Abogados de habla Español

Marco Gonzalez

The Gonzalez Law Group, PLLC

Mario de la Garza

The de la Garza Law Group

Christopher Banys

Banys, P.C.

• Christopher Banys started Banys, P.C. with one goal in mind: providing intelligent, effective, advocacy to help his clients achieve justice. A dedicated civil trial lawyer with experience in numerous types of cases, Mr. Banys brings his passion for justice to every client, in every case. Mr. Banys fights hard for his clients. In 2015 alone, Mr. Banys served as lead trial lawyer in five trials – and won all five. The following year, Mr. Banys won three trials, including a $12.5 million jury verdict for breach of contract against Qualcomm in San Diego. Overall, his tenacity has resulted in recovering tens of millions of dollars for his clients, as well as winning several defense victories. Indeed, the National Trial Lawyers Association named Mr. Banys among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from 2012-2020. The Recorder named Mr. Banys a  “Lawyer On The Fast Track”  in 2012, one of just 50 lawyers in California to receive that honor. Banys' commitment to justice includes lending a hand to those in need who cannot afford legal help, earning him pro bono awards including: An Equal Justice America fellowship; several law firm awards, including pro bono associate of the year; the Legal Services for Children’s 2008 Pro Bono Advocate Award; and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Northern District of California’s Silicon Valley Pro Bono Project in 2011.Mr. Banys first became well known for helping inventors stand up to patent infringers, regardless of their size, and served as lead trial lawyer in scores of patent-infringement cases around the country. As a result of his knowledge and reputation, Mr. Banys was invited to debate proposed patent legislation in the U.S. Senate and submitted congressional testimony on the issue of patent reform. He also presented at the first international Cloud Law Summit in London, England.Mr. Banys also has extensive experience litigating complex business disputes, class-action, construction defect, employment, catastrophic personal injury and dangerous and defective medical product cases in federal, state and administrative-law courts and in arbitration.Recent cases include:Ixchel v. Biogen, (E.D. Cal. ): Mr. Banys will argue before the California Supreme Court in September, 2020 on behalf of Ixchel, a small pharmacuetical research company. Ixchel alleges that Biogen intentionally prevented Ixchel from bringing a first-of-it’s kind cure for a neurological disease to American patients so that Biogen would not face competition for its own $4 billion a year drug. Ixchel alleges that Biogen paid Ixchel’s development partner $1 billion to stop working with Ixchel on the drug and never bring the new cure to market. SAI v. QUALCOMM, (San Diego Sup. Ct): Won a $12.5 million jury verdict Representing start-up SAI in a breach of contract case alleging that QUALCOMM used SAI source code in its products without making the required payments. Freeny v. Murphy Oil, (E.D. Tex); Won a $9.25 million jury verdict for three brothers in patent infringement case involving automated synchronous price and advertising technology;Paton v. AMD, (Santa Clara Sup. Ct.): Mr. Banys served as lead trial lawyer for a class of over 1,700 employees against major Silicon Valley employer who wrongfully employees vacation pay by miscategorizing the benefit as "sabbatical" and obtained a $5.4 million settlement for the plaintiff class;Mr. Banys earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law, where he was a Dean's Scholar. While at B.U., Mr. Banys participated in the school's exceptional Criminal Clinic program where he tried criminal cases in Massachusetts state courts for two semesters. Christopher Banys, along with a good friend, also won the school’s negotiation competition, going on to represent B.U. in regional competition. Mr. Banys spent his final semester of law school studying at Oxford University in Oxford, England. He earned his undergraduate degree in Spanish and Portuguese from the University of California (Berkeley), with high honors and high distinction in general scholarship.For more of Mr. Banys's cases and practice areas, visit our Services pages.Mr. Banys earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law, where he was a Dean's Scholar. While at B.U., Mr. Banys participated in the school's exceptional Criminal Clinic program where he tried criminal cases in Massachusetts state courts for two semesters. Mr. Banys, along with a good friend, also won the school’s negotiation competition, going on to represent B.U. in regional competition. Mr. Banys spent his final semester of law school studying at Oxford University in Oxford, England. He earned his undergraduate degree in Spanish and Portuguese from the University of California (Berkeley), with high honors and high distinction in general scholarship.Mr. Banys founded the Intellectual Property Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice and is active in several other legal associations.Mr. Banys is an outdoorsman and a commercially-rated pilot.Prior to founding Banys, P.C., Mr. Banys started and led the Palo Alto, California office of a prominent national trial firm and ran that firm’s intellectual property practice for five years, and before that, had been associated with several Silicon Valley law firms.Mr. Banys is admitted to practice before the following courts:The United States Supreme Court;The United States Courts of Appeal for the Federal and Ninth Circuits;The United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California; the Western District of Wisconsin; the District of Nebraska; the District of Colorado; the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; and the Eastern District of Texas;The California Supreme Court and all other California state courts.Mr. Banys has also practiced and served as lead counsel in trials and hearings in arbitrations and in multiple administrative-law courts, including the International Trade Commission, The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, and Federal Immigration Court.

