Duval County Employment Lawyers

I became a lawyer for a cliched but true reason - I wanted to help people. Today, that desire remains the heart of my law practice. I am passionate about helping my clients solve their problems - whether that’s how to start a new business, understanding what their contract says, or planning for their family’s future. I cut my teeth at “Big Law” firms, where I learned how to analyze, research, negotiate, and strategize from some of the best attorneys in the state of Texas. Over the course of my career, my natural curiosity and love of learning have given...

Darren Harrington is a shareholder whose principal area of practice is focused on representing local, national, and international corporations and their officers in cases involving trade secrets, non-compete agreements, union issues, personnel, and government regulatory matters. He has been recognized as one of the premier Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defense counselors in the country, and is regularly called upon by employers to enforce and defend against restrictive covenants such non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, as well as defend against claims under the various anti-discrimination in employment statutes, the minimum wage and overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act...

John Freeman's primary areas of practice are employment law, civil litigation and related areas of business litigation. He regularly advises clients regarding employment law practices, non-competes, discrimination and other employment related matters.

Mr. Freeman was born in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1945. He received his bachelor's degree from Baylor University in 1967, and served in the United States Navy from 1967 – 1969 as a Supply Officer aboard the USS Duval County, LST-758. He attended law school at the Vanderbilt University School of Law, where he was an Associate Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review in 1972 and 1973, and from which...

Brett Chisum joined McCathern as an Associate in 2012. He currently practices in all areas of civil litigation, with a focus in employment litigation, the mortgage and banking industry, and federal compliance matters for mortgage loan servicers based on the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Brett worked with one of the largest preparers of residential mortgage documents in the country, and prepared them for the sweeping industry-wide changes associated with the Dodd-Frank Act. He continues to work with that company at McCathern, ensuring it meets compliance standards for every state in which it transacts business. Brett also...

Mr. Woodall is a trial attorney with experience in insurance subrogation, coverage and defense litigation, construction law, commercial litigation, labor and employment, and real estate. In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Woodall also provides special counsel services to small and mid-size businesses in a variety of industries such as construction, roofing, manufacturing, and distribution. He is fully dedicated to understanding his clients’ businesses and helping them achieve their goals and objectives through risk management, contract negotiations, reviewing, negotiating and documenting real estate and business transactions, and resolving labor and employment issues.

After graduating from Baylor University in Waco Texas in...

Attorney Martin Valko of Dallas immigration law firm of Chavez & Valko, LLP, represents individuals and families from around the world, private and publicly traded companies in employment-based immigration, international Olympic and professional athletes, car racers, artists, and musicians in various non-immigrant and immigrant matters, and visas to foreign countries. Martin Valko has a first hand knowledge about the U.S. immigration laws as he has been through the entire process – from being a high-school exchange student, college student to an H-1B worker to his permanent residency and dual citizenship. Martin's clients greatly appreciate his in-depth understanding of the complex...

Clinton Prospere is a Senior Associate Attorney at Sul Lee Law Firm, specializing in litigation with a strong commitment to client satisfaction. Clint prides himself on his ability to deliver outstanding results for his clients through meticulous preparation and strategic advocacy. Combining his extensive litigation experience with a deep understanding of his clients’ needs, Clint approaches each case with a tailored strategy to ensure the best possible outcome. Originally from Massachusetts, Clint attended Boston University for his undergraduate studies where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations. Thereafter, Clint attended Roger Williams University School of Law. After...

Paul Grinke is Managing Partner of McCathern’s office at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Mr. Grinke has broad experience on a national level, litigating complex commercial and catastrophic event claims from both sides of the docket. He has successfully litigated commercial breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and employment covenant claims. In addition, Mr. Grinke prosecutes and defends claims involving personal injury, wrongful death, and disastrous property damage arising from construction defect, product defect, trucking, and liquor liability.

Mr. Grinke leads McCathern’s Construction Defect, Product Liability and related Fire Litigation practices. He has particular expertise in counseling institutional clients involved in tragic...

