Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith Welcomes Luisa Calderon to the Houston, Texas Office
Houston, Texas (May 9, 2012) – Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith (GJTBS) is excited to announce the addition of Luisa F. Calderon as an Associate Attorney in their Houston, Texas office.
Luisa F. Calderon obtained her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Loyola University, New Orleans College of Law and was licensed to practice law in Texas in 2010. While in law school, Luisa was a member and coach of the Trial Advocacy program. During her last year of law school, Luisa worked at the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office as a student attorney, where she successfully tried several cases to verdict. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minor in French from Southern Methodist University in 1999.
Luisa is a trial litigator whose areas of concentration are personal injury, premises liability, commercial liability, employment law, maritime, and first and third party insurance defense.
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, Luisa is fluent in Spanish, although growing up in The Woodlands, Texas it was rarely utilized; however, little did she know that it would be a great tool for Texas’ ever-changing cultural make-up. Luisa’s love for adventure led her to study abroad in Paris while at SMU and in Brazil while at Loyola. In her free time, she enjoys participating in half-marathons.
For more information about Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr and Smith, please visit us online at http://www.gjtbs.com.
Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith (GJTBS) is a Gulf South regional law firm dedicated to delivering value in legal counsel for 25 years to local, national and international clients in dozens of industries. GJTBS employs over 90 attorneys located in ten cities in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Missouri. GJTBS attorneys are experienced in handling insurance defense, admiralty and maritime law, energy, oil and gas, products liability, employer’s liability, general casualty, professional liability, property, construction, transportation, title resolution, amusements, sports and leisure law, restaurant and retail law, as well as corporate transactional matters.
Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith Adds Another Title Litigation Attorney to Strengthen Firm’s St. Louis Office
St. Louis, MO (May 9, 2012) – Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith (GJTBS) is excited to announce the addition of David Renovitch as an Associate Attorney in the St. Louis office. David rejoins practicing with Scott Mueller, who recently put together the Title Resolution team at GJTBS. David’s addition to this practice group in St. Louis will not only increase the support for clients in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas, but also that of their clients in the other jurisdictions in which GJTBS has a presence.
“We are happy to add David’s expertise and enthusiasm to the office” said Scott Mueller. “David and I have worked together in this industry for some time and although we approach it from different angles, our philosophy is the same, to deliver the highest quality work and efficient result possible”, Mr. Mueller added.
David P. Renovitch practices in all areas of civil litigation and insurance defense with an emphasis on title insurance litigation. David achieves results for his clients by delivering creative, effective, and efficient solutions.
David’s experience includes numerous jury trials, bench trials, and hearings on dispositive motions. He has argued before the Missouri Court of Appeals and briefed several appellate cases, including at the federal court of appeals. He has taken or defended well over a hundred depositions, including experts in the areas of medicine, real estate, construction and products liability.
David graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison Law School and is licensed in Missouri, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
We are proud to welcome David Renovitch to the GJTBS Title Resolution team consisting of Scott Mueller, Kristin Steinkamp and Rebecca Spurgin.
For more information about Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr and Smith, please visit us online at http://www.gjtbs.com.
Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith (GJTBS) is a Gulf South regional law firm dedicated to delivering value in legal counsel for 25 years to local, national and international clients in dozens of industries. GJTBS employs over 90 attorneys located in ten cities in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Missouri. GJTBS attorneys are experienced in handling insurance defense, admiralty and maritime law, energy, oil and gas, products liability, employer’s liability, general casualty, title resolution, professional liability, property, construction, transportation, amusements, sports and leisure law, restaurant and retail law, as well as corporate transactional matters.
