Willis Business Lawyers

Former Justice, 13th Court of Appeals Visiting Judge, 5th Administrative Region EDUCATION: • St. Mary's University School of Law, JD, 1987 o Phi Delta Phi Legal Honor Fraternity. o Sr. Associate Editor of St. Mary's Law Journal (published). o Tie for American Jurisprudence Award in Contract Law. o American Jurisprudence Award in Police Misconduct-Civil Rights Litigation. • University of Texas at Austin, BA in Zoology, 1983. CERTIFICATIONS: o Basic and Advanced (Civil & Family) Mediation Certificates - Mediators & Arbitrators of America. o Basic and Advanced Arbitration Certificates - Mediators & Arbitrators of America. o TMCA Credentialed Mediator by the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association. o National Judicial College’s Advanced Skills for Appellate Judges...

EDUCATION Ms. Lesinski graduated from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with a B.A. in political science and a minor in criminal justice. She then attended Southern Illinois University-Carbondale School of Law and received her J.D. degree. She was an associate editor for the Journal of Legal Medicine. Ms. Lesinski was awarded the W. Eugene Basanta Award for her professionalism from SIU. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Ms. Lesinski has a broad understanding of civil litigation as a result of her experience as a paralegal and trial attorney. Ms. Lesinski is well versed in construction law and has represented a wide range of clients from...

Hugh’s experience as an attorney is well rounded. He has civil and criminal trial experience as the result of his career as a city attorney, a municipal prosecutor, an assistant county attorney, and an assistant district attorney where his duties included engaging in all types of litigation ranging from civil rights and employment lawsuits to tort and negligence claims.

In private practice, Hugh has represented individuals and businesses in claims involving the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, Age and Sex discrimination, Worker's Compensation Retaliation Cases, Unemployment Disputes and other employment law matters. In regards to small...

I have been practicing law for 30 years. I obtained my law degree from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law in 1994 and graduated in the top 10% of my class. I am licensed to practice in Texas and North Dakota and in all federal courts in Texas and North Dakota plus the Supreme Court of the United States. Before I obtained my law degree, I worked as an environmental engineer for 10 years and before that I was a brakeman/conductor for the Burlington Northern Railroad and a trainmaster for the Colorado & Southern Railway. I wrote about my railroad...

Duncan is the sole shareholder of the firm whose practice primarily focuses on estate planning, trusts, business matters, and construction law. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1977 with a business administration degree in accounting and finance and earned his law degree from SMU in 1980.

Duncan has more than thirty-five years of legal experience and has been admitted to practice in the United States Tax Court, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.

During the three years Inside Collin County Business conducted its annual awards,...

Charles McGarry is a sole practitioner in McKinney, Texas. The main areas of his practice are civil trials and appeals and entertainment law. He has been board certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1989.

Charles graduated with High Honors in Philosophy from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1979, and from the University of Texas School of Law in 1982. Upon graduation, he clerked for Hon. Bill Stephens at the Fifth District Court of Appeals of Texas in Dallas, the state’s largest and busiest appellate court. Ten years later, he received...

Matthew G. Messerli is the founding attorney of The Messerli Law Firm, PLLC. Prior to pursuing his legal career, Attorney Messerli earned his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and his Master’s in Finance (MSF) from the Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He has accumulated more than a decade of experience as a business consultant and operator. Attorney Messerli later spent several years serving as a financial advisor to high-net-worth individuals and businesses before earning his Juris Doctorate (JD) from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman Law School in Dallas, Texas. His unique blend of...

Attorney John Haugen has been serving the needs of his community and nation for his entire life. He graduated from West Point and then went on to spend five years as an U.S. Army Captain. After he was honorably discharged, he continued his higher education at USC, then received his Juris Doctor as Texas Wesleyan School of Law. Currently, he is a member of the Dallas County Bar Association, Denton County Bar Association, and the Tarrant County Bar Association. He is licensed to practice in all Texas courts, and advocates for clients who are facing family law matters, criminal defense...

Joe’s clients benefit from his extensive hands-on experience with researching, drafting pleadings, and discovery. As a trusted advocate, Joe learns his client’s business objectives to effectively litigate matters involving a variety of complex oil and gas disputes, contract disputes, and a variety of other civil matters even through the state and federal appeal process if necessary. His research and experience with drafting briefs in both the state and federal appeals and has helped bring favorable solutions to his clients in previous disputes. In addition to his experience in the courtroom, Joe has provided advice and prepared agreements that cover...

Steven Goodspeed is a partner at My Church Law firm, a full-service, client-centered and cost-effective firm dedicated to serving churches, private schools, and nonprofit ministries nationwide. He has over 23 years of experience representing nonprofit organizations and is dedicated to delivering high quality legal services and advocating for you.

