FLETCHER FARLEY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Senior Associate
- Professionals
Clarissa focuses her practice on commercial litigation, insurance defense, premises liability, and transportation.
Clarissa grew up in the border town of Laredo, Texas, splitting her time between Mexico and the United States. Her background and upbringing provide her with an understanding and appreciation of different communities and cultures, which give her a unique perspective for representing her clients and protecting their interests.
Before joining Fletcher Farley, Clarissa worked as a law clerk at a Plaintiff firm where she focused on tort and qui tam litigation matters. Her experience gives her a unique understanding of both sides of the litigation process.
Cole defends individuals and companies involved in personal injury litigation including cases involving motor vehicle accidents, commercial vehicle accidents, and premises liability. Cole primarily handles cases in Central Texas but has defended clients across the Lone Star State. Prior to Fletcher Farley, Cole worked as staff counsel at a Fortune 100 company where he first-chaired jury trials and defended a voluminous docket of personal injury cases. Before that, Cole worked for a civil litigation firm in Abilene, Texas where he represented both sides of the docket.
Cole was born and raised in Abilene. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned his bachelor's degree. After undergrad Cole attended Texas Tech University, where he received both his J.D. and MBA. Cole lives in South Austin with his wife, son, and their labrador retriever. In his free time, he enjoys grilling and cheering on the Texas Longhorns.
Craig Reese leads the Firm's appellate and coverage practice group. He has over 30 years of practice experience including appeals at the federal and state level, insurance coverage/defense, and commercial litigation.
Craig has represented clients in a wide variety of litigation including insurance coverage, general insurance defense, bad faith litigation, and commercial matters. His appellate experience includes cases before every level of the state courts of appeals and appeals to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, he is a former briefing attorney to the Honorable H.M. Lattimore for the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth.
Craig is actively involved in the legal community as a member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, the Texas Construction Association and the Defense Research Institute.
Experience
Experience
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Member of the Firm
David Colley is a member of the Firm's appellate and coverage practice group. He has over 30 years of experience in a broad range of civil litigation matters, including insurance defense, insurance coverage, commercial litigation and appeals. Prior experience includes serving as briefing attorney to Chief Justice William J. Cornelius, Court of Appeals, 6 th District of Texas, Texarkana, Texas.
David Solomon's practice focuses on civil and commercial litigation. His experience involves all phases of litigation through trial, including pretrial investigation, mediation, dispositive motion practice, and developing fact and expert witness testimony.
Prior to joining the firm, his practice focused on products and tort liability defense related to the propane sector, as well as real estate and land use litigation.
He received his Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University and his MA and MBA from Southern Methodist University. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2005 and the State Bar of Texas in 2011.
David is a native Texan and is passionate about the San Antonio Spurs and really good queso. He and his wife, also an attorney, reside in Austin, Texas, and they spend most of their free time chasing after their twin sons and Lady Bird, their energetic Goldendoodle.
Derreck Michael Brown first considered a career in the law back in the early 90's when he was working a full-time position as a general assistant/clerk for a prominent Plaintiffs' attorney, while at the same time attending the University of Houston as a full-time student. Upon completing his J.D. at St. Mary's Law School, Derreck initially worked as a plaintiff's lawyer in San Antonio and Houston.
In 2000, Derreck began working for a Houston defense law firm, applying the insight from his prior experiences as a plaintiff's lawyer to the benefit of his clients. In 2007, he joined the Austin office of Fletcher Farley. Since then, he has developed a substantial defense litigation practice, handling large cases, involving claims for serious injuries and wrongful death in trucking, premises liability, products liability, and government liability actions, in addition to construction defect cases. Derreck represents his clients across the width and breadth of the state, particularly in Central, South and West Texas.
Derreck is a lifelong Texan, who believes there is no better place to practice law. He and his wife, a school psychologist, and their two daughters, reside in Austin, Texas, where Derreck enjoys mountain biking and paddle boarding in any spare time he can find.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Firm Founding Partner
Firm founding partner Douglas D. Fletcher regards the practice of law as a vocation, not merely a profession. He believes that those entrusted to the calling must possess passion for the law, unswerving dedication to clients, and uncompromising personal integrity. Above all, Doug believes that balance between professional and personal life, and adherence to strong values, are the keys to success, both in life and in work. These are the tenets on which he established the firm thirty years ago.
Eliza's practice primarily involves insurance defense and transportation. She enjoys working with her clients on cases involving all types of legal issues. She is passionate about legal research and loves being able to combine familiar legal and procedural concepts with emerging caselaw to solve new issues.
Eliza was born and raised in Texas and a lifelong Aggie. After graduation from Texas A&M University with her bachelor's degree, she went on to attend Texas A&M University School of law where she served in numerous leadership positions and membership within organizations on campus. She was also inducted into the 2023 Order of Barristers.
Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, enjoying live music, going for walks, doing yoga, cooking and baking, and attempting to keep her houseplants alive.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Member of the Firm
Iris Harris is a member of the firm's appellate practice group.
Iris is a native Texan and was born and raised in Nacogdoches, in the heart of the Piney Woods. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Economics from Stephen F. Austin State University and her Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Before joining the firm, Iris had the privilege of serving as Briefing Attorney to Senior Chief Justice Wright of the Eleventh Court of Appeals and Staff Attorney to Justice Bruce Williams also of the Eleventh Court of Appeals. This background has provided her with a solid foundation and necessary skills in legal research which allows her to provide competent, high-quality representation to clients.
When not working, Iris can be found lifting weights in the gym and studying foreign languages.