William Samuels

Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC

• William Samuels is a partner at the New York City law office of Scarinci Hollenbeck, and he is the chair of the firm's copyright and trademark group. Focusing his practice primarily on intellectual property matters, he provides advice and counsel to clients with regard to obtaining, protecting, and licensing or otherwise commercializing trademarks, patents, copyrights, and other similar assets both domestically and internationally.Admitted to practice before all New York and California state courts, Mr. Samuels is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of California. Held in high regard by his fellow attorneys, he has received a 10.0 "Superb" peer review rating through Avvo, and he has been named by the American Society of Legal Advocates to its Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 list.With his clients coming from a wide variety of industries and ranging from startup companies to multinational corporations, Mr. Samuels tailors his recommendations and options in a manner that fits their particular needs, realizing that intellectual property is often one of their most valuable assets. Fluent in Spanish as well as in English, his experience also encompasses trade secrets, anti-counterfeiting, and general business transactions and advice.Mr. Samuels is frequently asked to speak before professional groups on topics relating to his practice area. He has moderated several meetings of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, and he has been the co-chair of that section's Trademark Law Committee. Mr. Samuels received a Bachelor of Arts in English literature from Georgetown University in 1997 and a Master of Arts in that same discipline from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. He was awarded his Juris Doctor by Emory University School of Law in 2006.

Virgil W. Yanta, Jr.

Yanta Law

Rick Ruz

Ruz & Ruz, PL

• Mr. Ruz is the founding member of the Rick Ruz, PLLC and has practiced in the area of Intellectual Property and business law since 2007.  Since that time Mr. Ruz has played a major role in enforcing and defending the intellectual property rights of the firm’s clients’ before the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, as well as District Courts of other states. Mr. Ruz also represents clients in trademark cancellations, oppositions and appeals before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board.  Additionally, Mr. Ruz has worked on a variety of trademark and copyright prosecutions as well as state litigation cases, district appeals, and transactional business matters.  As a former computer tech and networks management consultant, he brings a unique expertise to cyberlaw cases.In 2003, Rick Ruz, Esq., graduated magna cum laude from Florida International University with a Bachelor in Management Information Systems. In 2007, he obtained his law degree from the Florida International University College of Law, where he was a member of the Moot Court Team and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy. As a law student, he made the Dean's List every semester and won a Best Brief Award in the fall of 2005, as well as Book Awards (for the highest grades) in Contracts, Comparative Corporate Law, and Remedies.Mr. Ruz is admitted to the Florida Bar and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Middle and Northern Districts of Florida. He is fluent in Spanish

David P. Boyce

Wright & Greenhill PC

• As a shareholder in Wright & Greenhill PC, David P. Boyce serves all of Central Texas, including Austin and the rest of Travis County. Mr. Boyce has over 30 years of experience at his command and is fluent in both English and Spanish. He focuses his practices on the areas of civil litigation, including personal injury, wrongful death, employer liability, insurance defense and commercial disputes. He also represents both contractors and subcontractors in construction defect litigation. A sample of the cases Mr. Boyce accepts include defending premises owners in wrongful death and serious personal injury cases, defending corporations against fatal and non-fatal work site injury claims, defending policyholders under commercial, business auto and homeowner policies from claims made against them.A longtime Texas resident, Mr. Boyce graduated summa cum laude with his Bachelor of Arts in 1976 from Dartmouth College. In 1985, Mr. Boyce graduated with high honors and received his Juris Doctor from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law. While there, he was a noted author for the Texas Law Review. Since graduation, he has gone on to serve in a number of prestigious organizations, including the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, Inc. and the American Board of Trial Advocates. Mr. Boyce is also currently a member of the State Bar of Texas' Construction Law Section and Litigation Section as well as the Austin Bar Association's Construction Law Section.Due to his successful track record and high degree of ethics, Mr. Boyce has earned the high regard of his fellow attorneys. In 2010, Mr. Boyce was selected to become a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an invitation-only organization.

Andrew Green

McCathern, PLLC

Samuel C. Breslin

Breslin Law Group, PLLC

• Principal attorney and founder of Breslin Law Group, PLLC, Samuel C. Breslin represents clients in Albany, Saratoga, Rensselaer, Schenectady, Greene, Warren and Columbia in New York and focuses on limiting long-term consequences and publicity.Mr. Breslin has almost a decade of experience, during which he has amassed a long list of successful results in cases involving pharmaceutical misbranding investigations, misdemeanors, felonies, New York State Liquor Authority matters, municipal litigation, New York State agency defense and administrative law, and alternative dispute resolution. Criminal charges and convictions often result in devastating outcomes, and he strives to protect his clients from these situations.Experienced in local, state and federal courts, Mr. Breslin has also handled zoning issues, property acquisitions, tax disputes, contract issues and personal injury litigation. In his business and commercial practice, he works with corporations to create a proactive approach to problems that may arise in the future.

