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PHMY News 2009
PHMY Welcomes Jim Lucas to the Firm
Jim’s abilities as a writer and oral advocate were recognized during law school where he served two years as law review editor, achieved honors in appellate moot court, and was chosen by the faculty to receive the Student Advocacy Award. Since law school, Jim has gained the trust of his clients and peers in a variety of settings and disciplines, but his primary focus has always been commercial, real estate and construction litigation. Having recently moved to Texas from Sacramento, California, Jim now supports PHMY in the areas of commercial and real estate litigation, civil appeals, and product liability defense.
When not practicing law, Jim keeps up on his avocation of playing piano and performing chamber music. Jim was once recognized as the outstanding keyboard student at USC, studied conducting and coached opera at the Peabody Conservatory, and received a Fulbright Grant to study conducting in Munich, Germany, where he competed in a prestigious international conducting competition. Jim continued to conduct community orchestras even while working as director of a training program at a major life insurance company, right up until he commenced his law studies.
Currently, Jim enjoys being involved in San Pedro Presbyterian church. He is a member of the American Inns of Court, and serves in the District Courts Committee and Community Justice Program.
Areas of Practice:
Civil Appeals
Commercial Litigation
Product Liability
Construction/Real Estate Litigation
Jury finds for Yamaha in Nation’s First Rhino Case.
Ray v. Yamaha Motors et al., Orange County District Court, August 2009.
A jury in Orange County, Texas absolved Yamaha Motor Corporation of any liability in the design of its Yamaha Rhino off-road vehicle after a two-week trial. The case was brought by a local Orange family after 13-year-old Foerst Edward “Eddie” Ray died in a rollover accident while operating a Rhino without parental supervision.
Plaintiffs alleged the Rhino was defectively designed because its height, narrow track width and lack of a rear differential made the vehicle unstable and susceptible to rolling over. In support of their design defect allegations, Plaintiffs cited a March 31, 2009 press release from the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) indicating that Yamaha agreed to a “voluntary repair” for the Rhino in which the rear track width was widened and the rear stabilizer bar was removed.
In his closing arguments, Jeff Hawkins of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young argued the Rhino is a safe vehicle when it is used in a reasonable fashion, and the Plaintiffs had ample opportunity to avoid this accident. Hawkins argued if Eddie were supervised, had been wearing a helmet or using the vehicle’s available seat belt, this accident would not have had such a tragic ending.
After two weeks of evidence, it took the jury a little more than an hour to decide the Yamaha Rhino was not defectively designed. Yamaha was represented by David Prichard and Jeff Hawkins of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young. Plaintiffs were represented by Tim Maloney and Troy Rafferty of Levin, Papantonio of Pensacola, Florida.
See these related news articles:
Statement from Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
Yamaha Isn’t Liable for Teen’s Rhino Death, Texas Jury Decides - Bloomberg News
Texas Yamaha Rhino Lawsuit Results in Defense Verdict
David Prichard & Grant McFarland selected to The Best Lawyers in America
David Prichard and Grant McFarland of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young, LLP have been selected to appear in the 2010 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Prichard was selected in the Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation categories. McFarland was selected to the publication in the specialties of Personal Injury Litigation and Product Liability Litigation.
The Best Lawyers in America bases its annual selection criteria on over 2.8 million confidential evaluations by the top attorneys in the nation. For more information on the publication check out their website at www.bestlawyers.com .
Leadership San Antonio Explores the Many Benefits of San Antonio Being “Military City U.S.A.”
PHMY’s Grant McFarland, a member of Leadership San Antonio (LSA) class 34, along with other members Inigo Arzac (City of San Antonio), Shay Bluntzer (NuStar Energy LP), Morris Camp (Wachovia Bank), Ramon Contreras (Grant Thornton LLP), Brian Feld (Tuggey Rosenthal Pauerstein Sandoloski Agather LLP), Bob Ownby (Broadway Bank) and Melinda Rodriguez (Access Quality Therapy Services, Inc.) developed the agenda for LSA’s recent Military Day, an in-depth look at the impact San Antonio’s military missions have on the city. LSA Steering Committee members Mike Connor (CreativeLink) and Tom Swoyer (Weston Solutions) assisted the class members with preparation for the dynamic class day.
