Mr. Galvin B. Kennedy | Private Law Practice

Mr. Kennedy is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His practice focuses on personal injury employment law matters. He was born in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1969 and has lived in Texas off and on since 1979. He studied political science and English at Northern Illinois University, which granted him a full scholarship as leader of the university's well reputed national debate team. Mr. Kennedy won dozens of regional and national speaker awards. He graduated in the top 3% of his class with a B.A. in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude.

After working at O'Quinn, Kerensky & Laminack, P.C., Mr. Kennedy obtained a teaching post at a language academy in Barcelona, Spain where he taught English for one year. While in Spain, Mr. Kennedy honed his Spanish skills that he now uses daily to communicate with his numerous Hispanic clients.

After returning from Europe, Mr. Kennedy attended the University of Houston Law Center, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award for the highest grade in his class in Civil Trial Advocacy, Constitutional Law, Professional Malpractice Law, and Insurance Law. He was an active member of the school's National Mock Trial team. As a second year law student he received the team Champion award in the Hippard Mock Trial Tournament. He also won the individual Best Speaker award for that tournament of 128 competitors. He also won the individual Best Speaker Award for the annual Blakley Moot Court Tournament in the same academic year. Mr. Kennedy was an editor of the Houston Journal of International Law, and a member of the Order of the Barons and the National Order of the Barristers.

After graduating with honors (cum laude) from the University of Houston Law Center, Mr. Kennedy worked as a litigation associate at a prominent Houston law firm. As a litigation associate, he focused on business litigation, employment law, personal injury, investment (securities) litigation, and insurance law. Mr. Kennedy successfully prosecuted claims against some of Houston and the nation's largest companies such as IBM, Halliburton, Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney and Honda Corporation.

Mr. Kennedy opened The Kennedy Law Firm in December 2000. Since then he has represented more than 1,000 clients in personal injury and employment matters that range from products liability, serious trucking accidents, professional malpractice, premises liability and wage and hour cases. The following are some of Mr. Kennedy's recent recoveries serving as lead counsel:

• $2 million settlement in an industrial accident case. [Electric shock injury resulting in brain injury. Attorney's fees and case expenses incurred totaled $858,000.]
• $1.4 million settlement in a products liability case. [Motor vehicle accident resulting in death. Attorney's fees and case expenses incurred totaled $643,000.]
• $1,000,000 judgment in a professional malpractice case. [Back injury and subsequent back surgery. Attorney's fees and case expenses incurred totaled $451,000.]
• $550,000 settlement in a trucking accident case. [Motor vehicle accident resulting in shoulder and back injuries. Client had shoulder surgery. Attorney's fees and case expenses incurred totaled $230,000.]
• $500,000 settlement in a wage and hour collective action claim. [Unpaid overtime for manual laborers. Attorney's fees and case expenses incurred totaled $210,000]
• $490,000 settlement in a consumer products liability case. [Residential construction burn accident involving a lamp. Attorney's fees and case expenses incurred totaled $215,000]
• $250,000 settlement in an auto accident case. [Motor vehicle accident and subsequent neck surgery. Attorney's fees and expenses incurred totaled $115,000.]

Mr. Kennedy is an active member of the State Bar of Texas, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, National Employment Lawyers Association, Houston Trial Lawyers Association, Houston Trial Lawyers Foundation, and the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists. Mr. Kennedy is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, a national organization whose membership is limited to trial lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional skill, experience and excellence in advocacy by achieving a trial verdict, award or settlement in the amount of one million dollars or more. He has also been interviewed on national and international television related to his cases. Mr. Kennedy is licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of Texas and admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The following is a list of some of Mr. Kennedy's representative cases:

Collective action to recover overtime pay. A chain of restaurants refused to add hours worked by the same employees at more than one restaurant in the same week for purposes of overtime. Class notice was sent to all such employees to join the suit. The case settled for a confidential amount on behalf of all employees who joined the suit.

Electric shock that lead to brain injury. Mr. Kennedy represented an industrial worker who suffered an electric shock when he was forced to work under dangerous conditions. The case settled with multiple defendants who shared blame.

Products liability. The tire tread of the wheel on a semi truck separated and then exploded, which lead to a head-on collision. The driver of the other vehicle died. The tire manufacturer settled for a confidential amount.

Collective action to recover overtime pay. A janitorial company operating out of multiple cities adjusted its time sheet records to avoid paying its employees for all overtime hours worked. Class notice was issued to hundreds of employees. The matter settled on behalf of all employees who joined the suit for all of their back pay, full liquidated damages (double damages) and attorneys' fees.

Consumer products liability. A national retailer sold a lamp that had a defective warning on it that failed to warn consumers of the dangers of using the lamp around flammable products. A laborer suffered third degree burns on 30% of his body when the lamp ignited flammable chemicals he was using. The case settled for a confidential amount.