Practice Description

Ms. Newkirk’s practice includes employment law litigation as well as employment law counseling and transactional work.  She regularly represents clients in lawsuits and administrative proceedings involving federal and state employment law statutes (such as Title VII, the ADEA, the ADA, Texas Labor Code, etc.) as well as litigation involving allegations of theft of trade secrets and violation of non-competition and non-solicitation agreements.  Ms. Newkirk also works with clients on complex employment law counseling issues such as managing discipline and terminations in high risk scenarios (which may involve employees who fall within multiple protected categories or are high-ranking executives), managing leaves of absences and navigating the issues raised by the FMLA, ADA and workers’ compensation statutes, and conducting sensitive or high level internal investigations.  She has significant experience in planning and executing reductions in force, which includes evaluating the risks raised by the proposed reductions and drafting employee communications and severance agreements.  Ms. Newkirk assists clients with drafting executive employment agreements as well as non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements.  She regularly advises clients on appropriate classification of employees as exempt or non-exempt under FLSA and of workers as employees or independent contractors under state and federal statutes; she handles administrative proceedings and litigation on these subjects as well.  Ms. Newkirk also teams with transactional lawyers to perform due diligence and review and provide advice on the employment law aspects of merger and asset purchase agreements.

Selected Presentations and Publications

• Presenter, “New Regulations, Recent Court Decision, and Vital Strategies for Managing Your Leave Law Challenges”
• Presenter, “Trends in Employment: Pop Culture Crosses Into the Workplace”
• Presenter, “Did You Know?  Recent  Trends in Employment Law”
• Presenter, “Reduction in Force Issues”
• Presenter, “Managing the Difficult Employee”
• Author, Controversy Surrounds EEOC’s Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance

Professional / Civic Activities

• Attorneys Serving the Community
• Co-Chair, Networking Committee 2013 – Present
• Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, 2011 – Present
• Dallas Bar Association
• Employment Law Section
• Chair, Employment Law Section, 2004, Vice-chair, 2003
• State Bar of Texas
• Employment Law Section

Achievements

• Best Lawyers in America – Employment Law Management and Labor Law, 2013-2015
• Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine, 2012, 2015
• Texas Super Lawyer by Law & Politics Magazine and Texas Monthly in 2005 – 2015
• Texas Rising Star by Law & Politics Magazine and Texas Monthly in 2004 and 2005

Practice Description

Mr. Lownds represents clients in complex litigation regarding banking, construction, fraud, corporate control, real estate, trademark infringement, commodities trading, deceptive trade practices and contract disputes. His consistent success in court has been based on his unique ability to condense and theme complex transactions and facts into simple and persuasive presentations.

Representative Experience

Appointed to American Arbitration Association, Commercial and Construction Panels, in 1991. Served as arbitrator over more than 100 arbitrations. Appointed to American Arbitration National Mass Claims Panel in 1998.

Served as lead appellate counsel in cases before the Courts of Appeal in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Amarillo, and Corpus Christi, as well as the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits.

Served as lead trial counsel with litigation team in over 50 trials and arbitrations involving commercial and business disputes. Trials and arbitrations range from a few days to over 4 months. Cases tried are diverse including disputes regarding construction delays in construction of petrochemical plants and retractable roof sports facility, business fraud, defective design of air separation facility, global freight forwarding contracts, trade secret and noncompetes, securities fraud, real estate, and the design, operation and warranty of industrial equipment.

Handled one of first “paperless” trials in Federal District Court in Dallas in 1995. For past 15 years has consistently taken advantage of the latest advancements in document management and presentation technology in discovery and the courtroom to provide the most effective advocacy for clients while keeping costs in line with the clients’ ultimate objectives.

Selected Publications, Seminars and Cases

Formosa Plastics Corp., USA v. Kajima International, Inc., 216 S.W.3d 436 (Tex.App.- Corpus Christi, 2006, pet. denied)

Bulko v. Morgan Stanley DW, Inc., 2004 WL 2973760 (N.D.Tex. Dec. 20, 2004) (Sanders, J.)

Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation v. Cribbs, 918 F.2d 557

Campbell v. C.D. Payne and Geldermann Securities, Inc., 894 S.W.2d 411

Hirschfeld Steel Co., Inc. v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., 201 S.W.3d 272 (Tex.App.- Houston [14 Dist.],2006)

American Fidelity Fire Inc. Co. v. Pixley, 687 S.W.2d 50 (Tex. App. -Houston [14 Dist]., 1985)

Shamrock Roofing Supply, Inc. v. Mercantile Nat. Bank at Dallas, 703 S.W.2d 256 (Tex. App. –Dallas, 1985)

Deer Creek Limited v. North American Mortgage Company, 792 S.W.2d 198

In re Kajima International, 139 S.W.3d 107 (Tex. App. – Corpus Christi, 2004)

Kajima International, Inc., v. Formosa Plastics Corporation, USA, 15 S.W.3d 289

Brown v. Capital Bank, N.A., 703 S.W.2d 231

Bulko v. Morgan Stanley DW, Inc., 450 F.3d 622 (5th Cir.2006)

Awards & Honors

“Texas Super Lawyers” (Texas Monthly magazine, 2004-2013)

“Texas Top-Rated Lawyers” (Dallas Morning News & The Wallstreet Journal, 2012)

AV ® PREEMINENT Martindale-Hubbell rating