James J.

Burnett
Attorney & Counselor at Law
12002 Pine Brook Drive
Stafford, Texas 77477
Telephone: 281.703.9097 Email: jburnett@jamesburnett.com
Professional Experience
1995 present
1985 1994
1984 1985
1984

The Law Office of James J. Burnett, Sugar Land, Texas

Knox, Walden & Burnett, P.C. Houston, Texas
Haynes & Fullenweider, P.L.L.C. Houston, Texas
Briefing Attorney, First Court of Appeals, Houston, Texas

Experienced trial litigator licensed to practice in all Texas courts and in the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Texas and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Appeared as counsel of record in cases in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts
of Texas, the District of Arizona, and the Central District of California.
Commercial Litigation and Appeals: Active representation of businesses and key personnel in a variety
of professions and industries, ranging from small, closely held enterprises to large companies with
national and international corporate endeavors. Over 70 trials and appeals in state and federal court in a
number of diverse situations, on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, including the following:
Computer Hardware and Software Technology Litigation: Appeared as counsel in state and federal
litigation relating to the development, marketing, licensing, or infringement of licenses, copyrights, or
other proprietary rights, on a variety of computer software and other technologies. Other litigation has
involved issues of defective design, manufacture, or implementation of systems. Extensive knowledge
of and litigation experience involving Cloud Computing, including IAAS, PAAS, and SAAS.
Oil and Gas Exploration Litigation: Specialized experience representing oil and gas exploration
contractors including three seismic dimensional survey projects in the continuing exploration for
petroleum resources throughout Texas. Represented one client sued in 46 simultaneous lawsuits in
different venues in Texas, which cases involved over 600 plaintiffs alleging both extreme property
damage and mass tort personal injuries; obtained decisive findings solidly in favor of the client in all
cases, including summary judgments and both directed verdicts and jury verdicts at trial. Appellate
courts uniformly upheld all verdicts appealed by plaintiffs. All cases obtained findings of no liability
on behalf of the contractor.
White Collar Crime: Active and decisive civil prosecution of employees and former employees who
embezzled company funds and misappropriated company property for profit. Obtained and collected
from $350,000 to over $7,200,000.
Chemical Litigation: Over 15 years experience representing distributors, re-packagers, and sellers of
water treatment, industrial, and petroleum industry chemicals. Active and successful defense of
negligence, intentional tort, environmental discharge, remediation, and CERCLA claims. Represented
clients in all manners of commercial disputes concerning the chemical industry and commercial
matters including unfair competition, Lanham Act, violation of non-competition agreements, and
related matters. Numerous appearances for clients before state and federal agricultural, environmental,
and other regulatory agencies.
Health Care Litigation: Representation of health care providers and insureds in ERISA litigation in
federal court and before administrative review authorities, and defense of providers in ERISA-related
defensive matters. Sole counsel in multi-million-dollar ERISA litigation.
Construction and Construction Defects: Suing for and defending builders, developers, general
contractors and subcontractors, and the customers acquiring and using services in residential and
commercial construction, and in trials and appeals regarding claims of structural or construction
defects. Represented condominium regime sued for mismanagement of the reconstruction of firedamaged units whose owners alleged fraud and fiduciary breaches as well as negligence, obtaining a
dismissal with prejudice of all claims against the clients.

