Constitutional Law
Haynes and Boone's appellate lawyers have extensive experience in litigation arising under the United States and Texas Constitutions. For example, our lawyers were instrumental in persuading the Texas Supreme Court to strike down the school finance system as unconstitutional. In addition, we routinely assist trial counsel by briefing and arguing novel constitutional questions that arise in the lower courts. Our skilled written and oral advocacy is indispensable in distilling and presenting winning constitutional arguments. In addition, we have developed substantive experience on various constitutional matters. One of our lawyers recently joined the firm from the United States Department of Justice, where he advised the Attorney General on questions arising under the U.S. Constitution. Our experience and expertise in constitutional matters extends to the following representative issues:
- Federal and state court jurisdiction, including subject matter jurisdiction, standing, ripeness, and mootness;
- First Amendment litigation;
- Punitive damages under the Due Process Clause;
- Equal Protection claims;
- Eminent domain and takings;
- Federal preemption;
- Open Courts issues under the Texas Constitution;
- Family law custody issues; and
- Fifth Amendment issues arising from stays of parallel civil/criminal proceedings.