Bruce p. Perkins

Fritz, Byrne, Head & Harrison LLP, Austin, USA

Bruce Perkins maintains an active docket, primarily in business litigation, with a special emphasis on employment matters.  In his employment practice, Mr. Perkins also provides counsel and advice to assist his clients with a broad variety of compliance issues, and he has drafted employee manuals, conducted employment workshops for company managers, advised on employee discipline and termination, and represented clients before the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Mr. Perkins' clients range from national, publicly traded companies to local county governments to small businesses.

Mr. Perkins' other business litigation matters include complex, multiparty, securities litigation, business dissolutions, entertainment law disputes, trademark infringement, and landlord-tenant matters, and he has also represented technology clients in complex litigation.  Several years ago, Mr. Perkins worked in conjunction with French counsel in successfully assisting an American client sued in France over a $120 million software implementation that had been performed by the client's wholly owned French subsidiary.

Mr. Perkins also acts in a general counsel capacity for several local businesses, including a local food manufacturer, and he manages that company's portfolio of 35 to 40 trademarks.  He has, for several years, represented an insurance company defending against first-party claims.  Mr. Perkins, like many Austin attorneys, was a professional musician at least two decades ago, and he represents musicians, managers, and record companies in his current practice.

Recent Cases

• Obtained a temporary injunction for a client to enforce a noncompetition provision in a business buyout.
• Represented a national cellular telephone company in responding to employee claims of wrongful termination
• Represented a national consulting company in responding to employee claims of wrongful termination.
• Represented employees of a local computer manufacturer in responding to discrimination claims.
• Represented a local County Commissioners Court in a variety of employee and business matters.
• Assisted in the representation by French counsel of a United States Fortune 100 company in litigation in France, first in arbitration and then in the Tribunal de Commerce of Bobigny, France.
• Represented an insurance company against a number of first-party claims.
• Has represented numerous small businesses in negotiating, drafting, and resolving disputes involving commercial contracts of all types, and in defending and prosecuting adverse claims.
• Has counseled numerous small businesses on avoiding or minimizing risk, employment matters, fiduciary issues, entity governance issues, and general business laws and practices.
• Has represented many executives and principals in negotiating severance or buy-out packages on favorable terms and avoiding litigation.

Bar Admissions
Texas, 1986
U.S. District Court Western District of Texas, 1988
U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, 1992
U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 2000
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 2002

Education
The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, 1986 J.D.

The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA, 1983 B.A.
With High Honors|

Published Works
Examining the Family and Medical Leave Act, Texas Banking, Vol. 83, p. 3, March, 1994

Representative Clients
American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida
Caldwell County, Texas
Jardine Foods
MAXIMUS, Inc.
TradeWinds Trading Company, Inc.
Computer Sciences Corporation
Nextel of Texas, Inc.
Media Strategies, Inc.
Weidner Consulting, Inc.

Professional Associations and Memberships
American Bar Association, 1986 - Present
State Bar of Texas, 1986 - Present
Travis County Bar Association, 1986 - Present