The class was addressed on the values of leadership by retired Lieutenant General Ricardo S. Sanchez, who served as the V Corps commander of coalition forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004, and retired Major General Alfred A. Valenzuela, who commanded United States Army South and served as deputy commander in chief of the U.S. Southern Command.
The class enjoyed lunch at the Non-Commissioned Officers Club at Fort Sam Houston, courtesy of Broadway Bank and Eisenhower Bank, where they received remarks on the expected impact of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) from Major General Erwin F. Lessel III. General Lessel is the Director of Plans, Programs, Requirements and Assessments, and Director of the San Antonio Joint Program Office, Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, at Randolph Air Force Base.
The class also enjoyed hands-on tours of Camp Bullis, Fort Sam Houston and the Center for the Intrepid.
LSA is a joint partnership of The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. For more information on LSA, click here.
PHMY lawyers named among San Antonio's Best
Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young proudly recognizes its lawyers who were named by Scene in S.A. as among San Antonio’s Best Lawyers. PHMY had five attorneys nominated in four different categories. David Prichard was recognized in both the Business Litigation and Civil Litigation Defense categories. Jeff Hawkins was named in the Personal Injury Defense: Products category. Grant McFarland and Kevin Young were selected in the Business Litigation category. Finally, Tony Avey was chosen in the General Litigation category.
Texas Super Lawyers names Tony Avey and John Saba to the list of Texas Rising Stars for 2009
Texas Super Lawyers have announced the 2009 list of Texas Rising Stars and Prichard Hawkins McFarland & Young is proud that two of their litigation attorneys Tony Avey, partner and John Saba, associate, were named to this distinguished list of up and coming lawyers for the first time.
“The Rising Stars process begins with a pool of candidates, the research department then evaluates each candidate and finally, a review of the candidates by their peers within their primary area of practice to select our listing of top lawyers who are 40 years old and younger or who have been in practice 10 years or less. Our objective with Super Lawyers is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys”. - Texas Super Lawyers
Tony Avey was named in the Personal Injury Defense/Products practice as 1 of only 14 selected for this group and John Saba appears in the Intellectual Property Litigation practice.
San Antonio Business Journal names “Prichard Hawkins McFarland & Young as one of San Antonio’s 2009 Best Places to Work” for the second year in a row.
“The San Antonio Business Journal is pleased to announce the winners of its fifth annual “Best Places to Work Awards,” which highlight companies with the best workplaces in the San Antonio area (Bexar, Guadalupe, Wilson, Comal and Kendall counties).
More than 200 companies were nominated this year and through a confidential survey conducted by a third-party researcher, 48 companies were chosen as one of San Antonio’s Best Places to Work for 2009. The winners were selected based on the results of online confidential surveys completed by the companies’ employees. “
– San Antonio Business Journal
“Our employees remain one of our firm's biggest strengths. They are the ones who made this happen and we are honored and proud of the excellent work they do.” says Grant McFarland, Managing Partner of PHMY.
Court Finds In Favor of GM in Seatbelt Case
Jason Roberts v. General Motors Corporation,
April 2009, 159th Judicial District Court of Angelina County, Texas
After several years of discovery, a Texas district court judge has dismissed a lawsuit against General Motors brought by the injured driver of a UPS delivery van. In November 2000, Roberts lost control of the van near Zavalla, Texas and ran into a tree causing severe and disfiguring facial injuries. Roberts sued GM, alleging the van was defective because it was equipped with a lap-only seatbelt, instead of a lap and shoulder belt, and alleging the van was unstable. In the face of challenges to his expert witnesses' testimony, Roberts voluntarily dropped the stability defect claim.
In granting GM's Motion for Summary Judgment, Judge Paul E. White agreed with GM that Roberts' claims were federally pre-empted by applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and that Roberts failed to prove that his injuries were caused by a defective condition of the van. Roberts was represented by Nacogdoches attorney Reese Andrews. GM was defended by Karl Rivas = of the San Antonio firm of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young.
