SARLES & OUIMET - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Legal Assistant
- Assistant in the Dallas Office
Bridget Rentler is a legal assistant in the Dallas office of Sarles & Ouimet. Ms. Rentler provides litigation support for all attorneys in the Dallas office and maintains all client files. In addition to supporting all attorneys, Ms. Renter directly supports Ms. Wilcox in any administrative issues needing to be addressed.
A 2001 graduate of Lancaster High School, Ms. Rentler has been employed with Sarles & Ouimet since 2004 as a legal assistant working with attorneys on employment, personal injury and general business litigation in Dallas and throughout Texas. She is experienced in working with both state and federal court administrative personnel and is available to assist with questions about courthouse procedures. Prior to joining Sarles & Ouimet, Ms. Rentler was a certified pharmacy technician.
Gary D. Sarles is a founding partner of Sarles & Ouimet and the managing partner of the Dallas office. When forming the Firm in 1987, Mr. Sarles explained: "My goal in creating this Firm is to bring together great legal minds dedicated to providing legal services to our clients that are second to none."
Mr. Sarles concentrates his practice in the areas of employment, commercial, personal injury, and insurance litigation. He also defends employers who have nonsubscribed to the Texas Workers' Compensation Act in litigation and arbitrations across the State of Texas.
Mr. Sarles is actively involved with the Texas Association of Responsible Nonsubscribers (TXANS), assisting the Association and testifying before the Texas Legislature and Texas administrative agencies on various legal issues, including tort reform legislation, changes in insurance regulations governing the Texas trucking industry, and in opposing all forms of mandatory workers' compensation insurance for Texas employers. He has authored several articles and is a frequent speaker before Texas employers regarding nonsubscriber issues, including the impact of tort reform legislation, changes in U.S. Department of Labor claims regulations, recent U.S. Department of Health & Human Services medical privacy regulations, and recent cases important to Texas employers. He has also authored articles and spoken on the steps necessary to becoming a nonsubscriber to the Texas Workers' Compensation Act, how to implement a successful nonsubscriber program, and the defenses and litigation strategies available to nonsubscribers.
With over ten years of experience drafting, litigating and enforcing employee arbitration and non-compete agreements, Mr. Sarles has developed tremendous expertise in designing and implementing cost-effective employment agreements for Texas employers. He has spoken to the Risk Managers of the National Restaurant Association's members regarding designing employee arbitration agreements to minimize the fees and costs of enforcing, and to expedite the enforcing of, such agreements in the state and federal courts. Mr. Sarles has also successfully defended numerous Texas employers in arbitration proceedings before the American Arbitration Association and JAMS/Endispute, Inc.
Mr. Sarles also is experienced in commercial and insurance litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in such matters. His familiarity with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") enables him both to counsel employers about compliance with it and to represent them in claim litigation. Mr. Sarles frequently defends and prosecutes commercial and insurance lawsuits involving bad faith, breaches of warranty, the Deceptive Trade Practices Act ("DTPA"), and the Texas Insurance Code.
Mr. Sarles graduated first in his class and summa cum laude from Indiana University, with an Honors B.A. in 1983 and an A.S. in 1984. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, was one of six recipients of a Distinguished Alumni Scholarship, and his Senior Honors Thesis won the William Jennings Bryan Prize. The recipient of the Francis S. Kosmerl Scholarship, he attended Northwestern University Law School, where he was awarded a Juris Doctorate degree in 1987. While in law school, Mr. Sarles headed the school's 1987 Seventh Circuit Region Championship Team in the National Moot Court Competition, received the American Jurisprudence Awards in Civil Procedure and Evidence, authored "Selective Service or Prosecution for the ‘Vocal' Nonregistrants," was Trial Counsel for the Honor Code Prosecutor's Office, and was the Executive Editor of the school's oldest legal publication, The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
Upon graduation, Mr. Sarles moved to Dallas, where he was licensed to practice law by the Texas Supreme Court in 1987. He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He is a member of the Dallas Bar Association. Mr. Sarles may be reached at the Firm's Dallas office.
