Ottine Lawyers

Melissa Stone Myers began her career in patent litigation with the Delaware law firm, Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP. After moving to Austin, Melissa and her family planted new roots. Building relationships with a network of growing families, Melissa Stone Myers recognized the need for families to plan for their future and that of their children. Melissa also realized a growing demand for advice and assistance with local small businesses. StoneMyers Law PLLC was formed to help families plan for their future and help small businesses achieve their goals.

Professional Background:
J.D. cum laude, Boston University School of Law (1998)

B.S. Biochemistry...

Professional Licenses and Court Admissions: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, United States District Court for the Western and Northern Districts of Texas, United States Patent & Trademark Office, all Courts of the State of Texas.

Education: Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from the University of Houston, Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, with honor, from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Legal Experience: Specializing in Patent Law, including patent drafting, prosecution and procurement, in the United States and in other countries. Technical areas of expertise include wireless communications, digital signal...

Tom helps military and veterans bring personal injury lawsuits against the government with Whitehurst, Harkness, Brees, Cheng, Alsaffar, & Higginbotham, PLLC. He serves as a co-chair of AYLA-Austin Bar Judicial Program, is a member of the Calvert Inn of Court, and a mock trial coach at UT. Previously, he clerked at the Fifth Circuit. In law school, he was editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review. Mr. Jacob has taken on a wide range of medical malpractice and personal injury cases, including failure to diagnose cancer, birth injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. In 2012, he tried to judgment a failure to...

I represent both individuals and businesses, in areas such as: - Personal injury (car/truck accidents, DWI, motorcycle, slip-and-fall cases, on-the-job injuries, etc.). - Businesses needing help with corporate formation, protection of intellectual property, contract review, etc. - Litigation on behalf of both businesses and consumers in all types of disputes.

Joe Lopez is a personal injury attorney at Joe Lopez Law in Austin, TX. Joe devotes his time and practice to helping people that have been injured as a result of negligence. Born and raised in El Paso, Texas, Joe has helped many Texans get the compensation they are entitled to either through trial or settlement. His firm is committed to providing excellent representation for victims of automobile accidents, animal attacks, product liability, pedestrian accidents, wrongful death, and more. Joe is fluent in both English and Spanish.

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...

Charles McFarland has extensive experience representing property owners whose private property has been taken by the government for public use. His primary area of practice focuses on highway and roadway widening projects that impact retail, commercial, industrial and special use properties. He also has successfully represented clients affected by pipelines, electric transmission lines, flood control, and other public-use projects.

An honors graduate of both the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas School of Law, Charles was a partner at Vinson & Elkins before forming McFarland PLLC, a boutique law firm focusing exclusively on condemnation and eminent domain...

Ms. Mills is an experienced Copyright, Trademark and Business Litigation attorney providing strong representation for small and mid-sized business clients in Federal and Texas State Courts and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Ms. Mills is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Texas and is Generally admitted in the Northern District of Illinois.

Ms. Mills represents Defendants and Plaintiffs in a broad range of business litigation matters, including copyright and trademark infringement, unfair competition, business disparagement, misappropriation of trade secrets,...

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...

I was born and raised in Austin, Texas where my parents set roots from Mexico. I attended the Liberal Arts Academy at the former Johnston High School in East Austin and went on to double major in journalism and government at UT Austin. During my studies at UT, I had the privilege of interning at NBC Mexico/ Telemundo in Mexico City. I also studied abroad in Paris for a semester, where I honed my French language skills. After my undergraduate studies, I worked for a national non-profit organization and later enrolled in law school. Part of my studies took me...

I have been practicing law in Austin since 1977. After many years of a litigation-focused practice I have changed that focus to Estate Planning and Probate. I am no longer maintaining a downtown office, so I frequently meet at clients’ homes or offices or at other places convenient for the client. I am able to offer services for much less than I did in the past. I hope that my clients will continue to consult me about the important issues in their lives. If I unable to personally assist them I will recommend appropriate professionals.

