Schmidt and Holmes Are Super Lawyers

For every year since Texas Monthly began its annual survey of the “Super Lawyers” in Texas, Michael Schmidt and James Holmes have been ranked by their peers as “Texas Super Lawyers.” The Super Lawyers list is featured in the October issue of Texas Monthly and “Texas Super Lawyers” magazine, published by Law & Politics Media. To arrive at the list, more than 70,000 Texas attorneys were asked to select the best lawyers in the State of Texas; fewer than five percent were named to the list.

James Holmes’s CLE Speaking Engagements

In October 2011 James Holmes spoke at the NARO annual convention in Long Beach, California on upstream oil and gas pricing and related royalty-payment standards. In September 2010 James Holmes spoke in Austin on engagement letters and applicable ethics rules for the continuing legal education program of the University of Texas School of Law. Throughout the 2000s, several times each year, Mr. Holmes has presented papers and has given numerous legal-education speeches for U.T. Law, the State Bar of Texas, the University of Houston, and the National Association of Royalty Owners. He is a sought-after and frequent CLE speaker. Click here for a sampling of his speeches and publications.

James Holmes's Crude-Oil Marketing Company Completes Its Second Year

Whether as an attorney or businessman, James Holmes strives to obtain competitive oil and gas pricing for his clients and industry colleagues. To that end, he formed the oil and gas marketing company Robur LLC, a first purchaser of crude oil and marketing agent, and has enjoyed over $8 million in sales during its initial two years for the benefit of Robur's clients. Mr. Holmes intends to grow Robur LLC to help existing clients and industry colleagues market their share of oil and gas production.

James Holmes Is a Certified Investment Adviser and Manager for Robur Capital, L.P.

In 2010 the Texas State Securities Board issued a Certificate of Registration for James Holmes as an Investment Adviser. The Investment Adviser status has enabled Mr. Holmes on a fee basis to consult with colleagues, family members and investment partnerships, such as Reg D funds (e.g., 17 C.F.R. § 230.506), regarding their investment selections and strategies. Further, Mr. Holmes formed Robur Capital, L.P., a value-investing style investment partnership in order to manage certain capital needs for Robur LLC. The fund, Robur Capital, L.P., is now open to qualified investors.

Michael Schmidt Knows Good Real Estate

Schmidt and Holmes LLP has moved into the appealing office space at 3012 Fairmount Street, Suite 100, Dallas, Texas 75201, less than a mile away from downtown Dallas. The office move was the brainchild of Michael Schmidt, who surveyed commercial real estate in Dallas’s Uptown/Turtle Creek market, near Cedar Springs Road and Turtle Creek Boulevard. Mr. Schmidt decided to buy the building at the corner of Fairmount and Carlisle (3012 Fairmount Street) and then brought the building into code and improved the space for office tenancy. The result is a substantial value purchase with upside potential – and a beautiful Georgian style single-story office building with substantial parking and a lush atrium and interior garden.

James Holmes’s Work for Law Day and DISD School Children

James Holmes is serving as the Dallas Bar Association’s co-chair of the Law Day Committee for 2010-2011 and for 2011-2012. The American Bar Association sponsors Law Day through regional Bar Associations, like the Dallas Bar Association. Law Day provides opportunities for public-school students to learn about our government and its legal system. Law Day typically educates these students by focusing their attention on an important constitutional aspect of our government. Mr. Holmes has either chaired or co-chaired the Law Day Committee since 2002.

Holmes and Schmidt Begin the Oil and Gas Litigation Section for AAJ

In 2009 James Holmes was elected chair of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) “Oil and Gas Litigation Section.” Mr. Holmes, with Michael Schmidt’s assisting efforts and support, formed the Section to meet the research and logistics needs of attorneys representing royalty owners and non-operating working interest owners on a national level. The Sections has over 10 members who meet regularly in order to expand the knowledge base and network of attorneys representing the American royalty owner, working-interest owner and smaller producer.

Holmes and Schmidt Obtain Superior Results for a Commercial Tenant

In 2007 the Dallas Court of Appeals upheld a substantial judgment against the defendant commercial tenant in Solar Soccer Club v. Prince of Peace Lutheran Church of Carrollton, Texas, 234 S.W.3d 814 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2007, pet. denied). James Holmes and Michael Schmidt had represented the prevailing plaintiff, a commercial landlord, at trial. Mr. Holmes then handled the appeal successfully for the landlord. Both the trial and appellate victories were substantial ones for the Firm’s commercial landlord client.