As a second generation lawyer, Scott Renick believes strongly in protecting the rights of individuals and the right to trial by jury. Before founding the Renick Law Firm, PLLC, Scott served as a Texas prosecutor and worked at successful law firms focused on fighting for injured people in Texas. Scott focuses his practice on personal injury and insurance disputes. Scott handled hundreds of cases for Texas citizens fighting insurance companies to have their homes repaired the right way from damage caused by Hurricanes Rita and Ike. Scott has served as the President of the Board of Directors for The Garth House, which provides free counseling services to children who are victims of abuse. Scott is a proud member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. Scott is admitted to practice in Texas, including the Eastern District of Texas.

Larry L. Germer is a trial lawyer who has defended clients in major cases in all areas of litigation. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1963 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1966, he received his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law, graduating in the top 5% of his class. He has been recognized as a “Texas Super Lawyer”, a Thompson Reuters publication, annually since 2003. Larry is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Texas, Texas state courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. For over 50 years, Larry has handled a heavy civil docket defending corporations and insurance companies in all types of cases, including significant personal injury suits and major commercial cases involving contract, antitrust, class action and public utility issues. He has been active in insurance coverage lawsuits and has published an article dealing with conflicts problems in the insured/insurance company relationship. In recent years, he has been involved in major patent litigation. Larry is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a member of the Jefferson County Bar Association. Larry has served on the Commission for Lawyer Discipline, a twelve-member board responsible for the grievance process for the State Bar of Texas. As a long-term member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, Larry has served on the board as an officer of that organization. He is a past Director of the State Bar of Texas and has served on its Executive Committee. He has served on the Board of the American Board of Trial Advocates and was a Board member and Treasurer of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. He was appointed as a member of a Pattern Jury Charge Committee and the State Rules Committee and has served on a number of other bar-related committees and projects.

Valerie is Southeast Texas born and raised and is a proud alumni of All Saints Episcopal School (c/o 2000), West Brook High School (c/o 2004), Rice University (c/o 2008), and Tulane University Law School School (c/o 2014). Before law school, she spent one year teaching English in rural France. She subsequently served two years as a Teach For America Corps Member in Northern California, where she taught seventh grade English as part of Teach For America’s mission to make excellent education equitable for all children and fought for an uncompromising belief in every child. Valerie’s advocacy skills also carry into her volunteer efforts in the Southeast Texas community, where she has served on the Boards of Directors of the Junior League of Beaumont, the Michelle M. Mehaffy Inn of Court, the Jefferson County Young Lawyers Association, and the Foundation for Southeast Texas.

Christopher D. Leavins is a Principal and Member at our Beaumont and Houston offices and has been with Germer PLLC since 2008. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Economics prior to receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence at South Texas College of Law. Chris is Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law and Residential Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Chris has extensive experience in representing real estate developers, lenders, and businesses, as well as individuals in complex real estate transactions, financing, leasing, development, subdivisions, shopping centers and office buildings. In addition, he also has experience in estate planning, probate, business acquisitions, commercial litigation, and advising clients on the formation, operation and dissolution of various business entities. Chris has significant public entity representation, including acting as City Attorney and City Prosecutor for local municipalities, as well as representing economic development corporations and emergency service providers. He has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star, a Thompson Reuters publication, from 2018 – 2022.

Collin D. Shellenberger was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. He has spent his entire legal career with Germer, PLLC in its Beaumont office defending businesses and individuals in civil litigation matters.

Kelli B. Smith earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law in 1998. While attending law school, she was a Teaching Quizmaster, an associate editor of the Texas Journal of Women and The Law, and excelled in Moot Court competitions. She has been with Germer since 1998 and has extensive experience handling appeals in state and federal courts, including more than 100 reported and unreported opinions. Kelli is admitted to practice before Texas courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Kelli is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Jefferson County Bar Association, Jefferson County Bar Journal Editorial Committee, Texas Association of Defense Counsel, Michelle Mehaffy American Inns of Court, the Appellate Section of the State Bar of Texas, and the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit. Kelli’s experience is in appellate practice and general civil litigation, including products liability, insurance defense, professional malpractice defense, and class and complex litigation.

