Mr. Bemis grew up in Austin, Texas and graduated with highest honors from the University of Texas, School of Business. He graduated second in his class. Mr. Bemis comes from a family of lawyers and had always desired to become a lawyer. He earned his law degree from the University of Texas Law School in Austin in 1984 and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas that same year. It was Mr. Bemis' ultimate goal to become a plaintiff's attorney representing individuals against insurance carriers and corporate interests. He decided that the best way to meet that goal was to first learn the techniques and strategies of the defense. As a result, following his graduation from law school, he obtained a position with a national law firm's Austin office and became trained in the firm's Insurance Defense and Commercial Litigation section. He represented insurance carriers, individuals and businesses sued for negligence, insurance bad faith, deceptive trade practices and contractual claims. He also represented a variety of builders and corporations in both personal injury and commercial claims.
As a result of his success as a defense attorney, in 1988, Mr. Bemis was invited to work as an attorney in a plaintiff's firm on the side of individual personal injury victims. Mr. Bemis soon came to handle the majority of the firm's cases which were in litigation. Mr. Bemis' future partner, Lonnie Roach later became a member of the same firm and after several years of practicing together in the firm's litigation section, Mr. Bemis, Mr. Roach, and Mr. Greg Reed, a litigation attorney at another firm, decided to leave their respective firms and form Bemis, Roach and Reed in 1993.
Since its formation in 1993, Bemis, Roach and Reed has focused its practice on representing individuals with personal injury, insurance, disability, consumer, commercial and employment claims. Mr. Bemis' practice has focused on the personal injury, insurance bad faith, consumer and commercial claims. The personal injury claims handled by Mr. Bemis range from injuries received as a result of automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, trucking accidents, construction accidents, workplace accidents, acts of medical malpractice, vicious dog bites, defects in premises and dangerous products and medical devices. The severity of the injuries faced by clients represented by Mr. Bemis runs across the spectrum, including death, paralysis, loss of limb, disfigurement, head injuries with impairment of mental capacity, burns, fractures and soft tissue injures such as whiplash. Mr. Bemis has also represented a vast number of victims of DWI/DUI drivers to not only provide clients with compensation for their injuries, but to seek punishment against the drunk driver. Mr. Bemis has represented clients of all ages and has come to understand the unique problems faced by both the elderly and injured children. Injured children are a particular concern because of their limited understanding and the need to protect and insulate them as much as possible from the claim or litigation process.
Mr. Bemis's insurance bad faith practice often arises out of personal injury claims which have been wrongfully handled by the insurance carrier. However, many of the insurance bad faith claims handled by Mr. Bemis arose out of commercial or homeowner's insurance claims which were improperly handled by the insurance carrier. Mr. Bemis has represented individuals in bad faith/breach of contract cases against such insurance companies as Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, USAA, Progressive, Geico, CNA, American Casualty, Liberty Mutual and many others. The consumer and commercial claims handled by the firm are not limited to just claims involving personal injuries, but involve claims relating to all types of other losses, such as property damage, impairment of value, lost earnings, lost profits, business interruption costs and all types of other economic losses.
Through his extensive litigation experience in personal injury cases, insurance bad faith cases and commercial litigation, Mr. Bemis obtained dual board certifications from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law as well as Consumer and Commercial Trial Law. Mr. Bemis is admitted to practice in the United States District Court of the Western District and has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit. Mr. Bemis is a member of the Travis County Bar Association. He has been active in the American Association for Justice and is a past Director of the Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Bemis and all the members of Bemis, Roach & Reed have been active participants in the Travis County Lawyer referral service.
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