Gray Reed is proud to announce that Bill Drabble, Marcus Fettinger, David Leonard, Brock Niezgoda and Skyler Stuckey have been elected as new partners, effective January 1, 2020.
Drabble is based in the Dallas office and focuses his practice on representing property owners, landlords, tenants and developers in real estate litigation before courts throughout North Texas, including disputes over land sales, breaches of lease agreements, premises-liability claims and other disputes involving commercial and residential properties. He also handles a wide variety of intra-company disputes, such as prosecuting and defending claims for breaches of shareholder or company agreement, breach of fiduciary duty claims against directors and officers, and contests for control over the company.
Fettinger is based in the Dallas office and is a management-side employment lawyer with significant experience handling cases involving trade secret theft, solicitation of customers or employee raiding in violation of non-disclosure, non-competition and non-solicitation agreements. In addition, he has successfully defended employers in litigation and administrative proceedings involving all types of discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims under various federal and state statutes. Outside of the courtroom, Fettinger advises human resources departments and business owners on a variety of day-to-day employment decisions, prepares employee handbooks and policies, and drafts employment agreements.
Leonard is based in the Houston office and focuses on helping clients achieve successful, cost-efficient outcomes in a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters before courts all over Texas, and in arbitration. His clients range from mid-size businesses to multi-national corporations across many industries, with an emphasis on oil and gas, commercial real estate, and franchising and distribution. He has guided clients to favorable results in disputes involving a wide variety of complex legal issues, including breach of contract, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, landlord-tenant disputes, property tax valuations, shareholder disputes and mineral rights.
Niezgoda is based in the Houston office and is a corporate and transactional lawyer with a broad practice designed to handle the diverse needs of mid-size companies, family-owned businesses, publicly traded corporations, private equity firms and startups. He has experience negotiating and structuring a wide range of complex transactions from both sides of the deal, including mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, energy-related secured lending, project finance and acquisition financing, and private and public securities offerings. Niezgoda's practice covers numerous industries, from midstream and upstream energy, oil and gas services and manufacturing to retail, healthcare, restaurant franchising and many more.
Stuckey is based in the Dallas office and his work is centered on three focal practice areas: commercial litigation, white-collar matters and appeals. With clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies, closely-held businesses and municipalities to banks, startups, and individuals, he has enjoyed the opportunity to take lead on cases with many challenging issues, including e-commerce development and technology, internet and new media, contract and partnership disputes, and patent and trade dress disputes. His white-collar practice is primarily focused on resolving allegations of healthcare fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, FCPA violations, pay-to-play schemes and antitrust violations.
“It’s always rewarding to recognize those who have significantly contributed to the success of our firm and we are excited to welcome these talented lawyers to the partnership,” Managing Partner Cary Gray says. “We look forward to continued contributions in the years to come.”
About Gray Reed
A full-service Texas law firm with offices in Dallas, Houston and Waco, Gray Reed provides legal services to companies ranging from start-up to Fortune 500 as well as high net worth individuals. Gray Reed attorneys assist clients with a myriad of legal issues including commercial litigation, corporate transactions, oil and gas, tax planning and litigation, real estate, construction, healthcare, trusts and estates, employment law, family law, intellectual property and bankruptcy. For more information, visit www.grayreed.com.