Cynthia L. Counts

Duane Morris LLP

• Cynthia Counts is a partner in the Atlanta office of Duane Morris LLP, focusing on libel, privacy, copyright and First Amendment law. A seasoned litigator with more than 25 years of trial and appellate experience, Counts defends individuals, newspapers, websites, television stations and businesses nationally in libel, as well as breach of contract, invasion of privacy, fraud, and media access matters. She also represents media and publishing companies in conducting prepublication review, prior restraint matters and to gain access to court proceedings or public documents. She is best known for her aggressive motions practice, and for her success in winning libel cases outright in the early stages of litigation before expensive discovery becomes necessary. In that regard, Counts has been at the forefront of the quest for a broad application of Georgia’s anti-SLAPP statute, enacted in 1996 to provide an early mechanism for the dismissal of harassing libel litigation. Recent matters: serving as lead counsel for media company in a Maine libel case involving defamation, false light and other claims(2020); obtained order granting anti-SLAPP motion and awarding our media client all attorneys' fees in Ga. defamation case (2019); secured dismissal for media company in Michigan defamation case in exchange for agreement not to seek sanctions/attorney fees against plaintiff for false pleading of material facts (2018); using anti-SLAPP statute, secured dismissal of a libel claim against a Connecticut media company (2018); assisted in successful anti-SLAPP defense for television client in a California libel matter and won award for attorney fees (2018); summary judgment for client in defamation claim filed against Atlanta TV station for story reporting that veteran had lied about receiving Purple Heart award (2016) (this decision was affirmed by Georgia Court of Appeals, 2017); prevailed on a motion to dismiss in the Nevada District Court arguing that Cox Communications was immune from liability under the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) for passively hosting websites containing information regarding an expunged criminal conviction (2017); used amended Georgia anti-SLAPP statute to secure early stage dismissal of libel complaint in which plaintiff alleged that defendant’s notification to insurance company about possible arson in a house fire constituted defamation (2017); obtained dismissal of a libel suit against a community newspaper in Georgia by an individual who alleged that the newspaper’s report of her arrest was false and defamatory (2016); dismissal of a defamation claim against CBS affiliate by physician investigated in cosmetic surgery deaths (2015); summary judgment for a reality TV performer in a libel claim over comments she made on her network show (2015); early summary judgment for hosts of a popular Spanish radio program sued for libel over satirical comments on their show (2015); voluntary dismissal of a libel claim against a whistleblower in a Department of State matter involving alleged contract fraud (2014); and an 11th Circuit order for sanctions of $545,000 against plaintiffs who filed a frivolous libel claim against a Rolls Royce club member (2008). Counts has also litigated successfully for individual clients with free speech concerns: from those speaking out about assisted suicide in a state that tried to prohibit such speech, to individuals facing anti-gay discrimination in requests for vanity license plates, to those wrongfully arrested for verbally criticizing law enforcement, or for uttering profanities a public meeting. She is a sought-after commentator and writer on libel, privacy, Internet, the First Amendment and open government law. In 2014, she became a member of the governing board of the American Bar Association Forum on Communications Law. She is a director of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and chairs the Media Law Resource Center’s Newsgathering Committee. Counts is also an adjunct professor teaching media law at Emory University Law School and has taught in the undergraduate journalism program. Counts is a 1992 graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and a 1989 cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Michael Ehline

Ehline Law Firm Personal Injury Attorneys, APLC

• As an attorney at Ehline Law Firm, Michael Ehline handles cases of personal injury, motor vehicle accidents, and trucking accidents. He represents people in the Los Angeles and Long Beach metropolitan areas, including Redondo Beach, Torrance and Santa Monica. A successful trial attorney with a positive attitude, Mr. Ehline is actively involved in lobbying Congress as he helps the International Cruise Victims organization.A former member of the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Ehline, is admitted to practice in the state of California. He is also a member of International Personal Injury Warriors, the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the Circle of Legal Trust. Because of the successful outcomes of previous cases, he is also included in the distinguished Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.Mr. Ehline earned his Juris Doctor from the University of West Los Angeles School of Law in 2004 and was a part of the State Bar of California’s Law Office Study Program. Fluent in English and Spanish, during his career, he has represented individuals, corporations, and injury victims.For one year, Mr. Ehline served as a judicial extern for the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. He is actively involved with organizations that fight to improve transportation safety laws within the state and proudly leads one of the most respected injury firms in California. His successful outcomes include $8.7 million for a man in a motorcycle accident, $4.5 million for a person injured in a car accident, and $1.4 million for a person who had been assaulted.