Shocked and saddened citizens of El Paso, Texas, paying their respects to the memorial wall created just outside the parking area for the Walmart store. Photo: Grossinger/Shutterstock.comAs El Paso Walmart Reopens, Lawyers Represent 36 Plaintiffs After Mass Shooting
Walmart's defense counsel, Laura Enriquez of El Paso, is facing off against a group of plaintiffs attorneys from across Texas who have been seeking pre-lawsuit discovery about potential claims that Walmart was negligent by not providing proper security for the El Paso store.
November 13, 2019 at 05:58 PM
5 minute read
As the Walmart in El Paso reopens Thursday, with future plans for a memorial for the people who died in August's mass shooting, behind the scenes the mega-retailer has tapped a credentialed local civil defense attorney for litigation by 36 plaintiffs and counting.
Walmart's defense counsel, Laura Enriquez, often defends the company against personal injury cases filed in El Paso state and federal courts. She's facing off against a group of plaintiffs attorneys from across Texas, who have been seeking pre-lawsuit discovery about potential claims that Walmart was negligent by not providing proper security for the El Paso store. Plaintiffs won a victory in late September when the court ordered Walmart to preserve evidence, and allow their counsel to inspect the store, KTXS reported.
Walmart has denied the plaintiffs' allegations. It filed a cross-claim against the suspected shooter, a 22-year-old Dallas-area man, who's been indicted for capital murder for allegedly killing 22 people and wounding 25 others during the Aug. 3 shooting, according to NPR. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty in the criminal case.
Walmart's cross-claim, Garcia v. Walmart, is pending in El Paso's 448th District Court, where Judge Sergio Enriquez presides.
Here's a listing of the lawyers on both sides of the bar in the case.
|Laura Enriquez
At the defense table is Enriquez of El Paso's of Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan. She is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, according to her law firm profile. She earned her law degree in 1996 from Baylor University School of Law in Waco, and is licensed to practice law in Texas and New Mexico. The litigator is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a past president of that group's El Paso chapter. Enriquez has also served at the helm of the El Paso Bar Association.
|Read the cross-claim and answer.
|Patrick Luff
Patrick Luff of the Ammons Law Firm in Houston is lead counsel among a group of litigators representing 20 plaintiffs—the largest group. Luff earned his law degree in 2009 from the University of Michigan School of Law and was licensed in Texas in 2014. He was a law professor earlier in his career, according to his law firm profile. Other attorneys on the team include: Ammons Law Firm founding partner Rob Ammons and Miriah Soliz; El Paso solo practitioner James B. Kennedy Jr.; Grapevine solo practitioner David Glenn; and Zambrano Law Firm founding attorney Jesse Zambrano and associate Edgar Garcia Jr., both of McAllen.
|Read the fourth amended petition:
|Stephen Stewart
Austin personal injury litigator Stephen Stewart, managing partner in The Stewart Law Firm, is the lead counsel for eight plaintiffs. Stewart earned his law degree from Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock in 1997 and was licensed in Texas that same year. James "Guy" Miller, who works at Stewart's firm, is part of the plaintiffs team, as is Clark Harmonson of El Paso's Harmonson Law Firm. Leighton Durham, Kirk Pittard and Thad Spalding of Durham, Pittard & Spalding in Dallas are also part of the team.
|Read his petition in intervention.
|Sandra Reyes
Representing six plaintiffs, Spring solo practitioner Sandra Reyes has been licensed to practice law in Texas since 2000. She earned her law degree from Western State College of Law in Irvine, California, in 1999. Joining her as co-counsel is El Paso solo practitioner Jessica Mendez.
|Read her petition in intervention.
|Brice Burris
Representing one plaintiff, Brice Burris, an attorney at Fears Nachawati in Dallas, earned his law degree from Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth in 2014 and was licensed the same year. Before law school, he worked in the Texas Senate. His firm's founding partner, Majed Nachawati, and partner Matthew McCarley are also on the legal team.
|Read his petition in intervention.
|Randy Sorrels
Randy Sorrels, partner in Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Aziz in Houston, represents one plaintiff in the litigation. Sorrels is the current president of the State Bar of Texas. He earned his law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston in 1987, and was licensed in Texas the same year. He holds five board certifications by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Abraham Watkins associate Jason Muriby is also on the team.
|Read his petition in intervention.
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