Shawn’s practice includes a wide variety of civil litigation including: intellectual property litigation (patent, trademark, and trade secret), commercial litigation, personal injury, wrongful death, civil rights, and employment law. This broad practice has given him experience in many different aspects of litigation including: case assessment and research, discovery, motion practice, trial preparation, hearing presentation, and trial presentation. Shawn has tried multiple jury trials to successful verdict as lead trial counsel and has been selected by Thomas Reuters as a Rising Star in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

With nearly 30 years of complex commercial litigation experience, Robert R. Burford has distinguished himself as an aggressive and successful attorney for his clients. Mr. Burford has handled business disputes of nearly every variety for both plaintiffs and defendants. Mr. Burford has skillfully handled nearly every type of high-stakes business disputes including litigation involving fiduciary duties, securities fraud, mergers and acquisitions, Director’s and Officers’ liability, legal malpractice, oil and gas matters, partnership disputes, intellectual property disputes, theft of trade secrets, healthcare related matters and complex contractual disputes. Mr. Burford graduated from the University of Houston in 1981...

Nichole Nech is the founder of the Nech Law Firm. Nichole graduated from the South Texas School of Law in May of 2001. After graduation she was hired by a major insurance company to work as in-house legal counsel. She represented insurance companies in claims disputes both in mediation and in court for the next 5 years. During that time she see how injured people were too often taken advantage of by giant insurance companies and she made the decision to leave the comfort of a corporate job to help the “little guy.” In 2006, Nichole founded the Nech...

Scott D. Smith is a seasoned trial lawyer who has obtained favorable verdicts for clients on both sides of the docket. Mr. Smith has experience in all phases of litigation in both state and federal courts throughout the United States, including resolving a broad array of business and commercial disputes, as well as having extensive experience representing financial advisers and financial institutions in financial services litigation in FINRA and AAA arbitration proceedings. He frequently represents financial advisers and financial institutions in employment disputes, securities enforcement actions, as well as regulatory and compliance matters, and assists his clients...

Ramon Garcia is a personal injury lawyer based in Edinburg. As the founding attorney of the Law Offices of Ramon Garcia, he brings 40+ years of legal experience to clients including a proven track record of success, having recovered half a billion dollars in settlements. Prior to having a personal injury practice, Ramon Garcia has defended countless criminally accused clients. However, his passion is in helping the injured and the oppressed, but his experience as a criminal defense lawyer has made Ramon Garcia a formidable advocate for clients who need aggressive representation. To secure his services, contact the firm today.

Kalani Hawks Villafranca practices U.S. immigration law because she believes everyone deserves to feel like they belong in their home and with their families. She loves helping her clients live the life they want to live, wherever they want to live, with the people who matter most to them.

Abogada Kalani has over a decade of experience as an attorney and for several years was the managing attorney for the Texas Here to Stay/Texas No Nos Vamos coalition. She helped bring free legal clinics to communities throughout Texas and provided guidance to thousands of immigrants seeking to renew their DACA...

Kell Simon has been practicing in the area of employment law since 1997, exclusively representing employees. In 2007 Mr. Simon moved to Austin, and in July 2014 Mr. Simon opened the Law Offices of Kell A. Simon. Mr. Simon's practice has spanned the full spectrum of employment law, from race, sex, age, national origin, and disability discrimination cases, to sexual harassment, whistleblower, Family and Medical Leave, and minimum wage and overtime cases. Mr. Simon has served as class counsel in several complex, long running class actions brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and...

Philip Robert Brinson is an experienced trial lawyer who possesses unique skills derived from experience outside of the legal fields that have made him not only a trusted advocate for his clients, but also a formidable adversary in the courtroom. Mr. Brinson has extensive legal experience in a variety of practice areas, including hospitality and dram shop, entertainment, premises liability, products liability, professional liability, employment, oil field services, and business and commercial litigation. Mr. Brinson has litigation experience on both sides of the docket in handling infringement actions in copyright and trademark actions in the entertainment and hospitality industries, including...

A partner at Zinda Law Group, he focuses his practice on cases involving catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, automobile and trucking accidents, premises liability, product injury, and more.

This tenacious litigator not only possesses a deep commitment to the law but also genuinely cares for his clients, striving to help them become whole again, both physically and financially. Over the years, he has helped many accident victims get their lives back on track after suffering an injury. He counts among his favorite aspects of his job building relationships with his clients, and he has garnered their respect and admiration by showing...

Ms. Crawford represents clients in a variety of commercial and business related matters and litigation. Her primary focus is on first party insurance litigation.

