Richard Arnett (Rick)

Practice Description

Rick primarily represents public school employees in personnel matters at administrative levels and in litigation. He also represents business clients in employment and commercial litigation.

Since being licensed in 1975, Rick has argued cases before the United States Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and several Texas Courts of Appeals. He has also been lead attorney in numerous trials in both federal and state district courts, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He is listed in Who’s Who In American Law and is a member of the School Law and Labor and Employment Law sections of the State Bar.

Practice Areas

• Labor and Employment
• State Administrative Law
• Licensing
• Commercial Litigation
• Contracts

Representative Matters

Litigation:

• Martinez v. Bynum, 461 U.S. 321 (1983) (constitutionality of Texas school residency statute)
• ATPE v. Kirby, 788 S.W.2d 827 (Tex. 1990) (state constitutionality of career ladder statute)
• Grounds v. Tolar I.S.D., 856 S.W.2d 417 (Tex. 1993) (property interest in reemployment of term contract employees)
• Butler v. Ysleta I.S.D., 161 F.3d 263 (5th Cir. 1998) (Title VII sexual harassment case)
• Ganyo v. Seguin I.S.D., (5th Cir. SA-93-CV-203 1996) (First Amendment claim of terminated school employee)
• Hillis v. Stephen F. Austin University, 665 F.2d 547 (5th Cir. 1982) (nonrenewal of employment of college professor)
• U.S. v. Texas, (1982) (defense of state bilingual education statutes)
• Treviño v. West Oso Independent School District, 783 S.W.2d 806 (Tex. App. – Corpus Christi 1990) (attempted temporary injunction regarding reassignment of school administrator)
• Lyons v. University of Texas at Galveston, 545 S.W.2d 56 (Tex. Civ. App. – 1976) (sovereign immunity of state university)
• Nunnelly v. Texas Rehabilitation Commission, (USDC WD Tex. 1981) (First Amendment challenge of state employee)
• Provost v. Texas Rehabilitation Commission, (1981) (Title VII challenge of state employee)
• University of Texas v. Bateson Construction Co., (Travis County District Court 1981) (settlement with contractor for construction defects at LBJ Library)
• University of Texas v. Hyatt Cheek, See 607 S.W.2d 258 (Tex. Civ. App. – 1980) (trial court judgment for construction defect at Callier Hearing and Speech Center)
• Double Dave’s v. National Cash Register/AT&T, (Travis County District Court) (settlement of warranty claim regarding lease of computer hardware)
• Gramtech v. Perkins, (Bexar County District Court 1990) (trial court judgment in stock fraud case)
• Hyatt v. Austin Independent School District, (Travis County District Court 1991) (trial court ruling preserving right of employees to bilingual stipend)

Representation of school employees in state district court against defendants including:

• Dallas Independent School District
• Brownsville Independent School District
• Kingsville Independent School District
• Miles Independent School District
• Pettus Independent School District
• Weslaco Independent School District
• Ramirez Independent School District
• Robstown Independent School District

Commissioner of Education Decisions appeals:

• Etzel v. Galveston ISD (1987) (right of teacher to grieve evaluation)
• Paty v. Floydada ISD (1987) (right to renewal of dual capacity teacher/coach contract)
• Marshall v. Seguin ISD (1991) (requirement of strict compliance with nonrenewal process)
• Treviño v. West Oso ISD (1992) (right of school administrator to be assigned administrative duties)

Educational and Professional Background

• Stanford University, B.S., Geophysics, 1972
• University of Texas Law School, J.D., 1975
• Roberts & Weldon, 1979-1980
• Assistant Attorney General of Texas, 1975-1979, 1980-1981
• Deputy Commissioner for Legal Services, Texas Education Agency, 1982-84
• Brim, Arnett, Robinett, Hanner, Conners & McCormick, P.C., 1985 to present