, warranty, fraud and deceptive trade practices. Before joining the firm in 2015, Tyler gained significant litigation experience at a notable firm in Dallas assisting in all areas of the firm’s commercial and personal injury litigation practice. During that time, Tyler served as lead associate on a case involving a dispute over natural gas rights and received a jury verdict of $38 million for the client.

Additionally, the partnership has elected Richard Crews to serve as Managing Partner of the firm’s six offices.

Richard Crews has been actively engaged in a varied and extensive trial practice for more than 40 years. His general civil litigation experience not only includes defense of personal injury claims, but also the trial of commercial and business disputes, defense of fiduciary claims, representation of automobile manufacturers, defense of designers and manufacturers of seat belts, airbags, child seats and other automotive components. He has also defended pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, doctors, hospitals, and attorneys in professional liability claims. He has tried cases involving wills and estates, oil and gas disputes, and represented banks and trust companies.

Throughout his career, Richard has been both active in his profession and recognized by his peers. As a young lawyer he was recognized as Nueces County’s “Outstanding Young Lawyer.” Having been repeatedly selected for listing in The Best Lawyers in America©, he was selected as 2018’s Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants “Lawyer of the Year” in Corpus Christi. He is an Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), served two terms on that organization’s National Board of Directors and twice served as President of the Corpus Christi Chapter. He was appointed to serve on the Attorney Admissions Committee for the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas, serving as the committee’s chairman for six years. He has been named to Texas Super Lawyers® for more than fifteen consecutive years, is rated “AV Preeminent®” by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected to membership in the Litigation Counsel of America. Further, he has been named to America’s Top 100 Attorneys®, South Texas Region and was selected as a Master of the Reynaldo Garza’s Chapter of American Inns of Court. He remains active in numerous and civic and professional organizations.

09/21/21 | Hartline Barger LLP Joins Diversity Lab’s Midsize Mansfield Rule Program

DALLAS, Texas, September 21, 2021— Hartline Barger LLP is pleased to announce its participation in Diversity Lab’s second iteration of the Midsize Mansfield Rule Program. The main objective of the Mansfield Rule is to boost diversity within law firms by innovating the hiring process to broaden the pool of candidates considered for hiring opportunities.

Diversity Lab is an organization dedicated to developing initiatives that boost diversity and inclusion in law. Through creative collaboration, behavioral science, and technology, Diversity Lab is able to develop ideas, measure results, and share valuable lessons learned with the legal community.

Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule Certification measures whether law firms have affirmatively considered at least 30 percent women, underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ lawyers and lawyers with disabilities for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, formal client pitch opportunities, and senior lateral positions.

“Seeking Mansfield Rule certification is the next logical step in our efforts to improve and promote diversity and inclusion. This process will help us build upon the great strides we’ve made over the last several years, and will allow us to better measure our efforts and results,” said Partner Melissa Dorman Matthews.

The certification period for the Midsize version is 18 months (September 15, 2021 to March 14, 2023) to provide sufficient time for the participating firms to take action on hiring, promotion, and leadership transition activities.

Hartline Barger LLP is nationally recognized for its work in product liability litigation and a broad spectrum of practice areas—from personal injury defense, commercial litigation, professional liability defense, and toxic torts, to warranty and deceptive trade practice litigation. Founded in 1994, Hartline Barger LLP has offices in Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, Waco, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque, and serves clients across the country. For more information, visit hartlinebarger.com.  

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