Biography

Tres Gibbs focuses his litigation practice on complex business and construction disputes as well as bankruptcy matters and creditors’ rights. Tres has represented plaintiffs and defendants in state, federal, and bankruptcy court across Texas and in other states. Tres takes pride in understanding his clients’ business and personal needs, in addition to their legal ones, and develops practical and efficient solutions to meet them. Tres’s experience covers a wide variety of disputes in the construction, energy, financial, and corporate sectors.

Education

• Texas Tech School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2012
• Texas A&M University, B.S., 2006

Recognitions & Distinctions

• Named “Rising Star” by Texas Super Lawyers (2021)
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” (2021-2023)
• Named a “Top Lawyer” by Houstonia Magazine (2018-2022)

Representative Experience

• Successfully defended client in adversary proceeding in District of Colorado Bankruptcy Court against Trustee’s claim for turnover of property related to Debtor’s pre-petition fraudulent transfer of vintage 1965 Shelby Cobra; Prevailed on counterclaim for declaration that client’s equitable title defeated trustee’s legal title to Cobra.
• Successfully resolved complex interpleader action involving competing claims to over $3.5 million in disputed funds brought by nearly fifteen parties based in the factoring industry. Case involved claims of UCC priority, tortious interference, and breach of contract.
• Prevailed at bench trial and obtained six figure award for client in dueling breach of contract claims; defeated opposing claims and won nearly six figure judgment.
• Successfully resolved partnership dispute for client/member of spirit branding company and distributor against claims of fraud and misappropriation of trade secrets.
• Obtained take nothing judgment for client following bench trial on behalf of national vehicle service center against claims that client violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of client applying to probate will and be named independent executor in hotly contested will contest.
• Prevailed on Application for Attorneys’ Fees and obtained nearly $100,000 award for client in hotly contested guardianship proceeding.

Memberships & Affiliations

• Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
• State Bar of Texas, Litigation Section
• Houston Young Lawyers Association
• Houston Bar Association

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• United States District Courts and Bankruptcy Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of Texas
• United States District Court and Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado

Biography

Maurice is a versatile litigator who represents clients in a wide and diverse range of matters including commercial disputes, product liability and mass torts, wrongful death, and appellate matters. He routinely represents individual and corporate clients before federal and state courts throughout the country. He has successfully represented clients in “bet-the-company” litigation and trials. In addition, Maurice has experience representing clients outside the courtroom through alternative dispute resolution.

Education

• St. John’s University School of Law, J.D., 2017
• St. John’s University, B.S., Public Relations, 2012

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• State Bar of New Jersey
• State Bar of New York
• United States District Court: Northern, Southern & Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court: Western District of New York
• United States District Court: District of New Jersey
• United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth & Second Circuits

Community Involvement

• President, St. John’s University School of Law Alumni Association, Alumni of Color Chapter
• Director, St. John’s University School of Law Alumni Association
• Co-Chair, New York County Lawyer Association’s Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity
• Mentor, Ronald H. Brown Law School Prep Program

Biography

Kristen Wheeler is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young. Her practice primarily focuses on construction law and commercial litigation, representing residential, commercial, and industrial construction clients. She also has experience in employment related disputes, including non-competition and trade secret issues.

Kristen received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 2022. While in law school, she served on the executive boards for the UH Law Center’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Team and the International Law Society. She also worked as a judicial intern for U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr. and for former Judge Gregg Costa for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Additionally, she interned with the Texas Attorney General’s office in the Consumer Protection Division.

Prior to law school, Kristen was a 4^th grade ESL teacher in Spring Branch ISD for two years while serving as a Teach for America Corps member.

Education

• University of Houston Law Center – J.D., 2022
  – Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy
  – Alternative Dispute Resolution Team, Executive Board
  – International Law Society, Executive Board
• Texas A&M University – B.A., Political Science, 2017

Speaking Engagements & Presentations

• HR Houston General Meeting: Texas’s Enhanced Sexual Harassment Laws: Nearly One Year Later

Publications

• An Adequate Shift from Inpatient Care or a Kick to the Curb: The Need to Shift Hospitals’ Discharge Criteria from Hospital-Focused to Patient-Driven, HOUS. J. HEALTH L. & POL’Y 1 (2023).