Summary Judgment to Defeat Misplaced Vexatious Refusal
GJTBS prevailed on its Motion for Summary Judgment in Clinton County, IL on behalf of a national title insurer faced with a complaint from an uninsured party. The real estate transaction closing took place at and was conducted by an agent of the client, but resulted in no actual loss to the plaintiff. Scott Mueller and David Renovitch prevailed on the argument that neither the title policy nor Illinois tort law provided an avenue for relief or created some kind of “hyper-responsibility” on the part of the client, which merely performed its obligations in a transaction ill-fated for other reasons, including the plaintiffs’ own negligence.
Verdict for GJTBS Ambulance Service Client in Personal Injury Suit
Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr and Smith (GJTBS) was privileged to defend an ambulance service company against a claim for personal injuries arising out of a motor vehicle accident. The Plaintiff, who was a patient in the back of an ambulance, alleged that he was injured following a minor collision between the ambulance and another vehicle. Plaintiff filed suit against the ambulance service and the driver of the other vehicle, alleging back and neck injuries. GJTBS director Peter Bourgeois tried the case to verdict. After considering the law and evidence, the Court issued Judgment in favor of our client, dismissing the claim and awarding plaintiff nothing.
The PLDF Board of Directors has chosen Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr and Smith’s Director Larry Canada to serve as Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, of Professional Liability Defense Federation’s Construction Design Claims Committee for the 2012 term. Congratulations!
Larry Canada and Kathryn Breard Platt participated in the “Lawyers in the Mississippi Classroom”…
Larry Canada and Kathryn Breard Platt participated in the “Lawyers in the Mississippi Classroom” program by the Louisiana State Bar Association. Larry participated in Ms. Lewis-Robateau’s 7th and 8th grade class at E.P. Harney Elementary School and Kathryn participated in Linda Salley’s class at St. Martin High School.
Summary Judgment Against Seller That Misrepresented Title Defect
GJTBS represented a national title insurer in an action to enforce an indemnification agreement and warranty signed by a seller that the client relied upon in closing a real estate transaction, but which was false and led to a loss for the company. GJTBS defeated the defendant’s motion for summary judgment and motion to dismiss based on the language of the agreement and prevailed on its own motion for summary judgment since the defendant seller, a trust managed by an attorney, did not qualify for the consumer protection standards related to indemnity agreements and the client was awarded its full prayer for relief plus pre-judgment interest.
Missouri Court Invokes Ethridge to Deny Equitable Subrogation
Written by Scott B. Mueller, Special Counsel at Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr and Smith in St. Louis, Missouri
In a case handed down March 6th by the Eastern District of Missouri, State of Missouri ex rel., Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission v. Westgrove Corporation, et al. (No. ED95960, March 6, 2012), the Eastern District struck another limiting and confining blow to the doctrine of equitable subrogation in Missouri.
In Westgrove, the Eastern District overturned summary judgment awarded by the circuit court in favor of property owners who bought a parcel of property from their own company and in the process satisfied senior debt while failing to recognize or satisfy a judgment lien awarded to the plaintiff only a few days before the purchase transaction.
Furthermore, the judgment was only recorded a few days after the consummation of the sales transaction so the defendant purchasers arguably were not on notice of the judgment lien against the property.
The Eastern District cited to Etheridge v. TierOne and Metmor in its holding and consistent with other recent Missouri cases ignored the equitable subrogation treatment in Missouri courts prior to Ethridge, such as Anison v. Rice and others.
However, the facts in Westgrove were distinguishable to most equitable subrogation cases involving fraud in that the purchasers were also involved with the corporation against which the judgment had been entered and which had previously owned the property. Thus, the apparent lack of arms length transaction should have precluded equitable relief in the first instance. This, and the lack of any apparent fraud on the part of the seller, other creditors or plaintiff, fell well below the court’s new requirement of “acts bordering on if not rising to the level of fraud” in order for equitable subrogation to apply.
Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr and Smith (GJTBS) wins a public bid protest challenging the division of facility planning, State of Louisiana on a public university construction project. The judge issued an injunction prohibiting the award to another contractor. The legal issue involved how corrections are made to a bid form and whether one set of initials is sufficient to change the bid amount.
