Cotten Schmidt L.L.P.

Ms. Hoyt is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law -- Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Ms. Hoyt’s legal practice focuses on advising, counseling, litigating and trial work in the areas of employment law, toxic tort/chemical exposure cases, premises & products liability cases and commercial disputes. Her practice also encompasses defense of employment-related breach of contract, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims, as well as discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims. Ms. Hoyt also has experience in handling employment arbitrations.

She has extensive experience in counseling and advising corporations, small businesses and human resource professionals in a broad range of employment-related matters as well as drafting, implementing and training with respect to employment policies and practices. Ms. Hoyt also has management-side defense experience in administrative proceedings, such as EEOC/TCHR Charges of Discrimination, wage claims and Texas Unemployment Insurance Claims. She has reviewed, drafted and litigated non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality/trade secret agreements.

Ms. Hoyt has tried both jury and non-jury trials in Texas courts, obtaining successful defense verdicts for clients in age discrimination, asbestos and commercial vehicle property damage accident cases. She has also handled alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as employment arbitrations and mediations.

Ms. Hoyt is a frequent faculty presenter for Lorman Education Services, speaking to HR Managers, Payroll Managers, CFO’s and other business personnel in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on topics such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Managing Wage Challenges, and Effectively Handling Terminations.

Prior to moving to Fort Worth and joining Cotten Schmidt in August of 2004, Ms. Hoyt practiced litigation/trial and employment law in Houston, Texas with the firm of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP and before that with Thompson & Knight, P.C.’s Houston office.

Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Hoyt worked for nearly 5 years for Conoco Inc. at its Houston headquarters in downstream marketing, pricing/supply and marketing information systems. While with Conoco, Ms. Hoyt also focused a great deal of her energy on corporate and on-campus recruiting and hiring efforts for the company.