Jackson discovered his love of complex litigation during his years in law school at mock trials. He quickly found that he had a skillset and passion for exploring the intricacies of each case and finding answers to the tough questions presented in order to get the best results for his clients. This love of finding resolution amongst tough conflict led him to not only an undefeated record in practice court at Baylor, but also to a career here at Fletcher, Farley, Shipman & Salinas.
Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Texas, Jackson played soccer and loved to surf and fish along the coast. After high school, Jackson attended the University of Texas in Austin before moving to Waco to complete his juris doctorate at Baylor Law School.
Jackson now calls Austin home. Outside of the office, Jackson loves to soak up all Austin has to offer. He loves playing soccer weekly, hiking with his dogs, and spending time with friends and family.
Jason is a native Texan who was born and raised in Dallas. Before attending law school at North Texas School of law, he spent a number of years in the healthcare industry and then worked as a plaintiff's lawyer. This background has provided him with a flexible attitude and willingness to work with others which helps him provide excellent legal work while navigating personalities and the litigation process efficiently.
Karen Kennedy is an experienced trial lawyer with an authoritative voice in the courtroom but she is also adept at alternative dispute resolution. She is always working to resolve cases as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible for her clients. Karen's intense drive and focus along with her knowledge of catastrophic personal injury and product defect litigation has helped her attain excellent results in transportation accidents, product defect claims, and personal injury and wrongful death claims. Her experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants gives her unique skills and perspective in dealing with the opposing party.
Karen was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Upon graduating high school, she was admitted to the University of Texas in Austin where she earned her bachelors degree Plan II with Special Honors. Plan II is a challenging interdisciplinary curriculum that differs from most honors programs in that its core curriculum is a major with very specific multi-disciplinary course requirements with a strong emphasis on problem solving, critical and analytical skills and writing. Karen then earned her law degree from Baylor Law School in Waco.
In addition to work, Karen enjoys spending time with her three adult children, cooking, hiking, reading, practicing yoga and traveling.
Katherine Knight joined Fletcher Farley in January 2024 as Of Counsel with 41 years of experience in litigation, including 4 years of in-house insurance experience, and has tried over 100 cases to juries across Texas. Katherine began her career as a prosecutor with the Dallas City Attorney's office, then moved to the civil litigation section where she gained first chair trial experience in both state and federal courts. In more recent years, she has vigorously represented defendants in private practice. In 2021 Katherine was elected to the State Bar of Texas Insurance Law Council and currently serves as the Communications Officer.
Katherine graduated from Texas Tech School of Law in Lubbock, Texas where she met her husband of 38 years, Don. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Texas Tech University. She and Don live in Dallas where they raised their two children, Allison and Alex. Katherine and Don occasionally create videos for the Dallas Bar None Show.
Before joining Fletcher Farley, Lori served as Managing Attorney and In-House Counsel for two national insurance companies in Houston and Dallas. Her specialties include commercial litigation (specifically personal injury and property damage defense), multi-party litigation, construction defect, premises liability and product liability action cases.
Over the last thirty years, Lori has tried cases all over the state. With that experience she has carefully built relationships with clients, courts, experts, and counsel. The network and business friendships she has formed are not only valuable to continued success in her career, but she finds them "the best part of the practice," and for which she is most thankful for. These cases have proved an excellent opportunity for her to learn about so many facets of business and develop expertise in many different areas like trucking, construction, medical defense, and product liability.
Lori earned her bachelor's degree in Political Science and Business, cum laude, from Southern Nazarene University. Lori went on to earn her juris doctor from Baylor University School of Law. During her time at Baylor, Lori was honored to be selected and participate as a member of the Order of Barristers.
Born and raised in Texas, Lori currently resides in Richardson. When not practicing law, she enjoys spending time with her family and pets and enjoys cooking, swimming, and volunteer work.
Marshall was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. After graduating from Louisiana State University, she worked as an account executive for a Hispanic Advertising firm in Dallas for over two years before attended The University of Tulsa College of Law. There she proudly served as articles editor of the Energy Law Journal and was heavily involved in numerous leadership and membership positions within legal organizations on campus. She also received an award for completing over 60 hours of community service during her three years of law school.
Marshall primarily focuses her practice on insurance defense and transportation. She enjoys serving her clients and using her legal knowledge to develop solutions for her clients' most complex civil disputes.
Outside of the office, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling to new places, playing tennis and pickleball, and spoiling her miniature dachshund.
Rachael's practice focuses on commercial litigation, insurance defense, premises liability, and transportation.
Rachael grew up in Fairhope, Alabama. After graduating from the University of Alabama in 2019, she moved to Dallas to attend SMU Dedman School of Law. While in law school, she was involved in the Women in Law organization and started the SMU Law Running Club. Prior to her career at Fletcher Farley, Rachael practiced family law in Fairhope, Alabama, which gives her a unique perspective on practice skills such as client relations and negotiation.
Outside of the office, Rachael enjoys spending time with her friends and family, running, painting, traveling, and watching football- especially the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Richard Harwell concentrates on appellate practice and insurance and defense coverage. He has a wide variety of litigation experience, including general insurance defense, insurance coverage, professional malpractice, commercial, trucking and construction litigation. Richard has handled appeals at the state and courts of appeals and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Before joining Fletcher Farley, William worked for a general practice firm in Dallas, Texas handling a variety of litigation matters including commercial litigation, tort litigation, real estate litigation and construction liability cases. William's practice experience also includes formation of corporate entities and business and real estate transactional law. His experience in both litigation and transactional law provides a broader understanding of our client's interests.
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, he is the youngest of four children. William's hobbies include golf, fishing, hunting, cooking, playing guitar, and watching Longhorn football.