Patricia L Brown & Associates

Insurance companies and their defense lawyers often look to “trap” plaintiffs in any sort of technicality they can, in order to avoid paying on claims, or in order to minimize their exposure on the claims. In this case, the…more

Like all relationships sometimes business relationships break apart. In this case my client had been in business with two friends. They had operated two distinct businesses but now wanted to go their separate ways. They had…more

Many financial institutions require that a release of record be signed by a client before releasing any records to an attorney. The contract between the attorney and client is often not sufficient for the financial institution…more

Negligence per se is the legal theory that a person may be negligent due to the violation of a public duty under a law that defines the failure of care required to constitute negligence. In other words if a law states that a…more

Depositions are an opportunity for the attorney to ask questions of a potential witness, outside of the courtroom. The witness’s responses sworn to by the witness and are taken down by a court reporter or by video. The…more

When injuries to children are the subject of settlement, Courts often appoint an attorney to represent the children for the purpose of determining whether the settlement offered is what is best for the child. The idea is that…more

Several forms of probate require that disinterested witnesses swear to certain facts regarding the deceased. Specifically, the probate code requires that the heirs of the estate be identified by sworn testimony or affidavit…more

The Texas Rules of Civil Procedure require that parties to law suits be provided with notice of the pending suit. This is generally accomplished by having the party personally served, although there are other methods of service…more

One of the most common tactics by an insurance carrier that is being sued under its uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, is to move the court to sever the case into more than one trial, or to “abate” (i.e.,…more

Another common tactic of an insurance carrier is to try and bifurcate (i.e., separate) the trials on the contract violations and the trial on exemplary damages. In this case, however, our firm had already carefully pled in the…more

The standard statute of limitations on injury cases in Texas is two years. This means that a claimant who is injured must, generally, file suit no later than two years from the date of injury, or else any claim or lawsuit for…more

When a driver is injured by another driver, he or she expects to be compensated with a settlement for the personal injuries by the liable driver’s insurance carrier. That is precisely what occurred in this case. But what…more

This is a memo containing a review of my research regarding Trademarks and the Lanham act. In this case my client’s website had certain words that drew in more traffic that the opposing party did not think were proper, including…more

This case involved a drunk driver slamming into our client’s car at night, and then fleeing the scene only to be picked up by police after nearly causing another accident. Cases like these involve high exposure for insurance…more

This memo was prepared to update a senior partner on the requirements of filing a suit by a teacher for discrimination in the workplace. In this case the client was passed over for promotion in favor of a male teacher who less…more