Prior to joining Doyen Sebesta & Poelma, LLLP, Ms. Crawford practiced in the Houston area and gained valuable experience by conducting depositions, successfully resolving cases through mediations, and arguing at the district and county level in contested hearings involving commercial litigation matters. Ms. Crawford successfully first chaired her first trial in the Harris County Civil District Court, gaining a favorable judgment after two days of trial.

Ms. Crawford earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from The...

Tyler motivates as a dedicated advocate, dynamic presenter and determined visionary. He brings exceptional speaking and negotiating skills along with a high level of focus, creativity and value to every case.

The Houston attorney handles a wide range of legal issues in the areas of business, commercial, contract, employment law, and personal injury. Mr. Boyd also serves as Staff Counsel for Houston Baptist University and General Counsel of Beechnut Street Inc. He is a member of the Houston Bar Association and the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA).

Tyler graduated from Texas Southern University, Cum laude, where he received his...

I represent employees in legal disputes. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to hire an employment lawyer, you should choose one that is passionate about protecting your legal rights at every opportunity. I established the Dupree Law Firm to be a consistent advocate for employee rights in the workplace.

I began my legal career in the management services division of a large, publicly-traded real estate investment trust. In this role I was responsible for the recruitment, hiring, evaluation, promotion and coaching of all employees reporting to me. As a member of the...

Kenichi Yagi is an experienced corporate transactional attorney for Adair Myers Stevenson Yagi. He focuses his practice on commercial litigation and advises domestic and international clients in corporate matters, intellectual property disputes, personal injury, premises liability, products liability, insurance coverage, family law, real estate, employment law, and debt collections. Mr. Yagi was born in Japan and moved to the United States when he was a teenager. He graduated high school in the United States and attended the University of Massachusetts at Lowell where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Mr. Yagi graduated magna cum laude and was a member...

Jake McDonald was born and raised in Houston, Texas. His desire to practice law developed at a young age, as both of his parents were lawyers. As an undergraduate, he studied psychology and was published for his research in the field of human perception. He later applied this unique insight to the study of law and representation of clients. Prior to starting his own legal practice, Jake worked at multiple litigation firms in the Houston area where he gained practical experience in the fields of personal injury law, family law, and civil litigation. He developed a reputation with his...

I established my business and real estate law firm in Houston, Texas in 1989. My background, education and experience, combine with my ability to simplify and communicate complex legal, business and real estate topics, giving me a unique focus to work as the company lawyer for small and mid-size businesses.

I focus my practice in the areas of employment discrimination, family, and immigration law. On the employment front, I passionately and aggressively represent employees with claims of discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault, retaliation, and/or unfair wage practices against employers. It is unfortunate, but the reality is that, sometimes, employees still face discrimination and other unfair and unlawful employment practices. I believe that employers who violate employees' legal rights should be punished. I believe that employees should be treated equally and without regard to their race, age, gender, religion, pregnancy-status, or national origin. I also believe an employee should not be...

Geoffrey Berg is a partner and founder of Berg Plummer Johnson & Raval, LLP. His areas of practice include Business Litigation, Employment Litigation, General Civil Litigation, Government/Private Investigations and White-Collar Criminal Defense. Geoff has handled every kind of case from representing corporations in complex multi-million dollar commercial disputes to employment matters, arguments over oilfield trade secrets, government and corporate investigations.

Ms. Melendez is committed to listening to each client's story, evaluating it, and proposing and executing practical steps to meet client goals. The cornerstone to a successful attorney-client relationship, in Ms. Melendez’s opinion, is creating clear lines of communication to help build trust between her and her clients. Ms. Melendez has always known she wanted to become a lawyer. At every key juncture in her life, when asked what she wanted to do with her future, she always responded that she wanted to become an attorney. However, as she neared the end of her undergraduate career at Texas A&M University,...

Law Office of Laura Y. Rodriguez represents individuals who have suffered serious injuries at work, on oil rigs and in vehicle accidents. Workers’ Compensation laws may help you recover financial compensation for medical bills and lost wages. Ms. Rodriguez completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Texas at Brownsville. During her studies at St. Mary’s University School of Law, she also attended the University of Innsbruck in Austria where she studied International Law.

Josh Borsellino represents workers in claims for unpaid overtime. Josh fights to get workers the overtime pay they have earned. Josh also represents those who have been seriously injured in an accident.