PARTNERS OF FIRM
James H. Powers (Partner) born Savannah, Georgia, May 28, 1950; admitted to bar, 1979, Texas and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas; 1980, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas; 1981, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit; 1991, U.S. District Court, Western and Northern Districts of Texas. Education: Rice University (B.A., 1974); University of Houston (J.D., 1978). Order of Barristers; A.B.A. Moot Court Team; National Moot Court Team. Member: Houston and American (Tort and Insurance Practice and Litigation Sections) Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas (Environmental and Litigation Sections); Defense Research Institute; Texas Association of Defense Counsel. Reported Cases: Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. Chatham, 899 S.W.2d 722; Owens-Illinois, Inc. v. Estate of Burt, 897 S.W.2d 765 (Consolidation of Srite v. Owens-Illinois, 870 S.W.2d 556); Keene Corp. v. Wittig, 855 S.W.2d 280; Keene Corp. v. Caldwell, 840 S.W.2d 715. Practice Areas: Asbestos Defense; Products Liability Defense; General Civil Liability.Email: James H. Powers
Sharla J. Frost (Managing Partner) born Paris, Texas, November 26, 1961; admitted to bar, 1987, Texas; 2001, Oklahoma; 2002, Colorado and West Virginia; 2005, Mississippi; U.S. District Court, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, U.S. District Court, Western District of Oklahoma and U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia. Education: Southeastern Oklahoma State University (B.A., with honors, 1984); Baylor University (J.D., 1987). Phi Alpha Delta; Baylor Order of Barristers. Member, Inns of Court. A.B.A. Moot Court Team. Dawson Moot Court Award. Named as Texas Super Lawyer, 2005, 2006, 2007. Distinguished Alumni, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, 2004. Recipient, Leon Jaworski Scholarship. Member: Houston, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia and American (Litigation, Labor and Employment Law Practice and Management Sections) Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas (Labor Law and Litigation Sections); The Mississippi Bar; Defense Research Institute; National Association of Women Lawyers (Member, Supreme Court Nominee Evaluation Committee); International Association of Defense Counsel; American Board of Trial Advocates. Practice Areas: Products Liability Defense(80%); General Civil Liability(15%); Health Care Law(5%).Email: Sharla J. Frost
Gwendolyn S. Frost (Partner) born Hugo, Oklahoma, July 5, 1965; admitted to bar, 1990, Texas; 1991, Oklahoma; 1992, Louisiana, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. Education: Southeastern Oklahoma State University (B.S., with honors, 1987); University of Oklahoma College of Law (J.D., 1990). Alpha Chi; Phi Delta Phi. Cardinal Key. Member: State Bar of Texas; Oklahoma, Louisiana State and American Bar Associations; Bar Association of the 5th Federal Circuit; Houston Young Lawyers Association; Defense Research Institute. Practice Areas: Sports Contracts; Sports Law; Entertainment Contracts; Entertainment Litigation; Entertainment Law; Asbestos Defense; Products Liability Defense; Environmental Liability; Personal Injury Defense; NCAA Regulation.Email: Gwendolyn S. Frost
Lori Wiese (Head of Product Liability Litigation) born Lubbock, Texas, August 1, 1963; admitted to bar, 1989, Texas and U.S. District Court, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas. Education: Southern Nazarene University (B.A., cum laude, 1984); Baylor University (J.D., 1988). Delta Theta Phi. Member, Order of Barristers. Member: Houston and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas; National Association of Women Lawyers; Defense Research Institute; Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Practice Areas: Products Liability; Insurance Defense; Toxic Torts; Professional Liability; Personal Injury.Email: Lori Wiese
Laura Spadafora Rahman (Partner) born New Orleans, Louisiana, April 1, 1970; admitted to bar, 1996, Louisiana and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana; 1997, Texas; 1998, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas; 2006, U. S. District Court, Western and Middle Districts of Louisiana. Education: Louisiana State University and A. an M. College (B.A., 1992; J.D., 1995). Member: Houston and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas; Louisiana Bar Association; National Association of Women Lawyers; Defense Research Institute. Practice Areas: Toxic Torts; Civil Litigation.Email: Laura Spadafora Rahman
ASSOCIATES
Clyde (Chip) Adams (Associate) born Dothan, Alabama, February 17, 1974; admitted to bar, 2000, Texas; 2001, U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. Education: Texas A&M University (B.S., 1997); Baylor University (J.D., 2000). Member: State Bar of Texas. Practice Areas: Civil Litigation; Toxic Torts; Products Liability.Email: Clyde (Chip) Adams
Alma J. Aguirre (Associate) born Buffalo, New York, 1972; admitted to bar, 2001, Texas. Education: University of Houston (B.A., 1996); South Texas College of Law (J.D., 2000). Member: State Bar of Texas; American Bar Association. Languages: Spanish. Practice Areas: Toxic Torts; Products Liability; Civil Litigation.Email: Alma J. Aguirre
