Whistleblower Cases—Texas
Have you been suspended or fired from your government job (or been subjected to an adverse personnel action) after reporting fraud or criminal acts? If so you may have a Whistleblower claim. In Texas these cases may be filed in Travis County regardless of where you work. And if you are fired within 90 days after you report fraud or other criminal activity to a law enforcement official—such as the police, sheriff, district or county attorney, Texas Rangers or attorney general—the government must prove that they did not fire you for an illegal reason. Damages are set by statute, vary depending on the size of the governmental organization where you work up to $250,000 (plus injunctive relief, actual damages, court costs, attorney fees and, in addition, can include reinstatement at the same or equivalent position, compensation for lost wages, with seniority and benefits intact if you so desire). You must file suit within 90 days of when you knew or should have known of the adverse action against you and you must initiate action under the grievance or appeal procedures for your agency before you can file a lawsuit. These are harsh deadlines so please contact me immediately if you think you may have a Whistleblower claim. Initial phone consultations are free and I am happy to discuss this with you.
Whistleblower Cases—Federal
These are similar to Texas Whistleblower cases but involve folks who work for the federal government and are made in federal court under U. S. law instead of state law. I am licensed to practice law in federal courts too so call me immediately if you have been fired, suspended or otherwise subjected to adverse personnel action after you have reported fraud or crime at your federal agency. Initial phone consultations are always free.
Appeals
I handle direct appeals in Texas and throughout the United States. If you have a Texas criminal or civil case on direct appeal I can help you. I am currently licensed in all Texas courts including all intermediate appellate courts throughout the state, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Texas Supreme Court. I am admitted to practice in the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, VA, which includes West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Maryland. I can obtain admission to other United States appellate courts or even the United States Supreme Court on a case-by-case basis, so if you need a federal appeal or writ anywhere in the United States please contact me.
Writs
The writ of habeas corpus, or Great Writ, is another type of appeal that can be made at any time if you are on probation, parole or incarcerated. This very broad writ is used, among other reasons, to challenge your conviction or sentence if you did not receive a fair trial, you have since discovered evidence that you are innocent, your lawyer did not provide proper representation (ineffective assistance of counsel claims), the prosecutor wrongfully withheld exculpatory evidence (in Texas these are called Michael Morton Act claims and in federal court these are called Brady violations), or for any other reason you did not obtain a fair trial. This writ can also be used to seek your release from jail if you have not been convicted of any crime but you are being held in custody awaiting trial without proper bail being set or if your bail is excessive. Though this type of writ has been sharply curtailed at the federal level since 1996 by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, it is still a viable tool to remedy improper or unjust convictions by state courts. If you have been convicted of a crime or if you are being held without bail or with excessive bail in Texas I can file a state writ for you seeking to overturn your conviction or sentence, reduce your bail or obtain your release from jail. If you have been convicted of a crime in any state or federal court in the United States I may be able to file a writ in federal court to overturn your conviction or sentence. I have handled state and federal writs throughout the United States. This is a very complicated area of law, but I am happy to discuss your particular case with you to see if this is a good option for you. Initial phone consultations are always free.
Federal Criminal Cases
I accept federal criminal cases and white-collar crime cases in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas which includes 50 counties in Texas with courts and/or divisions in Austin, Fort Hood, Waco, San Antonio, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland/Odessa, and Pecos. I have handled white-collar crime cases, perjury cases, bankruptcy fraud cases, embezzlement cases and other types of fraud cases in federal court. If you have been charged with any type of federal crime in the Western District of Texas I can help you. Initial phone consultations are always free so please call me to discuss your case and your options.
Texas Criminal Cases
I accept felony criminal cases in state district court throughout Texas (depending on the county I will sometimes accept misdemeanor cases, especially DWI cases). I regularly practice in Travis, Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Comal, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Llano, San Saba, Lampasas, Gillespie, and Kerr counties in Texas. I will accept cases in other Texas counties on a case-by-case basis. I have tried cases in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Alpine, Lockhart, San Marcos, Austin, Llano, San Saba, Burnet, Fredericksburg, and Johnson City among others. I have handled Capital Murder, Aggravated Sexual Assault, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Possession of Controlled Substances (drugs and marijuana), Manufacture and Delivery of Controlled Substances, Attempted Murder, Assault of Public Servant, Burglary, Theft, Evading Arrest or Detention, Driving While Intoxicated (DWI or DUI), Aggravated Kidnapping, Stalking, Fraud, Tampering with Evidence, Engaging in Organized Criminal Activity, Unauthorized Use of Motor Vehicle, Bail Jumping, Conspiracy, Embezzlement, Family Violence, Indecency with Child, Continuous Sexual Abuse, Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution of Felon, Homicide, Driving While Intoxicated with Child Passenger, Lewdness, Misapplication of Fiduciary Property, Money Laundering, Prohibited Sexual Conduct, Robbery, Terroristic Threats, Weapons Crimes, among other crimes as well as Probation Violations. If you have been charged with a felony crime under Texas law I can help you. Initial phone consultations are always free so give me a call to discuss your case and your options.
Probation Issues
Are you on probation in Texas? If you need to amend your probation conditions or you are facing probation revocation I can help you. You may also be eligible for early release from probation if you have completed 1/3 of your probation term. Initial phone consultations are free so please call me to discuss your probation issues.
Expunction and Sealing of Criminal Records
Most people do not realize that they have two types of official criminal records—a conviction record and an arrest record. Even if you received deferred adjudication, were acquitted or your case was dismissed your criminal record may still show your arrest. And employers and landlords will see this. You may not be getting call backs for interviews and not even know why. I can help you. I file Expunction Petitions and Petitions for Non-Disclosure throughout Texas. What is the difference? Expunctions result in the destruction of all records relating to your arrest and the charges against you. If you were acquitted, never formally charged following arrest, or the case against you was ultimately dismissed or, in some cases, reduced to a lesser offense, you may be able to have your criminal records expunged. If your record is expunged all records are destroyed by court order, all computer references to your case are deleted (again by court order), you can deny the existence of the arrest and expunction under oath in most circumstances, and it becomes a crime for a government official or law enforcement officer to reveal the arrest or expunction to anyone for any reason. Even if you are not eligible to have your case expunged, such as when you receive a deferred adjudication (which if successfully completed results in no conviction but remains forever on your official arrest record), you may be eligible to get a Non-Disclosure Order for your case. This is similar to an expunction and removes your arrest from your official criminal record and allows you to deny the arrest, but the records are not destroyed and can be unsealed by prosecutors and law enforcement authorities if you are charged with a new crime (your record can also be accessed by certain agencies and schools under narrow circumstances). I handle lots of these cases in my practice and I am happy to consult with you by phone at no charge to discuss whether you are eligible for an expunction or order of non-disclosure.
Civil Cases
I handle a variety of civil cases in state and federal court. I have handled construction defect cases, property tax cases, state and federal civil asset forfeiture cases arising from criminal arrests and drug cases, cases involving trusts, such as removal of trustee actions, Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) and many other civil cases and civil tort cases as well. I am happy to consult with you about any civil matter. Initial phone consultations are always free.
