Tate Hemingson

Tate Hemingson focuses his practice on finding effective, efficient, and creative resolutions to disputes and legal issues. He is an experienced litigator as both plaintiff and defense counsel. Tate regularly guides clients through pre-suit demands and negotiations, injunctive relief, trials, and enforcement and collection of judgments, always keeping in focus the client's best interests and objectives. Tate is also a member of Clark Hill Strasburger's appellate team and advises on complex procedural and legal issues and conducts appeals before both state and federal appellate courts.

Tate represents a variety of clients - multi-national corporations, financial institutions, law firms, landlords and tenants, and individuals - in a broad range of business, contractual, franchise, and real estate matters, as well as business torts and professional negligence claims. In addition to general business disputes, he frequently assists financial institutions in enforcing loans, collecting foreclosure deficiencies, and defending foreclosure rights. He also assists landlords and tenants with lease disputes and other property issues.

Tate also helps both clients and his partners at Clark Hill Strasburger navigate the often complex and burdensome world of e-discovery by crafting efficient, cost-effective, and defensible methods of information preservation, collection, review, and production. He keeps up-to-date on the evolving state and federal law on discovery standards, technological tools, and best practices and methods to ensure efficient document management and e-discovery.

EXPERIENCE

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION MATTERS

• Represented sellers in post-acquisition dispute over wrongful withholding of escrow funds in Delaware court.
• Obtained temporary restraining order requiring turnover of important documents and information related to a breach of contract.
• Represented national importer and distributor in complicated case involving competing claims of breach of contract, fraud, and tortious interference stemming from dispute over multi-year import agreement.
• Represented various businesses and individuals in prosecuting and defending against breach of contract and business tort claims.
• Defended manufacturers against product defect and liability claims in state and federal court.
• Defended law firms and other professionals against malpractice and negligence claims.
• Prepared expert reports on the recoverability and reasonableness of attorney's fees for both plaintiff and defense.
• Pursued multiple garnishment actions and judgment collection against debtors.

FINANCIAL LITIGATION MATTERS

• Obtained $1.7 million summary judgment in federal court against borrower and guarantor for recovery of post-foreclosure deficiencies following default on commercial loans, successfully defending against multiple counterclaims and defenses raised by borrower and guarantor.
• Represented financial institutions in state and federal court enforcing commercial loans and guaranties and collecting post-foreclosure deficiencies from borrowers and guarantors with particular experience in Texas' anti-deficiency statute.
• Defended financial institutions against injunctive relief sought by borrowers to prevent foreclosure.
• Represented banks in multiple garnishment actions to ensure legal compliance and protect bank's interests.

FRANCHISE MATTERS

• Defended multi-national corporation against claims of wrongful termination of franchise agreement following an acquisition of competitor.
• Second-chaired defense of national health-care industry franchisor in multi-week arbitration against franchisee claims of territory interference and breach of the franchise agreement, obtaining satisfactory result for franchisor.
• Counseled multi-unit franchisee of national franchisor with negotiating terms of area development agreement, store leases, and modifications and amendments to franchise agreements.

REAL ESTATE AND RETAIL MATTERS

• Represented landlords and tenants in disputes over lease terms, compliance, and allowed usage, seeking business-oriented solutions where possible.
• Represented oil and gas company in post-acquisition dispute over conveyance of interests in hundreds of wells.
• Represented real estate buyers and sellers against claims for misrepresentation and Deceptive Trade Practice Act violations.

