Legal Advisors

Steven R. Dunn - Principal and Owner of the Dunn Law Firm. Practice concentrates in complex civil litigation work in all Texas state courts and the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas, the District Court of Colorado, the Northern District of Florida, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals as well as experience defending Fair Debt Collection Practice actions in federal courts in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.  Areas of practice include complex class related litigation, Fair Debt Collection Practices defense, Telephone Consumer Protection Act defense, premises liability, banking and U.C.C. law, securities fraud, patent infringement defense, business litigation, employment law, deceptive trade practice, bad faith litigation and other insurance related litigation. Experience includes overseeing compliance issues and corporate matters. MAPlist member.  Representative clients include: First Credit of America, L.L.C., Progressive Financial Corporation, Diversified Collection Services, Inc., Diversified Consultants, Inc., Performant Recovery, Inc., Global Connect, Inc., Lazarus Financial Group, Inc, H & P Capital, Inc., Firstsource Advantage, L.L.C., National Credit Adjusters, LLC, Paul Law Offices, L.L.C., Jason Evans Law Firm, Travelers Insurance Group, Kramer & Fox, L.L.C., 5 Point Power of Texas, L.L.P., Access Group, Inc., Silver Financial Services, Inc., Pistris Holding Company, Inc., Dubaha Security, L.L.C., Dubaha Cellular, Satellite & Communication, Alarm Debt Liquidation Group, Pistris Promotions, L.L.C., Harris Tool and Specialty Co., Inc., Clark & Company, Inc., YDS Woodworking, Inc., Spine Diagnostics and Therapeutic Clinic, Enterprise Solutions, Inc., Dallas Acrylic Design, Inc., Seamans Lawn & Landscape, Inc., Magnolia Energy Company, Pepperwood Capital Partners, LLC, Pepperwood Fund II  Related employment:  Smith & Moore, L.L.P.  Matthews & Griswood, L.L.P. merger April 6, 1992 - June 1993 First chair and support responsibilities in complex litigation involving both bench and jury trials. Areas of practice included premises liability, receivership proceedings and creditors’ rights litigation.  Obtained $5M jury award in June 1993 for general creditors in complex receivership proceeding. Representative clients included Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Allstate Insurance Company.   Matthews & Griswood, L.L.P.  October 1, 1989 - April 1, 1992 Senior Associate – Litigation First chair and support responsibilities in complex litigation. Practice focused primarily in the areas of business tort defense, product liability defense, patent defense, premises liability defense and insurance related litigation. Experience in slip and fall defense, premises liability defense, slander and false imprisonment defense, London insurance and brokerage market, reinsurance and premium financing insurance disputes, securities fraud prosecution and creditors' rights litigation.  Organized, developed and prosecuted litigation against a claims adjusting firm and off-shore reinsurance entities resulting in a settlement of over $1M and a judgment exceeding $4M for the client.   Ashley & Welch, P.C.  June 1984 - October 1, 1989 Associate - Litigation EDUCATION: University of Houston Law Center Doctor of Jurisprudence, May 1984 University of Texas at Austin Bachelor of Science, May 1981  HONORS, ACTIVITIES, PUBLICATIONS AND CITES OF NOTE: TEDx talk, “To Kill the Monster – Empowered Treatment of Eating Disorders,” April 2017, University of Texas at Dallas  TEDx talk, “Let There Be Light – A Bold Solution to the Ineffective Treatment of Eating Disorders,” March 2018 TEDxOakLawn  Blogger on eating disorder issues:  https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2369679007407105393#allposts  Video, Morgan Dunn, Highland Park United Methodist Church, May 2017, [Over 250,000 views]  Houston Journal of International Law Editor-in-Chief 1983-1984  Note, Civil Rights Law and United States Treaties: Stagnating in Judicial Limbo, 5 Hou.J.Int'l.L. 323 (Spring 1983)  Note, Express Consent Under the TCPA, Is It Safe? Journal of Consumer & Commercial Law, Vol. 17, No. 1 (2013) Dunn v. Street, 938 S.W.2d 33 (Tex. 1997) (clarified the standard for objecting to visiting judges)  Burns/Kline v. Anderson, Crenshaw & Associates,   L.L.C., Civil Action No. 07-CV-001192- WYD-BNB, District of Colorado (summary judgment obtained for client with court imposing intentional infliction of emotional distress standard for actual damages in FDCPA cases)  Dean Hinderliter, et al v. Diversified Consultants, Inc., Civil Action No. 6:12-cv-1314, Northern District of New York (summary judgment obtained for client with court holding as a matter of law that client’s telephone calls to debtors did not violate the FDCPA)  Mitchell Vanglider v. Lazarus Financial Group, Inc., Civil Action No. 4:10-cv-527-RH/WCS, Northern District of Florida (summary judgment obtained for client in class action case with court for the first time in 11th Circuit applying the materiality standard for violations of the FDCPA)  Johnny O’Connor v. Diversified Consultants, Inc., Civil Action No. 4:11-cv-1722-RWS (E.D. Mo. May 2013)(FDCPA and TCPA classes denied with court holding that express consent applied to third party debt collector with order having industry wide implications)