Robert H. Osburn

Serving The Legal Needs Of
Dallas, Texas And Surrounding Counties

A trial lawyer is not like a politician when a politician makes promises to the people of his district and gets elected; he then goes to Washington and listens to the lobbyists. Not so with a trial lawyer. He explains to the jury what he will prove and then he presents to the jury the facts and the evidence and the testimony and then the jury answers questions that grade how the lawyer has done. Has he proven what he said he would?

Since 1985, our law firm and Bob Osburn has been rated by Martindale-Hubbell pre-eminent AV voted by his peers to have the highest skills and highest ethical standards among those that know him law firms and lawyers who have worked with him and who have been his adversaries on legal matters and suits.

The AV rating is an objective indicator of a lawyer's high ethical standards and professional skills, generated from evaluations of lawyers by other members of the bar and the judiciary. Also, the client review ratings of Martindale-Hubbell have contributed to a comprehensive review.

After graduation from the University of Texas in 1967 and St. Mary's School of Law in 1970, he began his law practice in Dallas, first as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Dallas and then served as an Assistant District Attorney under Henry Wade.

It was in the District Attorney's Office where Bob Osburn was first encouraged to develop his trial talents and did just that by trying jury trial after jury trial. The work was intense but he loved it. Bob wanted to serve people. He wanted to be on his own and wanted to develop his own clients and develop cases and try them to juries.

So, that is what he has done over the years. State and Federal lawsuits from East to West Texas, North and South Texas, California, Kansas, and Oklahoma. At 69 years young he is at the top of the game and prepared to work aggressively for you when you call.

On a personal note, Susan and Bob have been married since May of 1978; have lived in the same home since the day they were married in Slaughter Chapel at First Baptist Church in downtown Dallas. Bob says "I have made the living and she has made it worth the living". They have two children, Sara and Scott.

Bar Admissions:
-Texas 1970
-U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
-U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court

Education:
-St. Mary's University of San Antonio, Class of 1970, J.D.
-University of Texas at Austin, Class of 1967, B.B.A.

Professional Associations and Memberships:
-American Bar Association
-Dallas Bar Association
-State Bar of Texas
-Dallas Trial Lawyers Association
-Texas Trial Lawyers Association
-American Association for Justice/AAJ

Recognition
-Top Rated Texas Layer
-AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

St. Mary's University of San Antonio
Juris Doctorate, 1970

Billy McGill

Serving The Legal Needs Of
Dallas, Texas And Surrounding Counties
Watching movies and television shows about lawyers is an American pastime. Almost all one sees are the dramatic courtroom scenes or meetings with clients and witnesses. What is rarely seen in the movies and television is the behind the scenes work that goes into preparing a case.

Cases require legal research, which involves finding the prior court decisions, statutes and regulations that govern the case. There may be a compelling, heart wrenching story, but without supporting legal research, there may not be a case. Legal research often makes or breaks a case.

You have probably heard the term "legal brief." The legal brief is a document prepared from the legal research that lawyers do. It is presented to the judge to show the judge that there are prior court decisions involving similar cases, or statutes, that stand behind the claims that are being made in a lawsuit. Briefs are the roadmaps that lawyers use to present the case. Briefs can be fifty pages or more in length in complex cases.

Additional important behind the scenes work includes:
1. Finding the right expert and working with the expert to make sure his report meets the required legal standards. In most cases, expert testimony and expert reports are required. The United States Supreme Court in the Daubert opinion and the Texas Supreme Court in the Robinson opinion adopted the standards that must be met in order to be able to present expert testimony.
2. Preparing questions for witnesses whose depositions will be taken. Witness deposition can last all day in some cases, and thorough preparation is critical essential for drawing out facts from key witnesses.
3. Reviewing documents and medical records, which in many cases may be thousands of pages, that support the case, or that could be an obstacle in the case. Documents and records may make or break your case.

Another part of the case that one does not often see in the movies is what happens after:

A favorable jury verdict, or what happens if the judge dismisses the case. Many cases are appealed. The court of appeals reviews what happened in the trial court and determines whether the trial judge made the right decision, or if the jury verdict should stand, or be reversed or modified.

Billy McGill has spent time in courtrooms, and is comfortable there, for most of his career he has been the "behind the scenes" lawyer who spends the vast majority of his time doing the legal research, writing the briefs for trials and appeals, researching reviewing and analyzing documents and records, and preparing for depositions.

One of the events that often occurs in civil cases is that one side, usually the defendant, will file what is called a motion for summary judgment. A motion for summary judgment is an attempt to have the case dismissed before it gets to trial. It is a brief to the judge arguing that there is not enough evidence to support the other side's case. I have successfully written briefs supporting or defending against motions for summary judgment in over 100 cases over my 22 years of practicing law, in both state courts and federal courts. A few recent examples include:
1. Prepared response and brief, and argued it before the court, which that resulted in the defeat of a summary judgment motion filed by a major airline in a breach of contract case;
2. Prepared response and brief, and argued it before the court, which resulted in the defeat of a summary judgment motion filed by a municipality in a wrongful death case;
3. Prepared response and brief that resulted in the defeat of a summary judgment motion filed in a breach of fiduciary case between business partners;
4. Prepared response and brief, and argued it before the court, which resulted in the defeat of a summary judgment motion filed any an insurance company in an insurance bad faith case, which helped facilitate a favorable settlement;
5. Prepared a successful motion for summary judgment for a defendant in an employment discrimination case, which resulted in the dismissal of the plaintiff's lawsuit;
6. Prepared a response and brief that resulted in the defeat of a summary judgment motion by a retail store chain's in a premises liability case, which helped facilitate a favorable settlement;
7. Prepared brief in a successful motion to compel arbitration in Ohio in a case where a Texas resident had improperly sued an Ohio company in Texas;
8. Prepared brief in support of a special appearance by a business that manufactured specialty cars, which resulted in the dismissal of the lawsuit against the client.

Southern Methodist University
Juris Doctorate, 1990