Scale LLP Network
Commercial litigation in DFW,
run through one relationship.
Commercial disputes don't wait for convenient timing. When litigation arises, you need an attorney who's done this, and you need them fast. One call to Chuck connects you with Scale LLP's litigation practice.
What Scale's litigation practice handles
Commercial Disputes
Contract claims, partnership disagreements, business torts, and complex commercial litigation across state and federal courts.
White-Collar Defense
Government investigations, regulatory enforcement actions, SEC inquiries, and criminal defense for business professionals.
Internal Investigations
Board-directed investigations into potential fraud, misconduct, compliance failures, and whistleblower allegations.
Shareholder & Partnership Disputes
Minority oppression claims, fiduciary duty breaches, derivative actions, and buyout disagreements.
Arbitration & Mediation
Alternative dispute resolution, arbitration and mediation, for commercial matters where confidentiality and speed matter more than precedent.
The team behind this practice
Scale LLP's litigation practice is led by attorneys who have served at the highest levels of government and private practice. The team includes a former federal prosecutor from the Jack Smith investigation, the kind of experience that changes the dynamic in any dispute. Scale has been recognized by Legal 500 in its U.S. Elite Rankings.
How I connect you
Litigation isn't my focus, but it's something my clients need regularly. Commercial disputes, investigations, contract claims, these come up in the normal course of business. When they do, I don't send you to a stranger. I bring in a colleague from Scale's litigation team who I know and who operates under the same firm, the same standards, and the same commitment to getting it right. I stay involved to make sure the transition is smooth and the relationship stays whole.
Where the technical work lives
Commercial litigation in Texas operates across three forums: federal court (Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern Districts), Texas state court (district courts in 254 counties), and the Texas Business Court, operational since September 2024 and currently building case law in its eighth division for north-central Texas.
The substantive work covers:
- Contract disputes. Breach claims, anticipatory breach, material breach analysis, and the remedies that flow from each. The strategic question is usually "what do we want, performance, damages, or termination?" before the procedural one.
- Business divorces. Partner disputes, minority owner claims under the Texas Business Organizations Code, buyout valuation disputes, and the dissolution proceedings that follow when negotiated exits fail.
- Fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Common law fraud, statutory fraud claims under the Texas Business and Commerce Code, breach of fiduciary duty by partners, managers, or officers, and the heightened pleading and proof standards each carries.
- White-collar and investigations. Internal investigations, government inquiries (SEC, FINRA, DOJ), and the response posture decisions that determine cooperation credit, voluntary disclosure considerations, and parallel proceedings risk.
The Texas Business Court's emerging case law on these matters, particularly the eighth division's docket, is where the substantive landscape is moving fastest.
When clients call us
Four scenarios drive most litigation engagements:
- The demand letter arrives. A formal demand or threat-of-suit letter triggers a 30-day decision window. Response posture, settlement consideration, document preservation, and pre-litigation positioning all get set in that window.
- The suit is filed. Response deadlines (21 days in federal court, often less in state court for certain claims) force fast strategic decisions: removal, motion to dismiss, transfer, answer, and the procedural posture that shapes the case.
- Before suing. Pre-suit demand, jurisdictional analysis, forum selection, and the question of whether to file at all. Most disputes that get filed settle; the negotiating leverage is often higher pre-suit.
- Internal investigation triggers. A whistleblower complaint, an audit finding, a regulatory inquiry, or a board concern that requires independent investigation. The choice of investigator, scope, and reporting structure determines the privilege posture.
What engagements cost
Litigation is the least predictable practice area for pricing. Most matters run hourly with budgets developed against the procedural posture, pleading phase, discovery phase, summary judgment phase, trial preparation, trial.
Scale LLP's litigation partners typically bill 30-40% below Am Law 100 rates in Dallas or Houston. Phase budgets are scoped at the outset of each phase; budget revision triggers are built into engagement letters.
Some matters work on alternative fee arrangements: flat fees for specific phases (motion to dismiss, summary judgment), contingency or partial-contingency for plaintiff-side commercial claims where the matter and economics fit. The firm does not take consumer plaintiff work, mass torts, or personal injury.
The variable cost of litigation is discovery. e-Discovery vendors, expert witnesses, deposition costs, and document review, these often exceed attorney fees in mid-size commercial disputes. Engagement letters address them explicitly.
How this fits with the rest of the work
Litigation work intersects with my primary practice in three specific places:
- Governance disputes. Board fights, director removal, shareholder activism, and minority owner claims arise out of governance failures, and the litigation lives at the intersection of corporate documents (what the bylaws permit) and statutory law (what the BOC requires). My governance work feeds the litigation strategy.
- Transaction litigation. Earnout disputes, indemnification claims, working capital adjustments, MAC clause invocations, most M&A litigation is contract litigation over the deal documents I help draft. Understanding the deal context shortens the litigation learning curve materially.
- Cross-border disputes. When the litigation involves U.S. and Canadian parties, jurisdictions, or assets, the dual-qualified perspective on forum selection, judgment enforcement, and parallel proceedings is where the strategic decisions get made.
The litigation partner runs the case. I run the integration with everything else.
Common questions
You call me. I learn about your situation, identify the right Scale litigation attorney for your matter, and make a direct introduction. I stay involved as your primary relationship, you're not being handed off, you're being reinforced.
No. I brief the Scale attorney before the introduction. They come into the conversation already understanding your business, your history with me, and the basics of the matter. You pick up where we left off, not from scratch.
My introduction costs you nothing. The Scale attorney will scope the engagement and provide fee estimates directly. Their rates are competitive with peer firms, and you avoid the search cost and uncertainty of finding litigation counsel on your own.
Absolutely. For most clients, I continue to serve as the primary relationship and strategic counsel while the litigation team handles the dispute. Many business disputes have corporate governance, contractual, or transactional dimensions that fall squarely in my practice area.
Scale LLP has 80+ attorneys licensed across 22 states. For litigation in jurisdictions outside Texas, I connect you with the Scale attorney who practices in that state. One firm, one relationship, regardless of where the dispute lands.
Disputes don't get simpler
with time.
One call to Chuck. He'll connect you with the right litigation attorney at Scale LLP, today.