Practice Areas
Appellate
Business Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Consumer Disputes
Insurance Defense
Receiverships
Securities Fraud Litigation
Practice Emphasis
Ms. Koonce prosecutes and defends commercial disputes on behalf of large and small clients. She has obtained favorable results through bench and jury trials, summary judgment, and settlement in cases involving complex international contract disputes, CGL insurance defense matters, commercial tenancy, and consumer disputes. Ms. Koonce specializes in federal litigation, and her experience includes extensive representation of equity receivers.
General Litigation and Trial Experience
- Jury and bench trials in state and federal courts.
- Extensive experience with federal court motion and appellate practice, including disputes regarding jurisdiction, choice of law, limitations, standing, fraud, fraudulent transfer, negligence, discovery, and evidentiary issues.
- Obtained summary judgments against dozens of brokers, recipients of Ponzi payments, and others in numerous receivership lawsuits, and successfully defended those judgments on appeal to the Fifth Circuit.
- Published opinions include
- Crawford v. Silette, 608 F.3d 275, (5th Cir. 2010) (Affirming imposition and foreclosure of lien in favor Receiver despite assertion of Florida homestead protection, where fraudulently obtained funds were transferred from Ponzi operator to innocent home-owner, and used to satisfy mortgage).
- Warfield v. Byron, 436 F.3d 551 (5th Cir. 2006)(Upholding
summary judgment directing brokers' disgorgement of commissions
received in exchange for sale of fraudulent securities);
- Hartis v. Century Furniture Indus., Inc., 230 S.W.3d 723, (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2007, no pet.)(Upholding judgment following bench trial involving UCC Article 2 formation, interpretation, and enforcement issues).
Affiliations
Ms. Koonce has served on the Parents’ Organization Board for her childrens' school, and on various leadership committees for her church. She also enjoys coaching youth volleyball.
Professional Involvement
- Member, State Bar of Texas, 1991 to Present
- Member, Dallas Bar Association
- Member, National Association of Women Lawyers
- Admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Member, Fifth Circuit Bar Association
Education and Professional Background
• J.D., (cum laude) Pepperdine University School of Law, 1991
• Full-time intern, Honorable Sidney A. Fitzwater, United States District Judge, January – May 1990
• B.A., (magna cum laude) Abilene Christian University, 1988
Honors and Awards
• Awarded President’s Scholarship
• Pepperdine Law Review, 1989-1991
• American Jurisprudence Award, Real Property
