Eight Firm Attorneys Recognized in "Best Lawyers in America" 2027

John S. Birkelbach

(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.

Ryan Little

(915) 532-2000

Ryan Little was born and raised in the El Paso and Southern New Mexico areas. After graduating from Texas Tech, he returned to El Paso to practice law where he has remained his entire professional career. Mr. Little maintains a large and diverse practice in civil litigation and handles transactional work for the firm’s clients. Mr. Little has over fifteen years of experience in state and federal courts of West Texas and New Mexico handling real estate litigation, foreclosures, landlord-tenant disputes and evictions, commercial, construction and business litigation. In addition, Mr. Little substantial experience in probate and trust litigation, guardianships, non-subscriber litigation, employment defense, deceptive trade practices litigation, personal injury defense and premises liability. His broad transactional experience includes contracts, business and corporate structuring, real estate lending and closing and drafting wills and trusts. He is married to his wife Lorie since 1997, and together they have three teenage children.

James A. Martinez

(915) 541-1525

A native El Pasoan, Jim Martinez maintains an active trial practice that spans a wide variety of industries. His primary areas of practice include commercial and construction litigation, fraud and fiduciary duty litigation, business ownership disputes and catastrophic injury cases. He also counsels businesses and individuals about the assessment of legal risks and opportunities and methods to avoid unnecessary litigation. He serves as outside general counsel to small and medium sized businesses with a particular emphasis on construction companies, advising them about day to day operations and insurance and contracting issues among others.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree, with highest honors, from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1991 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1994. After serving as Briefing Attorney to Chief Justice Richard Barajas of the Eighth Court of Appeals in El Paso, he joined the firm in 1995 and became a shareholder in 2001.

In 2003, Jim lost his mind and joined the City of El Paso where he served as Chief Administrative Officer, City Manager and Assistant City Attorney. He recovered quickly and for the next 15 years operated the Law Offices of James A. Martinez. He rejoined the firm as a shareholder in 2020. He has over 60 jury verdicts.

Kurt G. Paxson

(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.

Monica L. Perez

(915) 541-1501

Ms. Perez is a Shareholder who maintains a trial practice in employment and personal injury litigation in Texas and New Mexico. Employment litigation of exclusive management representation before state and federal agencies, arbitrations, and state and federal courts in Texas and New Mexico. Advise clients on employment policies, handbooks, employee on-boarding forms, employment contracts, employee trainings in both English and Spanish, and day-to-day employee relations issues. Personal injury litigation includes first-chair defense of insurance carriers and/or their insured entities or individuals and case management from inception to disposition.

Clyde A. Pine, Jr.

(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.

S. Anthony Safi

(915) 541-1542

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