Practice Areas

Antitrust
Appeals, State and Federal
Arbitration
Banking and Collections
Class Actions
Civil Rights
Complex Commercial Litigation
Condemnation Law
Contract Disputes and Litigation
Corporations and Partnerships
Franchise and Small Business Litigation
Government Disputes, State and Federal
Insurance Litigation and Bad Faith
Real Estate and Construction Litigation
(Commercial and Residential)
Uniform Commercial Code
Warranty Disputes

Practice Emphasis

Mr. Pikl is a trial lawyer.  He is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Consumer and Commercial Law.  His practice emphasizes a wide range of commercial and consumer litigation, including class actions and complex disputes involving multiple parties and claims.  His Board Certification entitles him to claim special expertise in the areas of the law which that specialty encompasses, including litigation and advice involving the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices – Consumer Protection Act, Chapter 21B of the Insurance Code, the Texas Credit Code, the Uniform Commercial Code, the Manufactured Housing Standards Act, the Finance Code, the Motor Vehicle Code, the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the federal Truth in Lending Act, and other federal and state laws dealing with landlord-tenant relationships, sales, leases, insurance, credit, and collections.  Mr. Pikl has litigated numerous cases from both the plaintiff’s and the defense sides of the bar, and this broad experience enables him to understand and analyze both his client’s and his opposition’s position for strengths and weaknesses.  Mr. Pikl has extensive experience as lead counsel in dozens of bench and jury trials in state and federal court, as well as appeals all the way to the Texas Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court. Recently, Mr. Pikl acted as counsel for a class of over 3,000 Ford dealers who sued Ford Motor Company in Cleveland, Ohio.  In that case, his legal team obtained a unanimous jury verdict and judgment against Ford for $1.98 billion, by far the largest judgment ever obtained against Ford and one of the largest judgments ever granted in U.S. history.

Professional Involvement

Member of the Bar:    

United States Supreme Court

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals

United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
                                               
Texas Supreme Court

Member, District 1A State Bar Grievance Committee (2005 to 2009)

Member, District 1 State Bar Grievance
Committee (2010 to present)

Collin County Bench/Bar Foundation – Life Member

College of the State Bar of Texas

American Association for Justice (formerly Association of Trial Lawyers of America)

Professional Publications

James A. Pikl, “Usury Law and Guarantors: A Texas-Sized Loophole,” 13 Review of Litigation 31 (1993).

James A. Pikl, “Arbitration and the DTPA,” 26 Texas Tech Law Review 881 (1995)(this article also published in the Texas Bar Journal, September 1995).

James A. Pikl, “The Myth of ‘Functional Availability’ and the Robinson-Patman Act,” 1 Federal Courts Law Review 217 (2002)(www.fclr.org).

Educational Background

B.A. Economics and Mathematics, Eastern Washington University (1981)

Graduate course work and teaching fellowship in Economics, University of Arizona (1981-82)

J.D. (cum laude) Gonzaga University School of Law (1985)

Managing Editor, Gonzaga Law Review

Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity