Business lawyers within 5 miles of Houston Texas

Kietha "Kay" J. Hamilton is a practicing lawyer in the state of Texas. Attorney Hamilton received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 2012.

Proudly taking business and intellectual property cases out of North Carolina and Texas.

David was born in Houston and raised in the Northwest. After high school, David enlisted in the military with the Army National Guard. Prior to his junior year of college, David was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait in Operation Iraqi Freedom III with Task Force Liberty of the 42nd Infantry Division. While deployed, David completed eighteen college credits and was able to sustain a 4.0-grade point average during this period, ultimately earning him academic honors for his personal scholarly endeavor as well as an Army Achievement Medal for his logistical support in the war. After returning state-side and completing his undergrad, David returned to Texas and was admitted into South Texas College of Law Houston. While attending law school, David clerked full-time at The Kassab Law Firm, gaining extensive experience in civil litigation, while focusing almost exclusively in legal malpractice, attorney breach of fiduciary duty claims and legal ethics. During his third year of law school, David obtained his Temporary Trial Card and argued several motions and hearings in court while under the supervision of an attorney. After graduating law school and passing the Texas Bar Exam in 2010, David continued his employment with The Kassab Law Firm as a licensed attorney. Here, David combines his prior military experience with his formal legal and business training, allowing him to work efficiently and effectively under pressure, all in an effort to better serve our clients. While clerking for the Kassab Law firm and since his licensure, David has assisted in the resolution of several high-dollar legal malpractice cases, and has successfully litigated these legal malpractice cases to their resolution against some of Texas’ largest and most prestigious law firms. David has handled legal malpractice cases in Texas State and Federal Courts and has arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association. David is licensed to practice law in all Texas courts as well as the federal courts for the Southern and Western Districts of Texas. David is also licensed to practice law in the State of Missouri. David belongs to several professional organizations and is a member of the Texas Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association, the American Bar Association, Young Lawyers Division, and Houston Young Lawyers Association. David is a published author in the American Bar Association’s Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct, writing on the effects and impact of mandatory legal malpractice insurance link: https://www.bna.com/avoiding-accountability-rise-n57982093773/.

Valerie Ly was born in Houston and grew up in Angleton, Texas. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2004 with a degree in Finance. She then received her J.D. from SMU in 2007. While at SMU, Valerie received First Place at the National Entertainment Law Moot Court Competition and served as an intern to a United States Bankruptcy Judge. After law school, Valerie practiced law in Dallas for a few years, worked for an appellate judge, and then moved to Northern California and began practicing civil litigation. Valerie defended public entities, hospitals, health care professionals, individual and corporate defendants involving claims of personal injury, violation of civil rights, professional negligence, and wrongful death. In 2014, Valerie moved back to Houston to be closer to her family and she began her career at Germer. Valerie represents small business owners, corporations, insurance companies and individuals. Valerie’s practice areas include personal injury defense, premises liability, oil and gas litigation, construction liability, and products liability.

Larry J. Simmons, Jr., a principal in the firm, has tried dozens of cases as lead attorney in a variety of commercial, employment, civil rights and personal injury lawsuits. Larry is one of only seven Texas attorneys double Board Certified as a Specialist in Labor & Employment Law (2005) and Personal Injury Trial Law (1999) by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Larry is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He has been recognized as a “Texas Super Lawyer”, a Thompson Reuters publication, in 2007, 2010-2020, and 2022-2025. In 2015, he was recognized in the Top 100 Houston Super Lawyers List, a Thompson Reuters publication. Larry is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and is also listed in the 2010-2022 editions of The Best Lawyers in America, by BL Rankings. Larry represents dozens of public and private sector employers in a variety of matters, ranging from consultation to trial work, including general litigation, discrimination, wrongful termination and wage & hour class action cases. Larry also represents public sector clients in a variety of civil rights matters, including defending excessive force, inmate medical care and jail death cases, many of which have received national media attention. Larry graduated in the top five percent of his Baylor Law School class, receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, cum laude. While in law school he held several positions with the Baylor Law Review including Executive Editor, Research & Topics Editor and Notes & Comments Editor. He was elected to the Baylor Order of Barristers. He was selected as a Top Ten Speaker in Moot Court and was awarded an Academic Merit Scholarship. Prior to law school, Larry obtained a Bachelor of Science degree, magna cum laude, from Lamar University and a Masters degree in Engineering Management from Southern Methodist University. Larry is an active member of the local business community, currently serving on the state and local boards of multiple employer associations. He is also a member of the State Bar of Texas Labor & Employment Section, and Texas Association of Defense Counsel. He is admitted to practice before Texas courts, and the United States District Court for the Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas. Larry has been a principal with Germer since January 1997.

James A. Tatem is a graduate of the University of Texas where he received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1989. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from South Texas College of Law in 1992. Tatem James A. is admitted to practice before Texas state courts and the United States District Court for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. Jim has served as a first-chair trial lawyer in a variety of personal injury and property damage cases as well commercial cases. Jim has extensive experience in products liability, premises liability, toxic torts, superfund and environmental litigation, construction litigation, real estate, civil litigation, class and collective actions, commercial litigation, insurance law, mediation/arbitration, and personal injury defense.

Serena D. Harmon is a trial attorney with experience litigating in both state and federal courts. In 1992, Serena earned her law school degree from South Texas College of Law. Prior to attending law school, Serena worked several years working in city government and earned a Master in Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Since law school, Serena has practiced several years as in-house counsel for an insurance company and as a personal injury insurance defense trial attorney. During the course of her career, her practice has focused on family law, small business owners and personal injury litigation. She has extensive experience in representing a variety of clients as a civil and as an insurance defense attorney, Serena is experienced in handling a variety of cases, including personal injury defense, insurance defense, premises liability involving slip and falls, negligent security cases, commercial litigation, and UM/UIM and trucking litigation.

Charlie Henke is the founding partner of Henke Law Firm, LLP, the predecessor to Henke, Williams & Boll, LLP. The firm was founded in 1992. His practice focuses on the prosecution and defense of commercial and contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, business tort claims, and probate litigation. He has first-chaired jury trials to verdict in state and federal courts and has handled the arbitration of securities disputes, law firm partnership disputes, and construction claims. Charlie is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Of the more than one hundred thousand attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas, less than one percent hold this distinction. Charlie is a member of various sections of the State Bar of Texas including the Litigation, the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law, and the Antitrust and Business Litigation sections. He belongs to the Houston Bar Association, and is active in the Litigation (former Chair) and the Probate, Trusts, and Estates sections of the HBA. Charlie was appointed to serve on the HBA Fee Dispute Committee for over a dozen years where he served as an arbitrator of fee disputes between attorneys and their clients. He is a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas and a Life Fellow of both the Texas and Houston Bar Foundations. Charlie has been a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas since 1994. He is a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates and currently serves as Treasurer of TEX-ABOTA. Charlie was appointed by several Presidents of the State Bar of Texas to serve three terms on the State Bar Standing Committee on Pattern Jury Charges for Business, Consumer, and Employment cases. As a member of this prestigious committee, over 6 years he helped draft the written instructions and questions given to all juries throughout Texas. Charlie was named a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" in business litigation by H Texas Magazine in 2004, has been recognized as one of "Houston’s Top Lawyers" for business litigation since 2005 by the same publication. He has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly Magazine since 2007. Charlie earned an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Texas at Austin and a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center where he was active in student governance and alumni relations. Charlie received his license to practice law by the State of Texas in 1992. He is licensed to practice law in the United States Supreme Court, United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Seventh and Tenth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas, the Northern District of Indiana and Colorado. An active contributor to his community, Charlie has served on the Board of Directors of several charitable organizations and served as a Director and past President of The Houston Club. Charlie Henke is an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Houston.

Gregory Howard is a litigation attorney with Germer PLLC. Greg is a proud native Houstonian, with undergraduate and graduate business degrees from Texas A&M University and a law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. Since graduating law school in 2005, Greg has spent the better part of his legal career as a litigator and advocate in such areas as commercial litigation, real estate, personal injury, and insurance defense, while consistently maintaining a broad exposure to many other facets of business law, property, and contracts. As a highly motivated individual, Greg takes great pride in performing high-quality work and appreciates practicing in a dynamic legal environment.

Chad Castille is a Principal in the Houston office of Germer and concentrates his practice on complex civil litigation. Chad has represented individuals, small businesses, and Fortune 500 corporations in a diverse array of civil litigation matters including, but not limited to, cases involving medical negligence, business disputes and commercial litigation, commercial and residential construction, product liability, premises liability, professional liability, oil and gas, and wrongful death and personal injury. Chad’s experience handling wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury matters includes numerous cases involving medical malpractice, product liability, and premises accidents. Chad’s commercial litigation experience includes cases involving construction litigation, tortious interference, royalty litigation, lease termination cases, disputes arising under operating agreements and breach of contract. Chad also routinely advises and assists his corporate clients on a variety of matters including contract negotiations, joint ventures, and employment. Chad has extensive trial experience involving complex high exposure cases relating to product defect, construction, and medical malpractice. He also practices extensively in New Mexico and has handled cases in nearly every county in that state. In addition, Chad has tried more than a dozen cases before the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). When Chad is not pursuing outstanding results on behalf of clients, he invests time in service of his community helping with several charitable organizations including UNICEF and Project 88. He also enjoys spending his free time with his wife, Kristin, son, Graham and daughter, Olivia.