Judicial Experience

• Judicial Intern to the Honorable Ewing Werlein, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• Judicial Intern to the Former Judge Gregg Costa, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas

Community Involvement

• Bellaire Ducks Unlimited – Present Chairman
• Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest – Contestant Supervisor
• St. Thomas’ Episcopal Young Alumni Board

Biography

Jake Peters is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young. Jake’s practice primarily focuses on construction law and commercial litigation. Jake received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in May 2022. While in law school, Jake served as Vice President of the Corporate and Tax Law Society for two years and was a member of the Consumer and Commercial Law Journal. As an undergraduate at the University of Texas, Jake majored in Economics and earned a Business Foundations Certificate from the Texas McCombs School of Business.

Education

• University of Houston – J.D., 2022
• University of Texas at Austin – B.A. Economics, 2018

Judicial Experience

• Judicial Intern for the Honorable Jeffrey V. Brown, United States District Court, Southern District of Texas

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas

Biography

Jude des Bordes is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young.  His practice focuses primarily on personal injury, wrongful death, and commercial litigation.  Jude received his J.D. with honors from South Texas College of Law Houston where he was selected for the varsity moot court team, competing in the National Energy & Sustainability and National Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court competitions in 2018.  He was an active member of campus organizations including the Black Law Student Association and the Oil & Gas Law Society for which he served as the Student Outreach Coordinator.  While in school, Jude served as intern for the Honorable Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Education

• South Texas College of Law Houston – J.D., cum laude, 2019
  – Presidential Fellow
  – Dean’s List
• University of Houston – B.S. Biology, 2016

Recognitions & Distinctions

• The National Black Lawyers – 2023 Top 40 Under 40
• CALI Award for Academic Excellence in Legal Research & Writing, Professional Responsibility, and Family Law

Publications

• Jude des Bordes, Lightning Oil: The Erosion of Mineral Estate Rights, 2 Harry L. Reed Inst. of Oil & Gas Energy Newsletter 3 (2018)

Memberships & Affiliations

• Houston Young Lawyers Association

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• United States District Court: Southern & Western Districts of Texas

Biography

Beau E. LeBlanc is a member of the firm with a practice focusing on complex commercial litigation, construction-related dispute resolution and advice, general contract advice, as well as admiralty and insurance litigation. Among the clients Beau serves are onshore and offshore energy and marine general and EPC contractors, shipyards, marine and rig fabrication companies, land-based contractors and vendors, design and engineering firms, marine transportation and offshore service companies, marine and energy power manufacturers/service providers, and heavy equipment manufacturers.

Beau has significant experience in prosecuting and defending against claims in complex commercial, construction, maritime and insurance matters, in state and federal courts – on the district court and appellate levels – in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi, as well as in domestic and international arbitrations administered by the American Arbitration Association and the London Court of International Arbitration.

Beau’s litigation and arbitration experience has included the preparation, litigation and/or trial of claims addressing: commercial contract breaches, delay, disruption and acceleration, cumulative impacts, disputed changes orders, warranty or guarantee obligations, force majeure, contractual liquidated damages, non-competition agreements, breach of fiduciary duties, fraudulent transfers, builder’s risk and other insurance coverage issues, bonds/letters of credit, exoneration from and/or limitation of liability and personal injury/death.

Beau has negotiated, drafted or advised upon a wide range of commercial and construction-related contracts, including EPC contracts, new construction and repair contracts, master service agreements, design and engineering contracts, purchase orders, professional service agreements, joint venture/teaming agreements, bonds and letters of credit, non-competition agreements, as well as charter party and other agreements in the admiralty context.

Prior to undertaking his private practice, Beau served as a full-time law clerk from 1998-1999 to the Honorable G. Thomas Porteous, Jr., District Court Judge, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.

Education

• University of Virginia School of Law – J.D., 1998
• Georgetown University – B.A., with honors, 1995

Recognitions & Distinctions

• Named to the Louisiana Rising Stars list as one of the top up-and-coming attorneys in Louisiana for 2012
• Best Lawyer in America 2023: Admiralty and Maritime Law

