What does Board Certified mean?

Board Certification is a voluntary designation program for attorneys and paralegals. Initial certification is valid for a period of five years. To remain certified, an attorney and paralegal must apply for recertification every five years and meet substantial involvement, peer review and continuing legal education requirements for the specialty area.

General requirements for Board Certification in Personal Injury Trial Law:
- All Personal Injury Trial Law Board Certified attorneys must have:
- Been licensed to practice law for at least 5 years
- Practiced personal injury trial law for at least 3 years
- Devoted a minimum of 25% of their law practice to personal injury trial law
- Handled a wide variety of personal injury trial law matters to demonstrate experience and involvement.
- Attended personal injury trial law continuing legal education seminars regularly to keep their legal training up to date
- Been evaluated by fellow lawyers and judges
- Passed a 6- hour written examination

• Extensive experience handling Maritime injury and damage cases
•  Former oil and gas landman with experience handling oil and gas disputes
• Extensive experience handling complex industrial injury cases
• Served in several capacities within the drilling industry, including roughneck, motorman, derrick man, and relief drilling
• Extensive experience handling Aviation cases
• Instrument rated commercial pilot who has flown professionally
• Admitted to Texas State Bar, 1988
• Admitted to practice in all courts in Texas, The US Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit, and the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
• Earned B.B.A. degree, Petroleum Land Management, University of Texas at Austin, 1983
• Earned JD from University of Houston, 1988
• At University of Houston:
• Editor, Recent Developments and Book Review
• Author, Houston Journal of International Law: "Sidestepping Foreign Bank Secrecy Laws," 10 Hou. J. Intl. L. 57, 1987
• Member:
• Houston and American Bar Associations
• State Bar of Texas
• Trial Lawyers of Texas
• Trial Lawyers of America
• Maritime Law Association of the United States
• Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
• Fifity year Houston area resident

Probate Law includes very important documents that you need to protect your family and your rights. You need:

• A Will that determines how and to whom your estate will be distributed.
  

• Medical Power of Attorney that allows you to designate someone to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are unconcious or otherwise incapacitated.

• Directive to Physicians, in addition to the Med POA, generally instructs physicians whether you want to be kept alive using extraordinary means or allowed to pass as comfortably as possible.

• Do Not Resuscitate Order (if you chose) directs physicians and emergency personell on the use of CPR and other resusication methods.

• Durable Power of Attorney appoints someone to handle buisness transactions while you are unconcious or otherwise inhibited from making these decisions yourself. These include paying bills and receiving income.

• Extensive experience handling insurance, business and civil litigation matters; probate , guardianship, wills and trusts
• Admitted to Texas State Bar, 1989
• Admitted to practice in all courts in Texas, US Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit, and the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
• Earned B.A. degree, English and Political Science, Rice University, Houston, Texas 1985
• Earned JD from University of Houston, 1988
• At University of Houston:
  • Editor in Chief, Houston Journal of International Law
• Member:
  • State Bar of Texas