Practice Areas Overview

At Boyd & Associates in Dallas, Texas, our firm principal Sam Boyd is an experienced trial lawyer with over 30 years of practice and a proven record of success.  We practice before all state and federal courts, at the trial and appellate level, including in Texas, Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  We represent plaintiffs, defendants, individuals and businesses in complex and high stakes litigation matters.  Our firm commonly handles litigation matters involving:

• False Claims Act: The federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq., makes it illegal for persons or businesses to knowingly make false or fraudulent claims to the United States government for payment or approval.  Common types of fraudulent claims for payment include claims made by medical and pharmaceutical companies for reimbursement under federal Medicaid programs.  Individuals and businesses that make false claims are subject to large fines and penalties.

• Qui Tam:  A writ of qui tam is a procedure by which a private individual who assists the government in a prosecution can receive some part of the money damages recovered by the government.  Under Section 3730 of the False Claims Act, an individual who has non-public knowledge or information that an individual or business submitted or caused the submission of a false or fraudulent claim may bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States government.  If the government recovers money damages, this individual (the "whistleblower" or "realtor") is entitled to a qui tam award in the amount of 10% to 25% of the monies recovered by the government.

• Business Fraud:  Business fraud encompasses a variety of unfair and unlawful practices.  Common types of business fraud include accounting techniques designed to mislead investors, auditors, the Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies, and others about the true financial condition of the business, including false accounting entries and fake transactions.  Business fraud also includes various forms of self-dealing by corporate directors, officers and executives such as misusing corporate assets for personal gain, receiving kickbacks, and backdating stock options. 

• Securities Fraud:  Securities fraud involves false and deceptive practices related to the buying and selling of stocks and commodities, such as insider trading, late-day trading, commodities fraud, broker embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, and pyramid schemes.  Statutes governing securities fraud include the federal Securities Act of 1934 and the Texas Securities Act.  In addition, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission issues regulations which also govern this type of fraud.

• Fiduciary Disputes:  Fiduciaries are persons who have a legal and ethical duty to act on behalf of others with the highest standard of care, meaning that they must act with the utmost good faith, fair dealing, and are held strictly accountable for their acts.  Common fiduciaries include corporate officers and directors, partners, majority shareholders, attorneys, accountants, stock brokers, agents, trustees, executors, guardians, conservators, and others whom are charged by the law with handling the financial, personal, or medical care of other individuals, businesses, or monetary funds.

• Complex Divorce Cases:  Our firm handles complex divorce cases involving contested divorces and property division issues that require litigation.  Where the marital financial estate is significant, it often includes a variety of assets such as real property, stocks, bonds, pension benefits, life insurance, multiple financial accounts, and other investments, some of which may only have partially vested at the time of the divorce.  Our attorneys are knowledgeable about these complicated financial matters and are skilled at handling the evidentiary issues which arise in this context, such as tracing the use of separate versus community assets.

• Personal Injury/Wrongful Death:  Personal injury and wrongful death actions arise when a person has been injured or has died due to the negligence or wrongful misconduct of another.  Our firm handles meritorious personal injury and wrongful death claims involving serious injuries resulting in significant damages on behalf of individual plaintiffs and defendants, but does not handle cases on behalf of insurance companies.

• General Business Litigation:  Our firm handles a wide variety of complex business litigation, including trials and appeals, in state and federal court arising out of contract disputes, non-compete agreements, financing agreements, partnership disputes, shareholder disputes, and disputes with customers, suppliers, vendors and competitors.  We assist our business litigation clients in devising targeted, effective case strategies, including exploring settlement options and alternative dispute resolution, and also handle appeals.

• Arbitration:  Our firm advocates on behalf of clients in arbitration proceedings as well as litigation.  Arbitration is an out-of-court alternative to litigation, which generally allows parties to resolve disputes (either before or after formal litigation is initiated) in a more timely and cost-efficient manner.  In an arbitration proceeding, a neutral third-party decision-maker (the arbitrator) reviews formal briefs presented by the parties, documentary evidence and witness testimony, and ultimately makes a decision in the matter, awarding monetary damages when appropriate. 

• Civil RICO:  The federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act ("RICO"), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968, was enacted in order to prevent and deter organized crime.  The Act makes it illegal to use or invest the profits from any racketeering enterprise (illegal business) or the collection of unlawful debt in any enterprise doing business in interstate or foreign commerce.  Section 1964(c) of the RICO Act allows private litigants to bring civil claims, including claims for treble damages for injury to their business or property, against persons who commit racketeering or other violations of the Act.  Other recoverable damages include the costs of bringing the lawsuit and attorneys fees. 

To determine whether you would like our firm to represent you in a legal matter, please review our attorney biographies, or contact us now.