Legal areas of practice

Corporate Services:

Who else would you want to look to for a reduction in costs of expensive in-house counsel and in-house compliance SMEs compounded by the benefit cost burden than a professional who served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for two companies across almost fourteen years? This experience included managing a global Human Resources team and the global Information Security & Data Privacy team in highly regulated sectors. She also had oversight of successfully gaining one company its HITRUST CSF certification and maintain its SOC2/Type 2 and PCI DSS certifications.

Diana provides clients with outsourced Legal Services, Chief Compliance Officer advisory services and practical solutions to mitigate and remediate compliance and regulatory risk inclusive, yet not limited to:

    • Outsourced legal and Chief Compliance Officer services
  • Commercial Transactions document review and drafting including complex IT licensing agreements.
  • Reviewing and drafting employment and severance agreements.
  • Advising on employment terminations regardless if a reduction in force or the result of an internal investigation
  • Regulatory research and training drafting to impacted employees
  • Mergers & acquisitions
  • Real Property document review and drafting – purchase, lease, DBO, DBOO
  • Full spectrum of government and commercial contracting from proposal to claims as well as being able to provide advice on data rights and program related disputes at prime and subcontract levels.
  • Ensure the Corporation Has an Adequate Compliance Program in Place
  • Design the Structure of the In-House Legal Department
  • Assist in controlling legal costs
  • Identify and Assess Risk and Risk Management Programs
  • Design a Crisis Management Program
  • Conduct Oversight of Outside Counsel
  • Manage Litigation
  • Develop and Maintain Good Working Relationships with Senior Management
  • Review the Corporation’s Licensing Practices
  • Keep Informed of the Requirements of a Multi-Jurisdictional Practice
  • Establish A Record Retention Program and Policy
  • Assessing, optimizing and building out corporate compliance programs Defensible under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to protect your brand and preserve your image (Resource: USSC Federal Sentencing Guidlines) Corporate compliance is the way that a company ensures that it is following all the laws and regulations that apply to their business. This generally involves the design, implementation, and monitoring of policies, trainings, procedures and practices.
  • Corporate Governance, Risk & Compliance (“GRC”) risk assessments
  • Code of Business Conduct & Ethics drafting and refreshing
  • Best practices program implementation advisory services, including audit and automating paper-heavy programs. Go digital in all you can!
  • Employee training on compliance & ethics topics to create the Rogue Employee Defense
  • Third-party compliance – partner risk scoring and assurance
  • Policy Management programs management, attestations and drafting
  • Merger & Acquisition Compliance Blending – Cultural Shifts
  • Obtaining Management “buy in” for “Tone from the Top”
  • Conflicts of Interest Disclosure monitoring systems
  • Ethics Hotline Implementation, monitoring, case management and administrator training

Approaches include on-site observation and interviews, books and records reviews. Areas of focus include external rules, internal controls, compliance training and audit functions

Criminal Defense:

Specializing in juvenile criminal defense even if certified to be tried in the adult system.

Defending juveniles is a complex and multidisciplinary practice that involves knowledge of criminal, civil, and family codes and procedures. Texas juvenile criminal law requires an extensive familiarity with other issues as well, such as the psychological and psychosocial development of adolescents. All of these factors must be thoroughly evaluated for successful juvenile defense. Being a parent, Diana understands the need to support the child-defendant and their families in times of trouble. She is an aggressive advocate who defends juveniles with a passion. Cases handled include, yet are not limited to:

  • Drug Cases: Throughout Texas, drug cases are treated very seriously by law enforcement. Aside from incarceration, guilty verdicts can lead to the loss of driving privileges, forfeiture of property and a limit to future employment opportunities.
  • Sex Offense Cases: Conviction for a sexual offense is a serious issue and is punished accordingly. Terms of incarceration typically start at 10 years and have little chance of parole. The allegation alone can result in social stigmas, the loss or strain of personal and professional relationships and even the loss of employment and professional licenses.
  • Theft and Fraud
  • Motions To De-Register Juvenile Sex Offenders
  • Appeals
  • Violent Crimes
  • Jail Release and Bond Information
  • Expungement

Juveniles Tried as Adults and Special Diversion Programs

There are two types of juvenile criminal cases that permit more serious adult-type penalties for juvenile delinquent conduct. One is certification and transfer hearings that can result in juvenile jurisdiction being waived and the juvenile being transferred as an adult for prosecution purposes. This means a juvenile could receive real penitentiary time in an adult prison. The second area is determinate sentencing. The family code sets out certain aggravated juvenile criminal offenses that can result in penalties of up to 40 years. Initially, the juvenile stays in the juvenile system, but at 18, the juvenile can be transferred to adult prison for the balance of the sentence.

Two of the topics that frequently arise in juvenile criminal law are deferred prosecution and pretrial diversion. These are legal scenarios that enable a juvenile to avoid an adjudication (and, hence, a juvenile record) by agreement with the prosecutor and usually involves the juvenile agreeing to certain activities such as volunteer work or restitution in order to have the matter deferred and adjudication withheld. A wide range of pretrial matters and motions can also be explored, including juvenile confessions, search and seizure issues, mental illness and retardation proceedings, and special education and other school issues. All of these areas should be considered in light of the access to and confidentiality of juvenile records and proceedings.

Labor & Employment:

Wrongful Termination Employment Claims based on discrimination, harassment, retaliation or other unlawful reason.

Who else would you want to handle your Wrongful Termination claim than an attorney who has defended hundreds of such claims as in-house counsel and managed a global Human Resources department for many years?

Plus, most times, these claims are insured by an employer’s Employment Practices Liability Insurance (“EPLI”) policy. Usually, the employer has material retention amount (like a deductible) under the policy and it’s a better investment to settle the matter pre-trial and often prior to discovery including written interrogatories and depositions which make legal defense costs rise quickly.

Wrongful termination is one of the most common claims of employees against employers in Texas. Understanding wrongful termination can be confusing because there is the plain English definition of “wrongful termination” and a legal definition of “wrongful termination.”

Many states, including Texas, are “employment at-will” states. In general, employment at-will means that an employer can legally terminate an employee for any lawful reason at any time. However, this does not allow an employer to fire an employee for any reason at all. If an employer terminates an employee for an unlawful reason, the termination is often called a “wrongful termination.” There are many reasons that the law considers a termination wrongful.

Unfortunately for Texas employees, Texas is not a “for cause” state. Instead, Texas has adopted employment-at-will. So, when a Texas employee claims “wrongful termination” what he or she really means is “illegal termination.” In Texas, for a termination to be illegal, it must violate a law, statute, or regulation.

However, filing a lawsuit in court is usually not the first step. This depends on the circumstances of the alleged wrongful termination. First, you might have to file an administrative complaint with a government agency first. If the employer's reason for termination were unlawful, then the employee can bring a wrongful termination claim. This is even if the employee is an at-will employee. Additionally, some employers have adopted an internal grievance process which is most common among government employers, such as school districts and city departments. Texas local government employment appeals generally involve three steps. The first is an informal-type meeting with a supervisor, the second is a hearing with an executive, and the final step is a hearing in front of a governing board (like a school board).

In Texas being able to pursue your employer for a claim of wrongful termination generally requires finding a law that makes the employer's conduct illegal. Diana can advise you whether a wrongful termination is actually illegal, and if so, what remedies are available.