Kelli M. Hinson
Partner
Business Litigation, Professional Malpractice, Noncompetes, Trade Secrets, Appellate
Phone: 214-855-3110
Direct Fax: 214-855-1333
Email: khinson@ccsb.com
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Ms. Hinson is the hiring partner at Carrington Coleman and is head of the firm's professional liability practice group. She works primarily in the area of business litigation and has extensive experience in professional liability matters, including legal malpractice defense, medical malpractice defense, director and officer liability, and disputes concerning non-compete covenants, misappropriation, and other issues relating to the hiring, dismissal, or departure of employees.
Ms. Hinson has successfully represented commercial clients on a number of significant matters, including representing officers and directors of public companies against claims including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and conspiracy; obtaining dismissal of a securities class action brought against the officers and directors of a major energy company; and winning summary judgments for defendants in numerous cases including a legal malpractice action against a major national law firm in which the plaintiffs sought up to $54.3 million in damages, and a federal Oil Pollution Act case in which the plaintiff sought over $38 million in cleanup costs.
Ms. Hinson also has represented her clients at the appellate level, submitting briefs and presenting oral argument before numerous courts, including the Dallas and Fort Worth Courts of Appeals and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
From 2005 through 2010, Ms. Hinson has been named by Texas Monthly magazine as a "Rising Star" in Texas Law in the area of business litigation.
“We work on really interesting cases that require novel and creative thought. I get to debate complex legal issues with other smart lawyers. I am always learning things…every new case, new client, or new area of the law.”
Representative Matters
Legal Malpractice Defense
Obtained summary judgment in bankruptcy court on a legal malpractice claim against a large international law firm arising out of alleged malpractice in connection with out-of-court restructuring negotiations and bankruptcy. The court found that plaintiff’s fraud claims were an impermissible attempt to fracture its malpractice claims and held that the rest of plaintiff’s claims were barred by the doctrines of res judicata and judicial estoppel. The summary judgment was affirmed on appeal to the district court.
Represented two attorneys in a case alleging RICO violations, fraud, and other causes of action arising out of an alleged conspiracy between certain lawyers and chiropractors to defraud the plaintiff insurance company in connection with personal injury claims. Plaintiff dismissed our two attorney clients before it was required to respond to the attorneys' motion to dismiss.
Represented a large Dallas firm in the appeal of a summary judgment in its favor in a case arising out of the alleged negligent mishandling of probate litigation that resulted in a $20 million judgment against the defendant law firm’s client. The summary judgment was affirmed on appeal.
Represented a large Texas law firm in a case involving alleged malpractice by the firm’s estate planning attorneys. Plaintiff alleged that the attorneys failed to recommend that his mother form a Family Limited Partnership to reduce her estate taxes. The parties reached a confidential settlement.
Non-Compete and Trade Secret Litigation
Represented an insurance brokerage company in an “employee raiding” case in which the leading producer and regional manager left the company with ten other employees to form the Dallas office of a competing company. The parties reached a confidential settlement after we obtained a temporary restraining order against the former employees.
Represented multiple companies in obtaining temporary restraining orders against former employees who took confidential information with them when they ended their employment. Cases settled after we obtained TROs and compelled the former employees to produce their computers for forensic inspection.
Represented three consultants who were sued by their former employer for breach of fiduciary duty and usurpation of corporate opportunities. The Court entered a take-nothing judgment against the plaintiff after trial.
Other Commercial Cases
Represented officers and directors against claims for breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud, fraudulent transfers, and other claims arising out of the bankruptcy of a large food distribution company. The plaintiff sued 26 defendants, asserted 27 causes of action, and sought in excess of $300 million in alleged damages. The parties reached a confidential settlement.
Represented a publicly-traded oil and gas company in an oil pollution case filed by a land-owner seeking over $38 million in alleged clean up costs under the federal Oil Pollution Act. The district court granted summary judgment, which was affirmed on appeal to the Fifth Circuit, on the grounds that the discharges of oil and salt water about which the plaintiff complained were not discharges into “navigable waters” and, therefore, were not covered by the Oil Pollution Act.
Education
Southern Methodist University
J.D., magna cum laude, 1995
Order of the Coif, SMU Law Review Association; Editor: 1995 Air Law Symposium, Hatton W. Sumners Scholar
Oxford University, University College, Summer 1993
McMurry University
B.B.A., summa cum laude, 1992
Admittances
Texas 1995
U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Associations/Affiliations
President: Board of Directors, Suicide and Crisis Center.
Vice-Chair: Dallas Bar Association’s Legal Ethics Committee.
Sustaining Member and Committee Chair: Attorneys Serving the Community.
Member: United Way Young Leaders' Society.
Member: United Way Women’s Leadership Council.
Speeches/Publications
Author, Attorney Disqualification, Texas Bar Journal, November 2009.
Author, Texas Survey of Professional Liability, published in SMU Law Review's Texas Survey, 61 SMU Law Review 1047, 2008.
Author and Speaker, Recent Developments in Texas Legal Malpractice Law, presented at St. Mary's Sixth Annual Symposium on Legal Malpractice and Professional Responsibility, 2007. 38 St. Mary’s Law Journal 1003, 2007.
Author, Texas Survey of Professional Liability, published in SMU Law Review's Texas Survey, 60 SMU Law Review 1233, 2007.
Author, What Every Bankruptcy Lawyer Should Know About Legal Malpractice Claims in Texas, presented at the 26th Annual Jay L. Westbrook Bankruptcy Conference, University of Texas School of Law, 2007.
Author, When Negligence Is Not Enough: Proving Causation in a Litigation Malpractice Case, American Bar Association, Commercial and Business Litigation, Vol. 8, Issue 1, 2006. Reprinted, American Bar Association, Professional Liability Litigation Alert, Vol. IV, Issue 1, 2007.
Author and Speaker, Choosing, Using and Examining Expert Witnesses, presented at the University of Houston Law Foundation CLE, The Jury Trial, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Author, article titled Civil Evidence published in SMU Law Review's Texas Survey, 59 SMU Law Review 965, 2006; 58 SMU Law Review 599, 2005; 57 SMU Law Review 653, 2004.
Author, Utilizing Experts in an Expert Way, 2006.
Author and Speaker, Five Things You May Not Know About Legal Malpractice Claims in Texas, presented at the Solo and Small Firm Section Meeting, Legal Ethics Committee Meeting, and North Dallas Clinic, 2006.
Author and Speaker, Key Developments in Texas Law Regarding Expert Testimony, presented at the Dallas Bar Association, Business Litigation Section Meeting, 2005.
Author, Show Me the Fraud: The Heightened Pleading Standard for Scienter Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Commercial and Business Litigation, Winter 2003-2004.
