Today, Olson & Olson joins our friends with the City of Houston in mourning the loss of four brave souls who perished in a hotel fire on Friday, May 31, 2013. We remember the lives of firefighters Robert Garner, Anne Sullivan, Robert Bebee and Captain Mathew Renauld. Our best wishes and prayers go out to their families and friends. We also commend all of the service men and women who put their own lives at risk for our protection every day.

Robert Garner
Anne Sullivan
Robert Bebee
Captain Mathew Renaud

Look for your Olson & Olson municipal attorneys at the Texas City Attorneys Association Summer Conference in South Padre, June 5 – 7, 2013

Olson & Olson is pleased to welcome Kelly A. Dempsey to our legal team. As a skilled attorney with extensive trial practice, Kelly is prepared to aggressively represent our clients in matters of litigation. Her extensive first chair jury trial history includes almost 50 successful verdicts.
Ms. Dempsey comes to our firm with 15 years’ cumulative experience at the City of Houston, having been a Senior Assistant City Attorney during the past six years. Her career also includes work in the private sector where she represented and defended a variety of business clients in premise liability, security, construction, medical malpractice, workers compensation, and automobile litigation, both with a private firm and in her solo practice. Not only has she practiced law, she has also taught criminal law in Houston’s community college system. Kelly received her Doctorate of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law in 1993, after having earned her BBA from the University of Texas at Austin.
When not practicing law, Kelly devotes her volunteer hours as an adult role model to the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Houston, helping to impact children who face adversity. Kelly’s little brother, Travis, has reaped the benefits of her knowledge and positive impact for the past nine years – he is 20 now, but the relationship continues!
Also near and dear to Kelly’s heart is her association with the Texas Gulf Coast Master Naturalist program, where she is a member of the corps of well-informed volunteers who provide education, outreach, and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities. As a Texas Master Naturalist, Kelly enjoys not only getting her feet wet and her hands dirty, but also spending time in a natural setting, learning about different plant and animal species, and discovering new things.

We would be pleased if you would join us for our Local Government Seminar.  Follow this link to register and see more details:

https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e6rliq0jfd3997a2&oseq=

Olson & Olson attorney Charles Williams, will present “Municipal Debt Instruments – An Overview” during the Public Finance Program at the Texas City Attorneys Association meeting in conjunction with TML’s Annual Conference and Exhibition.

 

Congratulations to one of our senior attorneys, Mario Dell’Osso, for having been named to the 2012 Super Lawyers list as one of the top attorneys in the State of Texas in the practice areas of “government/cities/municipalities, civil litigation defense, and appellate” for 2012.  Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations using a rigorous multi–phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by lawyers in the same practice area.

O&O is proud to announce that Kim Mickelson has been appointed to serve on the Development Regulations Committee for the League. The Committee will help establish TML positions on legislation, and monitor bills that may be introduced in the upcoming legislative session  in areas including annexation, economic development, eminent domain, subdivisions & zoning, and other development issues such as signs, religious land use, and vested rights.

South Padre Island

TCAA 2012 Summer Conference- Olson & Olson, LLP attorney Loren Smith is scheduled to speak to the members of the Texas City Attorney’s Association on June 6 at 3 p.m. at the Isla Grand Beach Resort in South Padre Island on the subject of declaratory judgments. His presentation entitled, “I Do Declare! Or why a declaratory judgment action may not be in the best interest of the city” will explore the pros and cons of declaratory judgments claims made by or against governmental entities.

TCMA Annual Conference—Olson & Olson, LLP attorneys, Art Pertile, Scott Bounds, Bobby Gervais, Brian Begle, David Olson, and Jim Robinson are scheduled to speak to the members of the Texas City Managers Association Meeting at the South Padre Convention Center on June 8 at 2 p.m. They will answer questions from the audience and address topics including:

“MIB- Managers in Battle” – a video and live presentation focused on the practicalities of handling potential ADA claims.

“Development Agreements” – a live presentation on the basics of development agreements and key issues.

“First Amendment Rights in City Council Meetings” a video and live presentation exploring issues that arise when members of the audience misbehave during city council meetings.