Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan, P.C., named among the "Top Ranked Law Firms in Texas"

Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan, P.C., has been named among the "Top Ranked Law Firms in Texas" by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, the leading information services company serving the legal profession.

The firm`s ranking is based on the high percentage of attorneys who are rated as "AV Preeminent," which reflects the firm`s expertise, experience, integrity and overall professional excellence.

The law firm`s shareholders ranked as "AV Preeminent" were S. Anthony Safi, Carl H. Green, H. Keith Myers, John S. Birkelbach, Kurt G. Paxson, Norman J. Gordon, Steven L. Hughes, Mark D. Dore, Clyde A. Pine, Jr., Bruce A. Koehler, and Darryl S. Vereen.

The law firm also is being recognized by U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America® as one of the country's "Best Law Firms" in the publication`s 2013 listing. The honor was announced Nov. 1, and the full listing of the nation`s top firms is available online at http://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/.

In the U.S News/Best Lawyers listing, the law firm earned a Metropolitan Tier 1 ranking among El Paso firms in the practice areas of commercial litigation, education law, employment law (management), eminent domain and condemnation litigation, medical malpractice litigation (defendants), and personal injury litigation (defendants). The firm also earned Metropolitan Tier 2 rankings in energy law, municipal law, real estate law, and municipal litigation.

To compile the "Best Law Firms" listing, researchers with U.S. News and Best Lawyers surveyed thousands of attorneys and law firm clients across the U.S.

LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell`s list of the state`s top firms appears in The Wall Street Journal and the legal industry publications Corporate Counsel, The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal. Attorneys selected to the list are evaluated by judges and other members of the bar. Reviewers are asked to assess their colleagues` ethical standards and legal abilities in specific practice areas.


(915) 541-1542   

Mr. Safi’s principal areas of practice are Appeals, Litigation and Education Law.

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(915) 541-1520   

Mr. Myers practices primarily in Insurance Defense, Professional Liability and Products Liability Law.

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(915) 541-1535   

Mr. Birkelbach is a native El Pasoan. His practice is focused in the areas of Real Estate Law (commercial and residential), Banking Law; Commercial Lending, and General Corporate.

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(915) 541-1569   

Born and raised in El Paso, Kurt Paxson maintains an active trial practice with particular experience in catastrophic injury claims involving complex issues and multiple parties. His successful verdicts include claims of traumatic brain injury and wrongful death. "Trial Lawyer" for many is merely a title, not a description of what they do for a living. Mr. Paxson is a trial lawyer because he has tried well over 150 cases to jury verdict in the State and Federal Courts of Texas.

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(915) 541-1506   

Mr. Pine's principal areas of practice are Commercial Litigation, Business/Real Estate Law, Bankruptcy Law, and School Law. By choice, Mr. Pine maintains a broader legal practice than many attorneys. Such a broad understanding of various legal areas has proven to be a significant benefit to his practice (e.g.- since he is retained to handle lawsuits where contracts have gone bad, he is more attuned to avoid such problems for his clients when he is drafting contracts). Mr. Pine is licensed to practice in both Texas and New Mexico, and conducts an active practice in west Texas and southern New Mexico. His clients include local companies and individuals, as well as many regional, national, and international companies. In his career, Mr. Pine has handled individual matters with amounts at issue ranging from hundreds of millions of dollars down to mere hundreds of dollars (i.e.- where principle is at stake for a participant), with a similar level of service to each. Mr. Pine has also made presentations and has authored articles and papers over his decades of practice for a variety of legal and industry seminars and publications, including national ones. Mr. Pine is a Shareholder, and continues to serve as President, of the Firm.

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(915) 541-1513   

Mr. Koehler’s practice includes all aspects of employment law and commercial litigation. His daily practice involves employment litigation, including ADEA, Title VII, ADA, workers' compensation retaliatory discharge, employment contracts and wage suits and commercial litigation. His trial experience in this area includes lead counsel in litigation of discrimination, retaliation, breach of employment contract and FLSA cases. He has also served as lead counsel in trials in deceptive trade practices, breach of contract, environmental and personal injury cases. Mr. Koehler routinely handles charges filed with EEOC and Wage & Hour Division and the Department of Labor. He has also handled a variety of OSHA matters, including contests of OSHA citations. He is very experienced in a variety of labor law matters, including collective bargaining agreement negotiations and union campaign defense.

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