W. Cade Lovelace has a long history of serving in the legal community in both Burleson and Fort Worth. He founded this law firm over 10 years ago based on the principle that every person should receive quality, complete, and aggressive legal representation.

Cade represents and advises clients in almost every aspect of law that this firm handles, from corporations litigation to small businesses as to their corporate structures to families in divorces or child custody modifications. Cade has represented clients in the Texas District Courts, the Texas Appellate Courts, the Texas Supreme Court, and the U.S. District Courts of Texas.

Cade’s...

A founding partner of Steckler Wayne Cochran PLLC (“SWC”), Stuart Cochran is a civil trial lawyer with almost twenty years of experience litigating, trying, arbitrating, and mediating complex commercial, class action, and personal injury cases in state and federal courts across the nation. Stuart has a nationally-recognized consumer class action practice, and he is frequently brought in to cases outside of Texas due to his experience. More locally, Stuart handles complex commercial cases and catastrophic personal injury cases. Stuart’s practice is unique in that he handles cases for both plaintiffs and defendants. Stuart has helped recover...

From a family of distinguished public servants, after obtaining his law degree from UT Law School, Gregory honed his legal skills for 20 years at Atlas, Hall & Rodriguez, LLP, in McAllen, where he practiced a broad range of property law, including estate planning and probate. He has represented individuals, businesses, national and State banks, and local government entities on all sides of transactions. Gregory is a member of the State Bar of Texas , a member of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas, and is certified in Professional Fiduciary Management...

Jodi Lazar practices family law exclusively and represents clients in both the traditional litigation and collaborative law models, depending on the client’s needs.

Jodi is also an Adjunct Professor in the Advocacy Department at The University of Texas School of Law, where she teaches Intensive Trial Skills and works with the Interscholastic Mock Trial Program.

EDUCATION
The University of Texas School of Law, 1988
The University of Texas at Austin, 1985

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & HONORS
Member, State Bar of Texas (Family Law Section)
Member, Oregon State Bar
Member, American Bar Association (Family Law Section)
Member, Austin Bar Association (Family Law Section)
Member, College of the State Bar of Texas

COLLABORATIVE LAW...

Michael M. Probus, Jr. received his law degree with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1988. Mr. Probus served as judicial law clerk for the chief judge for the United States District Court in Houston, Texas during his first two years as an attorney, then he returned to Austin for the private practice of law. In 1997, Mr. Probus founded his own law firm. Mr. Probus has been listed in Who's Who in American Law since 1996.

Pamela Hailey-Petty is an experienced attorney and owner of Hailey-Petty Law Firm, PLLC. She has legal offices in both Austin and San Antonio. Since 2014, Mrs. Hailey-Petty has helped numerous Texans organize their futures through her knowledge and expertise in estate planning law. She also regularly provides legal counsel to clients navigating the probate process and to those interested in business formation.

Prior to her career as an attorney, Mrs. Hailey-Petty worked for the Governor of Texas. During her time at the Governor’s office, she served as the Investment Manager and Deputy Director of the 300-million-dollar Emerging Technology Fund.

Mrs....

Joey Leak has a diverse litigation and business practice, representing clients ranging from individuals and local companies to regional and national firms. His transactional practice includes general business and real estate matters, as well as private equity fund formation and offerings. An experienced litigator, Joey is also able to assist his clients in a broad range of commercial matters, including those involving breach of contract, fraud, embezzlement, property disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, business torts, partnership disputes, and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

Mike began his legal career as a prosecutor at the Hidalgo County District Attorney’s office representing the State of Texas in the prosecution of Misdemeanor and Felony criminal cases. He learned to prepare cases for trial and go to trial on a wide variety of criminal matters. Mike was then recruited by a leading employment law firm, Aaron Pena & Associates in the Rio Grande Valley representing clients in all aspects of employment litigation. During his tenor at Aaron Pena & Associates he learned the civil aspect of litigation. Mike handled cases from the inception of...

I am a former college football player who had the privilege of playing at Nebraska Wesleyan University and Ohio Northern University. Currently, I practice law at Ramey & Flock in Tyler, Texas. My practice areas include sports law, estate planning, and business litigation. I am dedicated to advocating for players, student-athletes, coaches, teams, organizations, and universities to achieve optimal outcomes. Having grown up with sports as my sole focus, I am particularly passionate and charismatic when working with those involved in the sports industry.

Trent Nichols is a 7th generation Texan born and raised in rural Central Texas. When it came to work, he learned and adopted the values that run deep through the people this great state was built on: Work Hard. Work Smart. Work Honest. Those same values define the approach to legal representation at the Law Offices of Trent Nichols. Trent has dedicated his career to serving, supporting, and fighting for his clients, relying on his wealth of knowledge and experience in business and a tenacity to achieve results. Trent focuses his practice on what he knows best: Business Law, Civil...