Tom is married since 1971 to...

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...

Alex Shahrestani is the managing partner of Promise Legal PLLC, a law firm dedicated to providing cutting-edge legal solutions for tech startups and emerging businesses. With a background in computer science and law, Alex specializes in intellectual property, data privacy, and startup law, leveraging his technical expertise to deliver innovative, client-focused legal strategies. A thought leader in the tech-legal space, Alex has contributed to key industry conversations through roles at SXSW, EFF-Austin, and the State Bar of Texas. At Promise Legal, he spearheads the integration of technology into legal practice, offering efficient and cost-effective solutions to empower innovators and drive...

Attorney Wes Hazen comes from a working class family and strives to serve as a role model not only within the legal community but more importantly, his local community in South Austin. For many, the assistance of "quality" legal services is often correlated with the pedigree of an attorney, the prestige of the firm they work with, or the sheer experience a particular practitioner may possess. All fine attributes to possess, but not entirely what truly matters in the practice of law. The true measure of greatness in practicing law, I believe, boils down to three relatively simple principles. First...

Sablatura & Williams PLLC is a legal office committed to helping residents of Austin find solutions to their various legal matters. With an office in Round Rock and an office in Austin, the attorneys strive to make their services as easily accessible to their clients as possible. The team focuses their practice on the areas of criminal defense, family law, immigration law, and personal injury law, and they understand that dealing with matters in these fields can be some of the most complicated legal issues to have to work through. The attorneys pride themselves on focusing on the needs of...

Before starting his own law practice, Don worked for a well-regarded corporate law firm, for a state attorney general, and as a judicial law clerk. He has seen first-hand how the law is made, how it is shaped by court decisions, and how it affects business clients. Don began his legal career with a one-year clerkship at the Texas Supreme Court, which is Texas's highest court and focuses on civil (not criminal) cases. Law clerks help the Court evaluate which of the roughly one thousand petitions filed each year should be granted and help the Justices write their opinions. His private practice...

Blair Leake is a young attorney with considerable litigation experience and success. His practice thus far has focused on civil and criminal trial work, as well as estate and business planning. Blair attended the University of Texas for his undergraduate degree and received his doctorate of jurisprudence at the University of Houston Law Center.

Scott Cook represents employees in a variety of employment disputes with their employers. Scott Cook is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has dedicated his career to extensive knowledge and practice in the area of employment law. His law firm, the Cook Law Firm, also focuses primarily on the representation of employees in employment law cases, ranging from disputes regarding unpaid overtime to discrimination to retaliation (and a long list of other matters). Dedicated to obtaining justice and fairness in the workplace, the Cook Law Firm continues to...

I spent most of my legal career as an Assistant Attorney General and became Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law, and became an appellate expert. Most of my time there was spent in Tort Litigation, where I defended doctors, nurses, PA's, and Medical Schools. I also tried premises and general negligence cases. Now I teach at ACC’s paralegal program and practice criminal defense, and personal injury.

Registered lobbyist Steve Koebele provides public policy representation, counseling, and advocacy for a diverse range of clients composed of market leaders in their respective industries. He successfully improves laws and government toward clear goals: increasing job creation and enhancing economic opportunities. From the best Texas lobbyist office location, Steve Koebele has successfully achieved legal and public policy goals before diverse state agencies.

I graduated with dual degrees from the Arts & Sciences and the Business schools at Washington University and set out to find employment in the corporate workforce. I quickly found corporate life to be monotonous, so after a year of working in the business sector, I returned to school to study law.

In 2010 I graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and I immediately began litigating with Lone Star Legal Aid, handling cases under VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) grant work.

In these roles, I noticed that—regardless of the specific subject matter of the case—familial problems often caused, contributed to, or...