APPELLATE MATTERS

• Led appeal of temporary injunction preventing property owner's specific use of property.
• Drafted appellate briefs on issues of untimely disclosure of expert witnesses and factual and legal sufficiency of damages.
• Drafted brief successfully defending arbitration award from attack on multiple grounds. Infinity Capital II, LLC v. Strasburger & Price, LLP, No. 01-15-00691-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 8673 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 11, 2016, pet. denied).
• Drafted appellee brief successfully defending grant of final summary judgment by state trial court. TCI Luna Ventures, LLC v. Branch Banking & Trust Co., No. 05-13-01221, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 9078 (Tex. App.-Dallas Aug. 27, 2015).
• Co-writer of brief in successful appeal before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversing dismissal of suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction for banking client.Eagle TX I SPE, LLC v. Sharif & Munir Enterprises, Inc. et al., No. 14-10353, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 2816 (5th Cir. February 23, 2015).
• Successfully defended dismissal of breach of contract claim against pastor on First Amendment grounds.Reese v. Gen. Assembly of Faith Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Am., 425 S.W.3d 625 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2014, no pet.).
• Secured reversal of temporary injunction preventing bank foreclosure of commercial properties. Branch Banking & Trust Co. v. TCI Luna Ventures, LLC, No. 05-12-00653-CV, 2013 Tex. App. LEXIS 4538, 2013 WL 1456651 (Tex. App.-Dallas Apr. 9, 2013).

Presentations

• Co-presenter. Recent Developments in Franchise Case Law, Dallas Bar Association's Franchise and Distribution Section (February 2017)

Publications

• Co-Author. ESI Spoliation Sanctions: Assessing the Impact of the 2015 Federal Discovery Amendments, ABA Business Law Today (January 2018)
• A Court Determines If Motion to Compel Arbitration Is Groundless, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (January 2018)
• Texas Supreme Court Clarifies When an Expert Opinion is Conclusory, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (October 2017)
• Fifth Circuit Expands Post-Trial Review of Summary Judgments, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (July 2017)
• Texas Supreme Court Allows Cure for Missing Certificate of Merit, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (May 2017)
• Co-Author. Dealing with Untimely Disclosures, Dallas Bar Association Headnotes (April 2017)
• Is Everybody Here? Supreme Court Defines Necessary Parties, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (February 2017)
• Hail No: Supreme Court Reins in Overbroad Discovery, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (November 2016)
• Door Closes On Common-Law Grounds for Vacating Arbitration Awards, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (May 2016)
• Texas Supreme Court Punts on Standard of Review of New Trial, Orders, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (May 2016)
• Getting a Stay of Execution: Supersedeas 101, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (September 2015)
• Recovery of Attorneys' Fees under Civil Practice & Remedies Code Section 38.001, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (July 2015)
• Pro-Tips: The Self-Authentication Letter, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (June 2015)
• Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Evidentiary Burden and Scope of Communications in Anti-SLAPP Act Dismissal Cases, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (May 2015)
• Will Texas Get a New Intermediate Appellate Court?, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (March 2015)
• Texas Rules of Evidence Get the Bryan Garner Treatment (and that's a good thing), Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (January 2015)
• Texas Supreme Court Grants Mandamus to Stop Discovery Fishing Expedition, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (November 2014)
• No arbitration for you (yet)! Court needs to see the whole agreement before deciding whether to compel arbitration, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (September 2014)
• "Any and All" Means Just That: Texas Supreme Court Upholds Broad Waiver of Anti-Deficiency Protections in Foreclosure Cases, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (September 2014)
• Texas Supreme Court Tweaks E-Filing Standards to Tell Filers Why They?ve Been Rejected, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (April 2014)
• Anti-SLAPP Statute Changes: Slap Back with an Interlocutory Appeal When You Get Slapped Down, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (Januaryæ2014)
• Fifth District Court of Appeals Says No More Shot-Gunning No-Evidence Motions for Summary Judgment, Strasburger Trial & Error Blog (December 2013)
• Research Contributor. A Question of Taste: Touchstones for Determining the Certifiability of Classwide Claims for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, 17 Suffolk Journal of Trial & Appellate Advocacy 1 (2012)
• Research Contributor. Clarity and Confusion: RICO's Recent Trips to the United States Supreme Court, 85 Tulane Law Review 677 (2011)
• Research Contributor. Framing Franchise Antitrust Litigation: The Legacy of Kodak and Queen City Pizza, 40 Southwestern Law Review 247 (2010)
• Why Airlines Should Be Afraid: The Potential Impact of Cap and Trade and Other Carbon Emissions Reduction Proposals on the Airline Industry, 75 Journal of Air Law & Commerce 741 (2010)