Representative Experience

• Represented international contractor in an arbitration administered by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution under UNCITRAL rules against major energy company (owner) related to engineering, production, and construction of a deep water production facility hull, topsides and mooring system. Prosecuted over $110 million in claims by contractor for cumulative engineering and fabrication productivity impacts, acceleration, and individual change orders. Defended owner’s counterclaims of over $130 million for consequential damages, clawbacks of settled change orders and defective engineering and fabrication. This matter involved a multi-week hearing in Houston, Texas before a three member tribunal.
• Represented U.S. contractor in an arbitration administered by the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”) against the owner, an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company (owner was purchased during the dispute by a major energy company), to resolve disputes arising out of a contract for the manufacture, fabrication, assembly, supply, testing and delivery of a fixed production platform for processing natural gas in a large field off the coast of Israel. Prosecuted approximately $70 million in claims by contractor for disputed change orders for additional / revised work, loss of productivity, disruption and acceleration. Defended owner’s counterclaims of approximately $12 million for liquidated and general damages, lost and damaged material and incomplete / carryover work. This matter involved a three week hearing in London before a three member tribunal.
• Represented a US shipbuilder in an AAA arbitration against owner — a provider of marine transportation services to exploration and production, oilfield service and offshore construction – on a shipbuilding contract dispute related to design, construction and warranty defects on a series of ten (10) offshore supply vessels. Defended contractor against $50 million in claims by owner. Took lead on largest owner claim relating to Electrical and Instrumentation issues. Prosecuted $3 million in claims by contractor relating to unpaid baseline adjustments, extra work and excessive LDs charged. This matter involved several multi-week hearings before a three member tribunal in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Represented international contractor in AAA arbitration arising from transportation and installation of completed and assembled deepwater production facility, including over $38 million in disputed change orders and project delays. Defended claims for installation delay and for alleged defective work.
• Represented U.S. contractor in an arbitration administered by the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”) under UNCITRAL Rules against an international shipbuilder. The matter involved a multi-week hearing in London before a three member tribunal. The EPC contract was for the detail design, procurement, fabrication, loadout and seafastening of two tower sections for a fixed, deepwater offshore platform for oil and gas production off the coast of Africa. As a result of design delays, work growth and subsequent acceleration of the schedule, the contractor claimed entitlement to additional costs approximating $18 million.
• Represented US fabricator in $18 million dispute in federal district court in Texas with drilling contractor related to the construction and integration of two deepwater, state-of-the art drillships. Pursued claims resulting from contract breaches, extra-contractual work and project impacts arising from late and defective design, increased work scope, compensable schedule delays and impacts.
• Represented contractor in a Society of Maritime Arbitrators arbitration with the owner regarding the design and construction of a first-in-kind dual mode ATB trailing suction hopper dredge. The matter involved competing breach of contract claims of over $45 million relating to contract default, termination, claims for additional compensation for changes, delay, disruption and costs to complete with another company
• Represented U.S. industrial construction contractor in a dispute with an oil and gas producer regarding an EPC contract for the construction of a gas ‐ treating and sulphur recovery plant in Canada. The contractor claimed damages resulting from an incomplete design and specifications. Contractor’s claims included incorporating new owner requirements, correcting the specifications, changes and growth to the work and resulting impacts. The total amount in dispute was approximately $100 million.
• Represented owner / charterer of inland and offshore towing vessels, barges and crewboats against purchasers of two tugboats in Eastern District of Louisiana dispute relating to breach of a non-compete provision relating to charters in a vessel sales agreement. Prevailed against purchasers with $6.75 million judgment, which was successfully defended on appeal to the U.S. Fifth Circuit. Prosecuted further claims against global mergers, acquisitions, and operations company (parent) for fraudulent transfers and piercing of corporate veil.
• Represented owner of two barges in successful limitation of liability action in the U.S. Southern District of Mississippi with respect to claims by the MDOT relating to the allision of those two barges into the I-10 bridge near Pascagoula, Mississippi, causing over $6 million in damages, as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Memberships & Affiliations

• American Bar Association (Member, ABA Forum on Construction Law and ABA Litigation Section)
• Louisiana State Bar Association (Member, Fidelity, Surety & Construction Law Section; Civil Law & Litigation Section; and Alternative Dispute Resolution Section)
• State Bar of Texas (Member, Construction Law Section)
• New Orleans Bar Association
• Houston Bar Association (Member, Construction Law Section)
• Partner Member of the Shipbuilders Council of America

Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• State Bar of Louisiana
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States District Court: Eastern, Western & Middle Districts of Louisiana
• United States District Court: Northern, Eastern & Southern Districts of Texas
• United States District Court: Southern District of Mississippi
• United States Bankruptcy Court: Southern District of Mississippi
• United States District Court: Southern District of Alabama