New Address for our Houston Office

Awards for our Louisiana Office

Sarah P. Reid

Paul Lavelle and Sarah Reid from our office in New Orleans were selected to receive the following awards from Super Lawyers:

– Paul was selected as a 2019 Louisiana Super Lawyer; and

– Sarah was selected as a 2019 Louisiana Rising Star.

Super Lawyers evaluates lawyers every year and each candidate is measured against twelve indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Congratulations to Paul Lavelle and Sarah Reid!

Paul Lavelle

New Address for our New Orleans Office

Our Office in New Orleans has a new Suite number:

650 Poydras Street
Suite 1950
New Orleans, LA 70130
Phone: (504) 568-9393
Fax: (504) 524-1933

Heat Wave – Water Donation Drive Results

Thank you, Mary and Viki, for organizing the Water Donation Drive!

And The Defense Wins

PUBLISHED JUNE 13, 2018 BY DRI

The Dallas Court of Appeals confirmed what DuPont’s defense team had asserted throughout the trial of the case in reversing the trial court’s $6,985,535.25 judgment and rendering a take-nothing judgment for DuPont. In its pretrial summary judgment motions and motions challenging the reliability of the Plaintiffs’ experts’ evidence and throughout the trial, DuPont urged and re-urged the lack of necessary scientific evidence for the Plaintiffs to comply with Texas law. DuPont’s trial attorneys, ever mindful of the potential for appeal, ensured that DuPont made a complete record. DRI member Larry Cotten of Cotten Schmidt and Abbott LLP co-counseled the trial of the case.

Larry E. Cotten

“It’s Not Over Until It’s Over” Yogi Berra

The Dallas Court of Appeals confirmed what DuPont’s defense team had asserted throughout the trial of the case in reversing the trial court’s $6,985,535.25 judgment and rendering a take-nothing judgment for DuPont.  In its pretrial summary judgment motions and motions challenging the reliability of the Plaintiffs’ experts’ evidence and throughout the trial, DuPont urged and re-urged the lack of necessary scientific evidence for the Plaintiffs to comply with Texas law.  DuPont’s trial attorneys, ever mindful of the potential for appeal, ensured that DuPont made a complete record.  Larry Cotten and Dennis Conrad of Cotten Schmidt, L.L.P. assisted by paralegal Mary Wintermote co-counseled the trial of the case.

Bad Science – The Plaintiffs’ industrial hygiene expert utilized a dissimilar respirator study and made unfounded assumptions concerning the adequacy of the respirator and respirator program.  He used inaccurate data to calculate the duration of the exposure. These flaws resulted in the expert arriving at an unreliable dose.  The Plaintiffs’ medical causation witness opinion likewise was unreliable not only because the dose calculation was unreliable but also because the studies she relied upon were either not substantially similar to the Plaintiffs’ circumstances or they failed to quantify the level of exposure.

CS opens new Houston Office and welcomes two new Partners

Fort Worth Partner Rick Disney prevailed in a Hearing with the Internal Revenue Service Appeals Office

Fort Worth Partner Rick Disney recently prevailed in a hearing with the Internal Revenue Service Appeals Office. The client had consistently treated its workers as independent contractors; however, in an audit the IRS agent said that the workers had to be reclassified as employees.
Determining whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the 20 point common law test can be difficult, even in the best of circumstances. Happily, there is a shortcut created by Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978. Section 530 is a safe harbor provisions that can prevent the IRS from retroactively reclassifying workers as employees. To get the benefit of Section 530, the taxpayer must show that it has:
1. consistently treated the workers as independent contractors;
2. completed Forms 1099 for each worker who made over $600.00 per year; and
3. had a reasonable basis for treating the workers as independent contractors.
Reasonable basis includes: 1. judicial or administrative precedent; 2. prior audit of the tax payer; 3. a significant portion of the industry treats similar workers as independent contractors; and 4. reliance on a professional accountant or attorney.
Only one of these items need be proven to constitute reasonable basis.
If the taxpayer makes a prima facie showing that it is entitled to Section 530 relief, the Internal Revenue Manual provides that the IRS has the burden of proving that Section 530 does not apply. It is very unusual for the government to ever have the burden of proof in a civil tax case.
It is always preferable to win the battle without having to wage a prolonged war. Section 530 provides such a shortcut in the appropriate circumstances.