History

I have been practicing law since 2001. I began my career in Washington, D.C. ten days before 9/11. My intentions when moving to Washington, D.C. were to go and work for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where I would spend a few years and then waive into the Patent Bar. The University of Oklahoma had a strong contingency at the USPTO and I had made plans to work there. Unfortunately, 9/11 derailed those plans as there were hiring freezes in place at the USPTO that remained in place for my time in D.C. I ended up working for Mark Barnes & Associates, which was a boutique law firm engaged in federal regulatory compliance. There, I worked primarily at the Department of Defense/Office of Defense Trade Controls and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to accomplish a variety of goals for a broad spectrum of clients. It was a fascinating job that I enjoyed very much.

I moved to San Antonio in 2003 and went to work for Chunn & Pilcher, a boutique insurance defense firm. Lonnie and Steve (RIP!) had a very diverse practice, ranging from construction defects to personal injury, with a little intellectual property and criminal law. I also during this time began doing a lot of probate work, primarily pro bono, for friends and colleagues in the area. I learned to try a case with Lonnie and Steve and formed the base of my legal foundation here.

In 2005, I started the Law Office of Paul D Huckabay. For eighteen months, I had a diverse practice that included criminal law, trucking litigation, construction defect litigation, trust and business management, estate planning and probate. Late in 2006, a friend of mine told me that Les Mendelsohn had this amazing office at 110 Broadway and had a lot of empty offices. I was working out of my home but looking for some office space and so I went to meet with Les. Les and I hit it off like peas and carrots. I started doing 10-20 hours of legal work a month for Les and in exchange he provided me with an office. We worked on a lot of interesting cases together, including partnership disputes, civil rights violations and a host of other matters. Les went into for what I remember being a quadruple bypass surgery and did not make it out. I was the only lawyer even loosely associated with his law practice, which was actually very busy and heavily staffed. So I set aside my law practice to try and help keep Les’ firm moving in a positive direction such that the folks that worked there and his widow were left in as good of hands as I could leave them. I think I accomplished that. But I used my business line of credit to support myself during that time and headed back to private practice.

In 2008, I went to work for what was then Jones, Andrews & Ortiz, P.C. Almost all of the work I did for these great lawyers related to Hurricane Katrina litigation. There was widespread and devastating property damage that resulted from Hurricane Katrina. There were dueling theories and dueling insurance policies: wind (traditional homeowner’s policy) and flood. Flood is a federally backed insurance policy and can be pretty expensive, making it all but unaffordable in neighborhoods completely wiped out by Katrina. So the dispute arose as to whether the damage was caused by wind and wind-drive rain, or flood waters. It was actually fascinating work and really forensic in nature, studying the patters of blown over trees and other extrinsic evidence to try and determine the force of flood waters and winds. I enjoyed my time with my friends there.

In 2009, I went to work at the esteemed Adami, Shuffield, Scheihing & Burns, PC, where I became a partner in 2012 and practiced until 2018. I worked with Tres Adami, who has probably tried more cases (bench and jury) that anyone I know. He has an incredibly diverse practice, including construction defect, personal injury, premises liability, HOA litigation and about anything else people can fight over. This was a very heavy litigation practice and we had two trial settings a week, every week, for over 18 months out. It was a busy practice but I enjoyed the hell out of it. I never expected to leave this firm but ultimately events were set in motion which altered my expectations.

In February of 2018, I accepted the position of General Counsel with Aggregate Haulers. I have been doing Aggregate Haulers’ work off and on since 2003 both at Chunn and Pilcher and my private practice. I am very fortunate to be associated with this great company and work with this great team.

In January of 2022, I began working toward my LL.M in Wealth Management and Risk Management. I expect to earn my degree by the Summer of 2023.

The rest of my story is yet to be written!