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Criminal Law |
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Commercial And Construction
Law Litigation |
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General Civil Litigation |
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Legal Malpractice |
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Debt Collection |
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Nuisance Litigation |
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 I received my legal education at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas and was licensed to practice in December of 1968.
From 1973 until January of 1981, I served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives. Working closely with then U. S. Representative Ron Coleman, former United States Congressman John Bryant, and present senior State Senator John Whitmire, now Dean of the Texas Senate. I was a part of the initial reform effort aimed at equalizing the funding for Texas school districts prompted by the United States Supreme Court decision in the Edgewood Independent School District case.
During my tenure in the Texas House of Representatives, I served in my freshman year as a member of the House Committee on Appropriations. In that capacity, I was able to gain in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of State government, viewed from the budget prospective, along with general knowledge of the funding processes for primary and secondary education in the context of provisions of the Texas Education Code. Additionally, during my eight years in the House I made a host of friends and contacts, many of whom are still active in Texas State Government.
Between my first and second terms in the legislature, I served as a delegate to the seven months long constitutional convention. Though the final product was not accepted by Texas voters, participation in the convention process gave me valuable knowledge about Texas Constitutional law.
In my second term, I was privileged to serve as the Chairman of the House Committee on Elections. During my tenure as Chairman, major reforms were adopted related to the Texas electoral process --- the most significant being the application of Section 5 of the Texas Voting Rights Act to our state's electoral process. The implementation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in Texas led to, among other improvements, the adoption of single member districts. My service as Chairman of the Committee on Elections provided me with considerable knowledge of the entire electoral process which governs elections in our State.
In 1983 I was appointed as attorney for El Paso County and was elected without opposition to a full term in 1984. In my capacity as County Attorney, I had a front row seat on the operations of a local unit of government. My work as County Attorney gave me first-hand experience with advising and counseling members of a local unit of government on compliance and interpretation of state and federal law related to County government. I was required as County Attorney to become an expert in the defenses available to units of local government that are sued in State and Federal Court, and in the intergovernmental relationships between the County and other entities of local government. I also became an expert in the meaning and application of the Texas Open Meetings and Records Act.
In 1986 I was elected to a full term as County Judge. In that capacity, I was instrumental in implementing a plan to restructure and rebuild county government. My first and most important priority as County Judge was to address the below standard wages that were being paid to county employees and were among the lowest paid in any urban county in Texas. When I left office in December of 1990, El Paso ranked near the top in many categories --- most prominently in the category of law enforcement. For a time, El Paso was No. 1 in Texas in the compensation paid to its peace officers.
Also during my tenure, the County set about rebuilding its infrastructure. A new $60,000,000.00 courthouse was proposed, planned, and constructed ahead of schedule. In a joint effort with the City of El Paso, the County Archives building was acquired and remodeled to accommodate most non-judicial county functions with the City using a substantial portion for its municipal court operations. Other projects included startup of the 911 emergency phone system; remodeling and improvements to the El Paso County Coliseum; implementation of an exhaustive study of El Paso County roads as a prelude to a major resurfacing program; successful opposition to the location of a radioactive waste dump near Ft. Hancock; major improvements to the consolidated City-County data processing system, and the passage of two significant tax reductions in 1989 and 1990.
Implementation of these public policy initiatives gave me a depth of knowledge about the inner workings of local government as well as the provisions of the local Government Code and the Texas Government Code. I believe this knowledge gives me special credentials to work with units of local government as legal counsel or as an advisory to clients have business with political subdivisions. Having been there, I understand the legal difficulties local units of government face in responding to the needs of citizens for basic governmental services.
From June of 1998 until June of 2000 I served as general counsel to the Ysleta Independent School District — one of the largest urban school districts in Texas. In that capacity, I defended the District in connection with a number of civil lawsuits and employee matters. I provided legal advice to the Board during its board meetings, answered legal questions presented by members of the Board, reviewed and drafted contracts, and answered legal questions posed by the District's staff. Starting in 2004 and continuing through 2007 I served as general legal counsel for the Department of Special Populations at the El Paso Independent School District handling nearly all legal matters related to the District’s special populations.
In nearly 40 years of law practice, I have never been disciplined for misconduct by the El Paso or Texas State Bar Associations, nor has a grievance ever been sustained against me. I qualify for and purchase legal malpractice insurance to protect my clients in the event my office makes a mistake in the handling of a legal matter. There has never been a successful claim made against me or my legal malpractice insurance carrier for legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, or any other related misconduct.
My firm uses the latest electronic equipment and software in servicing its clients. Electronic and paper calendars are kept jointly and cross-referenced on a daily basis. Billing and conflict checks are maintained on a software package designed exclusively for attorneys --- P.C. Law. My firm also has complete access to the entire WestLaw system via computer and maintains a specialized hard-bound Texas based legal library.
I am a member of the El Paso and Texas State Bar Associations. In the past, I have been certified by the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas and the Texas State Teachers Association to represent their members in employment disputes, disciplinary proceedings, criminal proceedings, and other related matters.
Other than the information contained in the first response above, I can add that I have lived in El Paso since 1966. I attended and am an alumnus of the University of Texas at El Paso (known in 1966 as Texas Western College). I am single and have two children ---Caroline North and Dr. Allyson Kopel. Over the years I have been involved in many community projects, including financial support for public television, service on the board of Pro-Musica, volunteer work as a member of El Paso Symphony Guild, and service on the El Paso County Law Library board of directors.
Presently my law practice is concentrated in the area of employment law, prosecution of legal malpractice claims, and business and construction law litigation, general civil litigation and debt collections. I enjoy the AV rating issued by the Martindale Hubbell Legal.
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