Honda Wins Texas Trial Over Allegedly Defective Seatbelt
Tracy Price v. American Honda Motor Company, et. al.,
April 2009, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division
An Amarillo, Texas jury found in favor of Honda in a lawsuit alleging defectively designed seatbelts in Honda automobiles. Tracy Price suffered paralyzing injuries when she was ejected from her Honda Civic during a single-vehicle rollover accident in August 2004. She alleged she was wearing her seatbelt, but that due to a design defect which allowed the buckle to be partially engaged and not fully latched, she was not restrained by the belt and ejected during the accident. With just three hours of deliberations, the jury disagreed. Ms. Price's attorney, New Mexico lawyer James Lyle, had asked the jury to award up to $30 million in damages, and to also award punitive damages against Honda. Based on the jury's verdict, United States District Court Judge Mary Lou Robinson entered a judgment dismissing Ms. Price's claims.
The lawsuit was originally filed in a federal court in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Honda's attorneys, the San Antonio firm of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young, convinced the federal judge in Albuquerque to transfer the case to the Northern District of Texas, and that Texas law should apply to the trial. Honda was represented at trial by Jeff Hawkins and Grant McFarland.
The partners of PHM&Y
are proud to announce the appointment of
Marialyn Barnard
as
Justice of the Texas 4th Court of Appeals
by Governor Rick Perry
January 1, 2009
Marialyn is a former school teacher, social worker, Assistant United States Attorney, briefing attorney to judges at the state, federal, trial and appellate levels, corporate counsel, most recently an attorney with Prichard Hawkins McFarland & Young.
The Fourth Court of Appeals is one of the 14 intermediate State Appellate Courts in Texas. It is located in Bexar County and serves a 32-county district, which is bounded by Guadalupe County on the East, Starr County on the South, Val Verde County on the West and Menard County on the North. The seven Justices on the Court sit in panels of three and hear appeals of all civil and criminal cases (with the exception of death penalty cases) from the county and district courts in the 32-county district.
Left to Right Texas Supreme Court Justice, Wallace Jefferson administers
the Oath of Office, Justice Marialyn Barnard, Gary Barnard.
Grant McFarland joins Greater Chamber Leadership Class 34
Prichard Hawkins McFarland & Young LLP (PHMY) proudly announces that Grant T. McFarland, Partner, has been accepted into the Leadership San Antonio Class 34 of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce.
"This year the competition for the class was extremely strong and this fact was evident in our selection process" stated Theresa Spiess, Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs for the Greater Chamber.
Applicants must show a sincere commitment to improving the community, motivation, interest and have the desire to increase their service to San Antonio in key leadership positions. The program is limited to approximately 40 participants annually.
Grant McFarland is a board certified personal injury trial lawyer, with over 17 years of courtroom experience with an emphasis on commercial, product and personal injury litigation.
Investment adviser triumphs in fee dispute
Internacional Reality, Inc., et. al. v. Don L. Ferrari, et. al.,
January 2009, United States District Court, Western District of Texas
A Texas-based developer of multi-family investment properties has agreed to voluntarily dismiss claims it brought against a California investment adviser seeking to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in referral fees it paid to the adviser. Internacional Reality, Inc. ("IRI"), represented by Fulbright & Jaworski, sued Don Ferrari and two companies owned by him, claiming that Ferrari wrongfully accepted referral fees. Ferrari countersued, claiming that IRI had failed to pay him over a million dollars in additional fees for referrals Ferrari made to IRI.
After eighteen months of hotly contested litigation, and a federal court ruling on summary judgment, IRI and Ferrari mutually agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims. Ferrari was represented by David Prichard of the San Antonio firm Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young.
Southwest Business Corporation secures multi-million dollar settlement from American Home Shield
SWBC v. American Home Shield Corp.,
January 2009, 37th Jud. Dist. Court, Bexar County, Texas
Southwest Business Corporation ("SWBC") has settled a commercial dispute over the payment of commissions it alleges it was owed by American Home Shield. SWBC sued AHS after the latter terminated a brokerage contract under which SWBC had marketed AHS's home warranty products, and after AHS refused to pay SWBC additional commissions it believed due under the contract. SWBC retained David Prichard and the San Antonio firm of Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young to bring suit against AHS for breach of the contract. AHS, represented by the Houston office of Beck, Redden & Secrest, initially offered $20,000.00 for the claim, but ultimately agreed to pay SWBC $2.5 million in settlement.
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