R. Russell Hollenbeck

Among a number of other big appellate wins for the firm last year, Wright Close & Barger successfully argued a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that ultimately changed the playing field for job bias suits in federal courts nationwide.

The firm convinced the appeals court in Fort Bend County v. Davis to reverse a district judge's determination that the court lacked jurisdiction to decide a religious discrimination case because the plaintiff's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge did not include a religious discrimination claim.

The Fifth Circuit reasoned that the requirement that a worker first file a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a precondition to filing a Title VII lawsuit is not a jurisdictional requirement but a mandatory claims-processing rule. And an employer must timely raise a worker's failure to file a charge or forfeit that defense.

Partners Raffi Melkonian, Russ Hollenbeck, and Tom Wright handled the case. According to Hollenbeck, Melkonian presented the case to the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year in his first oral argument before that court. 

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit's ruling.

"It was extraordinarily thrilling for all of us to have prevailed for our client in a Supreme Court case—a unanimous one with a decision penned by Ruth Bader Ginsburg," Hollenbeck said.

The following responses were provided by Hollenbeck.

A prospective client in crisis calls and asks why your team should be retained—what is your answer?

We're good at winning. Our lawyers have been up against the best attorneys in Texas in trial and on appeal, and we've argued before a diverse array of judges in some of the most challenging venues. Collectively, we've handled all types of tough cases, and we've achieved an enviable track record. Given the breadth of this experience, we can move quickly to evaluate and implement the best appellate strategy, focusing on the issues that will bring about the best possible result. We also have tremendous expertise in realistically evaluating whether pursuing appellate relief will produce a favorable outcome.

It's a challenging litigation market, with increasing competition not only from other law firms but from alternative legal services providers. From a business perspective, what does it take for a litigation team to succeed in this environment?  

"You can be an expert in any number of things, but if you can't find some common ground in communicating it to a jury, then all of your knowledge about a case is basically useless," says founding partner Tom Wright. Each of our lawyers has the ability to take complex—often extremely complex—cases and boil them down to essentials that can be presented easily to a judge or a jury in the short time typically allowed for a trial or an oral argument. This is the essence of good lawyering, and that's why we are able to succeed in this environment. Our philosophy is that experience, skill, and tenacity, properly applied, will yield outstanding results. This philosophy saves our clients time and money, and that's why we succeed.

An awards ceremony will be held on Sept. 18 at the Belo Mansion in Dallas. The Attorney of the Year award winner will be announced at the ceremony.

Click here for booking information. For information about sponsoring the event, contact Andre Sutton at 757-721-9020 or email [email protected].