Litigation Attorney Resume

by MICHAEL B. HALLA
(Dallas, TX, USA)

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:

Litigation attorney with legal expertise in complex contractural, corporate, and municipal case law. Exceptional talent for trial advocacy.

Well-known for possessing the ability to combine expert analytical, investigative, organizational, negotiation, and courtroom litigation skills to prepare powerful claims and defenses for a significant number of municipal corporations.

Achieved favorable jury and bench trial verdicts in numerous cases involving contracts, land use, constitutional law and discrimination claims.

NICHOLS, JACKSON, DILLARD, HAGER, & SMITH (Dallas, Texas), JULY 2005 – CURRENT, Senior Associate. FIRST CHAIR TRIAL EXPERIENCE:

Representing municipalities in complex multi-party lawsuits involving eminent domain, employment and labor law, breach of contract, deprivation of civil rights claims, commercial litigation, land use, bankruptcy, civil service, constitutional law, negligence and personal injury.

*Manages complex litigation from beginning to end, developing case strategy based on municipalities’ needs in a productive and cost-effective manner: drafting and filing pleadings, preparing and arguing motions, taking expert depositions, contracting experts, preparing clients and witnesses for trial, negotiating settlements and preparing settlement documents after meeting with clients and developing trial strategy based on the needs of those clients.

*Drafts appellate briefs and present oral argument to court of appeals.
*Represents municipalities in contested administrative proceedings as well as alternative dispute resolutions such as mediation and arbitration.
*Assists municipal departments in non-litigation matters, including personnel/employee relations, transactional interpretation and drafting, and compliance.
*Leads and manage team of legal staff in furtherance of positive results for clients while managing multiple ongoing cases in a productive and cost-effective manner.

LAW OFFICES OF MICHAEL B. HALLA, APRIL 2002 –JULY 2005, Dallas, Texas (USA), Solo Practitioner.

Represented clients in immigration, creditor/debtor litigation personal injury and family law matters before the Board of Immigration Appeals, Executive Office of Immigration Review, and district and county courts in Texas.

CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE OF AUSTIN, MAY 1999 – MARCH 2002, Austin, Texas, Assistant City Attorney.
*Advised various city department personnel on the interpretation of various city ordinances. *Assisted these same departments in the drafting of these ordinances.
*Interpreted various transactional documents for several department heads.
*Drafted settlement agreements and mediated settlements for the same departments.
*Handled litigation matters in criminal matters.

EDUCATION:
CUMBERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA (USA), Doctor of Jurisprudence (MAY 1998).

HARDIN-SIMMONS UNIVERSITY, ABILENE, TEXAS B.S., BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE (MAY 1993).

LICENSURE:
*State of Texas, 1999.
*State of Alabama, 2000.
*Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
*United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
*United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
*United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.
*United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

**Publisher's Note: Interested Parties may contact Mr. Halla by commenting via the hyperlink below this page.**