 Industrial Equipment Litigation: Suits on behalf of multinational turbo-machinery and other heavy
industrial equipment enterprises in state and federal litigation involving diesel, electric, and gas turbine
generators, and related turbine equipment, including litigation with international implications.
Regulatory Disputes: Protected clients before a wide variety of state and federal regulatory agencies,
including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, OSHA, the U.S. Department of
Transportation, the Texas Board of Professional Engineers, and the Texas Workforce Commission.
Represented client in case where the Federal Aviation Administration alleged that client had violated
hazardous materials shipping regulations and sought maximum penalties for over 20 specific
regulatory violations, if sustained, would have exceeded $1,000,000 in liability; resolved the dispute
for $40,000 with a non-liability finding on behalf of the client.
Employment-Related Litigation: Representation of businesses in litigation arising from employment
agreements and employment relationships. Claims included lawsuits filed by former employees, suits
to enforce non-competition or trade secret agreements, and disputes arising from unfair competition
and business defamation actions by former employees or individuals acting with their information or
under their direction.
Professional Practitioner Litigation: Served broad group of professionals including aerospace
engineers, chemical engineers, mechanical engineers, and a variety of physicians, physical therapists,
and others, in cases involving professional activities and conduct.
General Commercial Litigation: Represented clients in general commercial matters ranging from
contract disputes and negligence claims to intentional torts including complaints of civil fraud,
conspiracy, RICO violations, and similar claims.
Insurance Defense Litigation and Appeals: Trial and appellate experience in above-described
categories involved representing both plaintiffs and defendants; in defense litigation, especially in
regard to the oil and gas exploration, chemical, industrial equipment, professional practitioner, and
general commercial matters, involved representing clients through their insurance carriers, including
American General, Travelers, and Union America.
Commercial Transactional Matters: Representation of clients in a variety of corporate transactions
ranging from contracts for goods and/or services to commercial real estate leases and sales, franchise
agreements, intellectual property agreements, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements, and other
related matters. These have ranged from local endeavors to enterprises with interstate, national, and
international involvement. Representative transactions have included:
Technology: Represented clients in a variety of technology-related transactions including Cloud
Computing, licensing, marketing, and e-commerce, computer hardware and software and network
licensing and marketing agreements and operations, intellectual property copyrights, trademark, patent
and service mark issues, technology development and transfer agreements and transactions, reverseengineering and re-engineering agreements, and international software development transactions
involving individuals and companies in the United States, Canada, and Japan simultaneously.
Industrial: Extensive experience in negotiating, drafting, modifying, finalizing, and enforcing all
manners of commercial transactions in all aforementioned fields. Agreements in multinational turbomachinery equipment transactions and complex contractual agreements between clients and various
American and foreign owned business entities, including the negotiation of the acquisition contract of
turbine equipment from four power companies in Japan, the establishment of new Texas and Arizona
corporations for the receipt and refurbishment of the equipment, negotiations with Hong Kong
corporation purchasing the refurbished machinery, and with the Manila municipal authorities
purchasing them from Hong Kong in turn for installation in the Philippine Islands, and with the Dutch
shipping company responsible for transporting the equipment by sea from the United States.
Represented clients in transactions involving the purchase, operation, sale, and warranty issues of
various types of equipment and machinery ranging from small office equipment to large networked
computer systems and major industrial and factory equipment.
Energy: Represented three-dimensional seismic survey monitoring and risk-management companies
with transactions involving all aspects of petrochemical exploration and development, onshore and
offshore, with exploration, production, and transmission entities. Transactions have included contract
negotiation, drafting, and revision in matters from single subdivisions to multistate pipeline contracts
and international natural gas purchase and sale agreements.

 Chemical: Served all aspects of the sale, distribution, packaging, and repackaging of chemicals from
master sales agreements for a broad range of products to specialized contracts for unique niche
compounds. Transaction work includes constant due diligence and structuring to ensure compliance
with state and federal laws and regulations regarding environmental, import/export, strategic materials,
and other chemical restrictions.
Employment and Labor: Initiated actions by and handled the defense of businesses from small,
family-owned entities, to multinational combines, in a variety of employment-related transactions
including, drafting, review, and updating of personnel policies, employment manuals, and guidelines;
the oversight of human resources personnel to ensure compliance with state and federal employment
regulatory requirements, review and amendment of safety protocols, drafting, review, and amendment
of document retention and preservation procedures, employment agreements with employees and
independent contractors, corporate records review and modification regarding stock purchase, sale
agreements, and key man processes, retirement and severance agreements, and negotiation of
employment disputes not requiring litigation.
Corporate Counsel and General Business Transactions: Comprehensively handled all facets of
business formation, organization, operation, and winding down. These ranged from formation of
business entities through restructuring and changes of ownership to end-strategy transactions. Handled
sale, purchase, lease, and operating agreements on a variety of corporate entities, types, and
operational variations.
Educational Experience
The University of Texas, School of Law: Doctorate of Jurisprudence
The University of Texas at Austin: Bachelor of Arts, Plan II, History with High Honors
Academic and Professional Honors
Frequent lecturer in litigation and ethics with the Houston Bar Association
Phi Beta Kappa
Fellow and Junior Fellow, University of Texas at Austin
Brown University Man of Letters
American Jurisprudence awards in Constitutional law, civil litigation, family law
Professional and Personal References Available Upon Request