John Michael Frick

John has been representing businesses and business people in the North Texas area for more than thirty years. He has tried numerous cases at various levels of the judicial system, including federal district court and state district court. He has presented appeals to the Supreme Court of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and ten of the fourteen intermediate courts of appeal in Texas. He has arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association and JAMS, Inc. In addition to his trial practice, John is a trained mediator and summary jury trial judge. As a result of displaying a high degree of skill, competence, and professionalism, he has earned an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

John received his law degree from SMU School of Law in 1988, where he served as an Associate Editor for the Southwestern Law Journal. While still in law school, he successfully presented an appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas through the school’s civil clinic program, resulting in a published opinion reversing the lower court. He also completed his first jury trial through the school’s clinic program.

After graduating from law school, John served a judicial clerkship as briefing attorney for the Honorable Gordon H. Rowe, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas. There, John had the pleasure of working with future Supreme Court of Texas Justices Nathan Hecht, Craig Enoch, and James Baker.

As a seasoned trial lawyer, John continues to maintain a high level of practice. He has represented clients in cases reported in the Wall Street Journal and Dallas Morning News, as well as ones featured on local news broadcasts and the national news program, Nightline. His civil trial practice includes representation in both state and federal court and encompasses a wide range of areas.

• Civil Litigation
• Contract Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Real Estate Litigation
• Professional Liability

• Credit Cards Accepted
  Visa & Mastercard Only
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  Provides 90-minute initial consultation for a flat fee of $500. Does not typically work on a contingency fee. Usually requires a retainer.

Texas

State Bar of Texas

ID Number: 07455200

Since 1988

5th Circuit

Since 1992

Partner

Reid, Dennis & Frick, PC

2022 - Current

Member

Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC

2021 - 2021

Partner

Bennett, Weston LaJone & Turner, P.C.

2017 - 2021

Senior Attorney

Reid & Dennis, PC

2010 - 2017

Solo Practitioner

Law Offices of John M. Frick

2001 - 2010

Partner

Mills, Presby & Associates, L.L.P.

1995 - 2001

Associate

Godwin & Carlton, P.C.

1989 - 1995

Briefing Attorney

Court of Appeals, Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

1988 - 1989

SMU Dedman School of Law

Doctor of Jurisprudence/Juris Doctor (J.D.)

1988

Southern Methodist University

B.S. (1985) | Political Science

1981 - 1985

Honors: Summa Cum Laude

Southern Methodist University

B.A. (1985) | Psychology

1981 - 1985

Honors: Summa Cum Laude

AV-Preeminent

Martindale-Hubbell

2004

For over 100 years, the Bar Register has been a unique guide to the legal community's most eminent professionals. It includes only those select law practices that have earned the highest rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and have been designated by their colleagues as preeminent in their field. The 2022 Bar Register contains over 14,000 member listings out of more than 1.3 million attorneys in the United States.

Texas State Bar  # 07455200

Member

1988 - Current

Board-Certified, Civil Trial Law

Texas Board of Legal Specialization

2010

Q. Can a judge order me to pay rent despite faulty wiring causing job loss and eviction threat in Texas?

July 22, 2025

A: Texas law treats the landlord's provision of amenities like internet as independent of your rent obligations in a lease situation. That means that the landlord's failure to provide internet service will not excuse your obligation to pay rent.

If you did not pay rent but continued to occupy the apartment, you will likely be evicted and a judgment will be entered against you for back rent. This will almost certainly negatively impact your ability to rent an apartment in the future.

The loss of your job is an incidental or consequential damage. In simple terms, that means that it is not something that usually happens to a tenant when internet service is interrupted. Most leases includes an enforceable agreement that prevents either party from successfully suing the other for incidental or consequential damages.

You would have the legal obligation to mitigate any damages caused by your landlord's breach of an agreement to provide uninterrupted internet service. In most circumstances, you could have avoided the loss of your job by working in a different location using another internet service. You would need to show that the ONLY internet service available was from your landlord's. ... Read More

Q. What motions can I file for defamation in Texas and child support issues?

July 22, 2025

A: I agree with my colleague, Mr. Arrasmith.

I add that you need to make a list of every person who heard or read his defamatory statements, believed them to be true, and took some sort of adverse action against you that caused you to suffer actual compensatory damages--like a prospective who did not hire you because of the statements, a landlord who refused to renew your lease because of the statements, a lender who refused to loan you money because of the statements, etc.

List each such person's name, full street address, and telephone number and describe exactly what action they took that caused you damages:

John Doe

123 Main St.

Euless, TX 76040

(817) 111-2222

Landlord who refused to renew my lease. I was paying $1,800 / mo and had to move to a different place paying rent of $2,000 / mo. My moving expenses were $5,800. ... Read More

Q. Looking for pro bono lawyer for a criminal case involving my daughter's murder in TX.

July 22, 2025

A: I agree with James but. . .

In some murder cases, police lack sufficient evidence to successfully prosecute the person accused of the crime. Premature prosecution without sufficient evidence can lead to an acquittal, which will usually bar future prosecution even if irrefutable evidence later is discovered.

Police cannot hold a suspect indefinitely without setting and proceeding to trial.

One tactic in such cases is to release the suspect while passively monitoring their activity. In some cases, the suspect will talk to someone else and either confess, directly or indirectly, to the crime or inadvertently provide information that leads to more solid evidence of their guilt. Sometimes, new technology is developed that can be used to test evidence that is already available which might substantially improve the prospects of conviction. For example, a new method of extracting DNA from a material that proves the suspect was in fact present at the time of the murder. They're not going to tell you, or anyone, if they are employing such a tactic. ... Read More