Mr. Sarles is not board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Sarles is not admitted in Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Office Administrator
- Dallas Office Administrator and Paralegal
- Paralegal to Paul Dunagan
Kelly Wilcox is the Dallas office administrator of Sarles & Ouimet. She is responsible for client services and satisfaction, and Ms. Wilcox handles the financial business of Sarles & Ouimet. She is directly in charge of all billing and invoicing to clients as well as negotiating the best possible rates from the outside vendors who provide services for our clients.
Because Sarles & Ouimet. never invoices its clients for basic overhead items such as in-house photocopies, postage, long distance and secretarial overtime, Ms. Wilcox constantly strives to run the business of Sarles & Ouimet as efficiently as possible without sacrificing client satisfaction. Ms. Wilcox wants to hear from clients regarding their satisfaction and any suggestions they may have to improve the Firm's services.
Ms. Wilcox is the paralegal to Paul Dunagan. Ms. Wilcox makes certain that he has the information, resources and materials to perform projects timely and efficiently. She is familiar with all firm cases and can provide docket, meeting and deposition information and dates.
A 1997 graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas, Ms. Wilcox has spent thirteen years as a legal assistant or paralegal working with attorneys on employment, personal injury and general business litigation in Dallas and throughout Texas. She is experienced in working with both state and federal court administrative personnel and is available to assist with questions about courthouse procedures. She is also trained and has extensive experience in assisting attorneys with trial preparation and jury selection.
Mr. Dunagan is an AV rated attorney and has been Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1992. He has handled a wide variety of personal injury cases, including wrongful death, automobile accident, premises liability, employer (non-subscriber) negligence, employee injury, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice and sexual misconduct.
Mr. Dunagan has also defended or prosecuted a variety of general civil matters including property damage, business litigation, franchisee/franchisor disputes, interference with contractual relations, bad faith insurance litigation, securities fraud, and intellectual property litigation including trade secret theft, non-competition agreements and copyright violations. He has also handled a variety of matters before various state and federal agencies including the Occupational, Safety and Health Administration, Social Security Administration, Texas Workforce Commission, Texas Workers' Compensation Commission, Industrial Accident Board and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Mr. Dunagan has practiced in both large and small firm settings. He has also practiced on both the Plaintiff and Defense sides of the docket. His clients include a nationwide fast food chain, statewide grocery store chain, multi-state maintenance company, multi-state dairy company, insurance companies, other smaller companies and individuals.
Mr. Dunagan was born and raised in Corsicana, Texas, and graduated with honors from Corsicana High School. He later attended Navarro College where he graduated with honors. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Texas at Austin, graduating with high honors with a B.A. in Government. He continued his education in Austin by obtaining his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985.
Mr. Dunagan is licensed by the Texas Supreme Court to practice law before all state courts in Texas, and has been admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Texas. He is a member of the Civil Trial, Insurance and Labor and Employment Law Sections of the Texas Bar Association, and is a member Dallas Bar Association. Mr. Dunagan may be reached at the Firm's Dallas office.
Mr. Dunagan is not admitted in Illinois.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member of the Illinois Bar
Patrick M. Ouimet heads the Chicago offices of Sarles & Ouimet. Mr. Ouimet practices extensively in the fields of commercial litigation, labor and employment litigation and medical malpractice litigation, and has been recognized by his peers as a "Leading Illinois Attorney."
Mr. Ouimet graduated from John Carroll University in 1983 with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in History. He attended The John Marshall Law School where he was awarded his juris doctor degree, with distinction, in 1988 and was selected for honorary membership in the Order of John Marshall. During law school, Mr. Ouimet competed in the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition and was named Best Oralist in the Seventh Circuit Region and won second place oralist honors at the World Competition level. Mr. Ouimet also authored the Best Brief in both the 1986 and 1987 regional competitions, with his 1987 brief named among the top six in the World. Mr. Ouimet also competed in the National Moot Court Competition in 1987-88 with his team winning the Seventh Circuit Region and finishing among the top four in the United States. From 1994 to 1999, Mr. Ouimet was an adjunct faculty member of The John Marshall Law School, where he taught legal research and writing.
Mr. Ouimet is a member of the Illinois Bar, and has been admitted to practice before all courts in the State of Illinois, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois, the Central District of Illinois, the Southern District of Ohio, and the Northern District of Texas. Mr. Ouimet is also a member of the McHenry County Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association and the Appellate Lawyers Association. Mr. Ouimet may be reached at the Firm's Illinois offices.