Christy Amuny is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried over 100 cases to verdict. She received her undergraduate degree from The University of Texas (B.A. 1986) and attended Texas Tech School of Law (J.D. 1990). Christy is a native of Southeast Texas. She is licensed in both Texas and Louisiana, and is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Louisiana State Bar. She is admitted to practice in both state and federal courts in Texas and Louisiana and in the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. She is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a Diplomate in the American Board of Trial Advocates and a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. She has served as President of the Jefferson County Bar Association (2006-2007), Chair of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas (2013-2014), District 3 Representative on the State Bar Board of Directors, President of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel (2021-2022) and Chair of the State Bar of Texas Rules Committee (2024-2025). Christy was recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer, a Thompson Reuters publication, in 2004 and from 2006 to 2024. Christy practices in the areas of personal injury defense, insurance law, civil litigation, products liability, premises liability and extra-contractual insurance claims.

Karen R. Bennett, managing principal with the firm, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988 from the University of Texas at Arlington. She received her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Texas Tech University. Karen has handled a docket of personal injury and civil litigation files since the beginning of her practice. She is also the principal in charge of the firm’s Family Law Department. She has litigated cases in the discovery phase and trial of several complex cases including those involving class actions and prescription drugs. She is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Texas, Texas state courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of Texas, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She is a member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, State Bar of Texas, Texas Women Lawyers, Jefferson County Bar Association along with Family Law Section, Eastern District of Texas Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, American Board of Trial Advocates, and Houston Chapter of American Board of Trial Advocates. She also has served on the Board of Directors for the Jefferson County Bar Association and has been a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas and Mickey Mehaffy Inns of Court. She has served on the Board of the Jefferson County Bar Association Auxiliary and is a past President. She has also served on the Board of the Junior League of Beaumont. She was recognized as a “Texas Super Lawyer”, a Thompson Reuters publication, in 2013-2024. Karen has been active in many local volunteer organizations in the community.