Shawn David Golden (Associate) born Groves, Texas, April 12, 1971; admitted to bar, 1997, Texas; 1998, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas; 2001, Louisiana; 2006, Oklahoma, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas and U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana; 2007, U.S. District Court, Western District of Oklahoma and U.S. Supreme Court. Education: University of Houston (B.A., Political Science, 1994); South Texas College of Law (J.D., 1997). Member, South Texas College of Law Alumni Association. Author: note, "Andrea M. Johnson and Shawn D. Golden, Arbitration: Notice and Enforcement, Case Note: In Re Dallas Peterbilt, LTD., L.L.P., 2006 WL 1651694 (Tex. June 16, 2006) (per curiam)," Published in The Houston Lawyer, October 2006. Presentation and Seminar: Texas Unemployment Claims: Practices & Strategy - Do you Fight it? If so, then how?; Documents and E-mail - Security in the Workplace; Documents and E-Mail Security for the insurance Professional. Presentation: Blogs, Email & Technology: Connecting Employment Strategies, 2007; Litigation and the Claims File, 2007: Everything You Wanted to Know About Employment Law, Chubb Insurance Company, Dallas, Texas , October 12, 2007. Seminar, Pfizer Inc.'s Employment Law Seminar - Strategic Legal Thinking for Not-For-Profit Executives, Houston, Texas, April 2006. Former Senior Attorney, Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, Houston Texas, 2000-2002. Former Associate Attorney, Brill & Associates, 2000-2002. Member: Houston, Louisiana State, Oklahoma and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas; Defense Research Institute; Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program; Houston Habitat for Humanity; Texas Association of Defense Counsel. Fellow: PREDISAN. Reported Cases: Bayer MaterialSciences LLC v. Brian McCarry, Cause No. 1-07-415; Fred M. Wright, et al v. A C and S, Inc., et al., Cause No. D-167,964; Kenneth Shirley v. PCC, Cause No. 95-10495. Languages: Spanish. Practice Areas: Toxic Tort Defense.Email: Shawn David Golden
Todd Christopher Hermes (Associate) born Minneapolis, Minnesota; admitted to bar, 2000, Texas; 2001, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. Education: Stephen F. Austin State University (B.A., 1991); South Texas College of Law (J.D., 2000) Dean's Honor List. Phi Delta Phi. Recipient, Highest Grade Award in Family Law, Summer 1999. Member: American Bar Association (Member, Litigation Section, 2002). Practice Areas: Products Liability.Email: Todd Christopher Hermes
Chandria Jackson (Associate) born Fort Wayne, Indiana, 1976; admitted to bar, 2005, Texas; U.S. District Court, Eastern and Southern Districts of Texas. Education: Georgia Institute of Technology (B.S., Industrial Engineering, 1999); University of Houston Law Center (J.D., 2004). Member: State Bar of Texas; Houston, American and National Bar Associations. Practice Areas: Products Liability Defense; Toxic Torts; Defense Litigation.Email: Chandria Jackson
David Odom (Associate) born Dallas, Texas, August 4, 1973; admitted to bar, 2002, Texas. Education: University of Texas at Austin (B.A., History, 1997); South Texas College of Law (J.D., 2002). Practice Areas: Toxic Tort; Product Liability.Email: David Odom
Michelle R. Scheiffele (Associate) born Houston, Texas, September 8, 1977; admitted to bar, 2002, Texas. Education: Houston Baptist University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1999); South Texas College of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2002). Phi Delta Phi. Member: State Bar of Texas; Houston Bar Association. Practice Areas: Toxic Tort; Products Liability Defense; Premises Liability Defense; Medical Malpractice Defense.Email: Michelle R. Scheiffele
Margaret A. Solomon (Associate) born Terre Haute, Indiana, August 27, 1970; admitted to bar, 2000, Texas. Education: University of Texas at Austin (B.A., Psychology, 1992); University of Oklahoma College of Law (J.D., 1995). Phi Delta Phi. Member Board of Governors, 1995. Supreme Court Justice, University of Oklahoma, 1995. Member: Houston and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas; Defense Research Institute; National Association of Women Lawyers; Texas Association of Defense Counsel; Texas Young Lawyers Association. Practice Areas: Civil Defense.Email: Margaret A. Solomon
Marcus W. Waters (Associate) born Selmer, Tennessee, August 5, 1972; admitted to bar, 1998, Texas and U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas. Education: Baylor University (B.A., 1994); University of Houston Law Center (J.D., 1998). Member: Houston and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas; Houston Young Lawyers Association. Practice Areas: Products Liability; Toxic Torts; Personal Injury; Medical Malpractice.Email: Marcus W. Waters
OF COUNSEL
Mary Alice Parsons (Of Counsel) born Fort Sill, Oklahoma, June 12, 1969; admitted to bar, 1994, Texas and U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. Education: Tulane University of Louisiana (B.S., 1991); University of Houston Law Center (J.D., 1994). Member: Houston and American Bar Associations; State Bar of Texas. Practice Areas: Products Liability; Toxic Torts; Premises Liability; Employment Discrimination; Civil Practice; Personal Injury; Admiralty and Maritime Law; Defamation.Email: Mary Alice Parsons
LEGAL SUPPORT PERSONNEL
Barbara Passmore born Selma, Alabama, January 9, 1947; Education: Alvin Community College (A.A.S., 1998); Sam Houston State University (B.A., 1968); NALA (2001). Member: National Association of Legal Assistants.Email: Barbara Passmore