I'm a Board Certified Administrative Law problem solver: a litigation attorney specializing in administrative law (a special area of law focusing on representation before licensing boards, regulatory agencies, and commissions). I aggressively represent and defend clients at informal settlement conferences (ISC), enforcement committee meetings (EC), the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), Travis County district court, and the courts of appeals, specifically related to these agencies:
•Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners
•Texas Medical Board
•Texas Board of Nurse Examiners
•Texas State Board of Dental Examiners
•Texas Board of Architectural Examiners
•Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners
•Texas Board of Professional Engineers
•Health and Human Services Commission...

Josh is the Managing Partner and CEO of Phillips Golden LLP and head of its Real Estate Section. Josh’s practice centers on advising and counseling real estate entrepreneurs, investors and businesses through all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions & dispositions, development, leasing (retail, office, industrial, and ground leases, build to suit and telecommunications), purchase and sale agreements, private development agreements, construction contracts, management agreements, and related due diligence matters. A significant portion of his time is devoted to representation of developer equity investors in the formation of pass-through entities (e.g., LLCs, limited partnerships and joint...

Since 2005, attorney Mark Kinzler has successfully assisted hundreds of immigrants and their families in securing the American dream. Mr. Kinzler has represented and advised clients in a wide variety of immigration-related matters, both as private practice attorney and as the director of a major Austin-area non-profit immigration services program. He has been a tireless advocate for his clients. Mr. Kinzler has also been a staunch advocate for the rights of immigrants at both the local and national level by participating in and organizing lobbying efforts to put a stop to the harsh and inhumane effects of many current U.S....

My practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and arbitration. I represent clients in high-stakes, high-dollar disputes involving breach of contract, employment law, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, insurance coverage, securities disputes, class actions, and whistleblower claims. I have represented both plaintiffs and defendants before state and federal courts, and in domestic and international arbitration proceedings.

Rand recently joined The Butler Firm after heading up the bankruptcy department at Patricia Brown & Associates, P.C. He has extensive knowledge and experience handling bankruptcy cases and enjoys finding creative ways to obtain debt relief for consumers and businesses. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Rand moved to Austin in the late-nineties to attend the University of Texas at Austin. While in college, Rand met his wife and developed a love of Austin that would stay with him for the remainder of his life. After acquiring a bachelor's degree in Economics with a minor in Business Administration, Rand enrolled in...

Amanda Traphagan is a Texas tax attorney who has spent her entire legal career assisting taxpayers with contested tax matters. She has assisted taxpayers against the Texas Comptroller, the Internal Revenue Service, and tax authorities of other states in administrative proceedings as well as state and federal trial and appellate courts. Amanda Traphagan is admitted to practice law in the State of Texas, the United States Tax Court, and before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and District of Columbia Circuits. Amanda Traphagan's published state tax cases include the Texas Supreme Court cases Combs v. Roark Amusement &...

DiafiLaw is a full service family law office owned and operated by attorney Sarah Diafi. Sarah has committed nearly three decades of her career to the practice of family law in Austin. Sarah Diafi is a fully licensed attorney in the State of Texas, and has practiced law in Texas since 1989. Sarah has lived in Austin since 1976. Sarah graduated from the University of Texas in 1985 with a bachelor of arts in English Literature. She then attended St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas, receiving her law degree in 1988. She lives in Austin with...

I have practiced oil and gas law in Texas since 1975, specializing in representation of land and mineral owners. I am certified in oil and gas law by Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I have been employed at Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody in Austin, Texas since 1978, and have been serving as President of the firm since January 2018.

Graduated from St. Stephens Episcopal School 1968. Undergraduate Yale University 1972, JD University of Texas 1975, Clerk on Texas Supreme Court 1975-76, Justice Ross Doughty.

Kevin Collins focuses upon environmental crime and other litigation, counseling during grand-jury investigations, and internal corporate investigations. He practices in state, federal, and administrative courts. Prior to joining Baker Botts, Mr. Collins served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Texas. As a former federal prosecutor, he has signficant experience leading government investigations and prosecuting individuals and corporations who committed crimes in several areas including environmental crime, health-care fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.