Brant Stogner grew up in El Campo, Texas – a small town about an hour southwest of Houston. In high school, Brant excelled at both athletics and academics. Brant graduated in the top ten percent of his high school class; in sports, Brant and the Ricebirds won six district championships in football and baseball during his three years starting on varsity. Brant earned all-district honors all three years in both sports while also participating in theater and the National Honor Society. Despite a knee injury and subsequent knee surgery in his senior year of high school, Brant accepted a full scholarship to the University of Houston to play linebacker for the Cougars under former head coach Kim Helton. In college, Brant’s academic success continued. In his freshman year at the University of Houston, Brant earned the 1997 Conference USA Academic Excellence Award, earning the highest grade point average (GPA) of all football players in the conference. After playing two seasons, and having three surgeries in as many years, Brant decided to hang up his football cleats and transfer to Texas A&M University to complete his business degree. In College Station, Brant’s scholastic accolades continued to mount. Brant was a member of numerous honor societies and graduated in the top ten percent of his class with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. After graduation from Texas A&M University, Brant moved back to Houston to attend law school at South Texas College of Law Houston. In law school, Brant quickly became a member of the law school’s nationally ranked mock trial and moot court program under Dean T. Gerald Treece. Following just his third semester in law school, Brant won the Intramural Summer Academy Mock Trial Competition and received the Best Speaker Award. Ultimately, Brant competed as a varsity advocate in 15 mock trial and moot court competitions across the country. In addition to numerous individual speaker awards, Brant won a state tournament championship, a regional moot court tournament championship, two regional mock trial tournament championships, and, ultimately, a National Championship in mock trial at the ATLA National Trial Competition in his final semester of law school. Brant graduated law school in May of 2006 in the top fifteen percent of his law school class, was admitted into the Order of Barristers, and received the 2006 Dean’s Outstanding Student Advocate Award. Following graduation from law school and after taking the bar exam, Brant accepted an associate position at Houston law firm, Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering (now named LeClair Ryan) while waiting for bar results. In November of 2006, Brant received his license to practice law from the State Bar of Texas while working at Hays McConn. As a licensed attorney, Brant continued to work with multiple partners on a wide range of cases in civil litigation, representing primarily defendants in personal injury and business disputes. Brant worked as a lawyer during the day and as a law professor at night while he coached South Texas College of Law Houston mock trial teams for his alma mater. After learning the ropes at Hays McConn for nearly two years, Brant accepted an associate position with Abraham Watkins in August of 2008. Brant has been with Abraham Watkins ever since and is now a firm partner with his name in the firm’s name. At Abraham Watkins, Brant has continued to consistently try cases to verdict. Brant tried twelve cases to verdict in his first three years at the firm. Today, he exclusively represents plaintiffs. Brant’s practice focuses on catastrophic personal injury matters, including gas explosions, commercial auto and 18 wheeler cases, refinery and petrochemical explosions, product defect cases, commercial business disputes. Since joining the firm, Brant has helped hundreds of his clients obtain compensation for their injuries and damages caused by others. Brant is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law. He received this certification within his first five years of legal practice, which is the soonest an attorney can become board certified in Texas. In 2009, Brant received the largest verdict (over $20 million) in Texas for workplace safety and injuries and was listed in Verdict Search’s Top Texas Verdicts of 2009. Brant is a board member of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association and is a founding member of the South Texas College of Law Houston Young Alumni Council. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the South Texas College of Law Houston Alumni Association and served as President in 2019. Brant was named to the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star list from 2011 to 2013. He was named to H Texas Magazine’s “Houston’s Top Lawyers 2013” list and has been named to Houstonia Magazine’s “Top Lawyers” list since 2013. Despite being only thirty-four years old, Brant was selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list in 2013. He has been named to the Texas Super Lawyers list every year since 2013 and the Top 100: Texas Super Lawyers and Top 100: Houston Super Lawyers lists since 2019. In 2014, Brant was also added to the Top 40 Texas Attorneys Under 40 list by the National Trial Lawyers Association and received the award each year until he turned 40 years old. Brant has also been named to the Nation’s Top One Percent list by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel since 2015. Brant was also nominated for and inducted into the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) as a member in 2015 and was the youngest inductee in the 2015 class. In 2016, South Texas College of Law Houston honored Brant with the inaugural Young Alumni Award. He was the first recipient to receive this award from South Texas College of Law Houston. Brant met his wife, Jennifer O’Brien Stogner, in law school and she was one of his mock trial partners when they won the ATLA Regional Championship in Dallas, Texas and the National Championship in Miami, Florida. Brant and Jennifer have two boys, Ryker and Beckett Stogner, and one girl, Holland Stogner. Brant and Jennifer’s partnership continues as Jennifer joined the firm in 2018 as Of Counsel.

Jeff Todd has a broad range of legal experience and has practiced law in numerous jurisdictions and settings. Upon graduating from law school, he practiced reinsurance law at Chadbourne & Park in Washington, D.C. He subsequently relocated to Atlanta, Georgia and initially served as in-house counsel to Delta Air Lines, focusing primarily on marketing and mergers. In search of acquiring more courtroom experience, he joined a high volume workers' compensation firm in Decatur, Georgia, where he successfully represented hundreds of injured workers throughout Georgia. Jeff ultimately returned to Texas and was most recently associated with Greer, Herz & Adams of Galveston, where from 2003-2007, he practiced with some of the most highly skilled and regarded attorneys in Galveston County. Jeff started his own firm in 2018 to better serve his clients and has assembled a top notch team to achieve the best results for his clients. Given the broad success of his new firm, Jeff has expanded offices in Galveston and Austin to better serve clients throughout the state and country.