GODWIN BOWMAN PC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- ASSOCIATE / Family Law / Divorce
- Associate Attorney in the Dallas
Breanna Griffin is an Associate Attorney in the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC. Ms. Griffin's primary focus is on family law. Among her areas of concentration are divorce, child custody and child support disputes, enforcements, modification of prior orders, and premarital agreements.
Breanna received her J.D. from the Mississippi College School of Law, and Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, in Criminal Justice from Jackson State University. Ms. Griffin studied abroad at Jackson State University, Bluefields, Nicaragua, where she studied the similarities and differences between the criminal justice systems in Nicaragua and the United States.
Job Titles:
- EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
- EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT SECRETARY GENERAL COUNSEL BOARD CERTIFIED in CIVIL TRIAL LAW
Bruce Bowman, Jr. has successfully handled litigation on both the plaintiff and defendant sides for many years, primarily in business disputes. His work has been as diverse as recovering assets from trusts in prolonged trust and-bankruptcy litigation to defending trade secret allegations concerning oil field technology in State and Federal courts. He has also successfully defended directors, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, and other professionals in many areas of business. In addition to trying hundreds of cases to verdict, Bruce has handled numerous arbitrations, mediations and appeals through the Texas Supreme Court, Federal Appeals Courts and to the U.S. Supreme Court.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT; SECRETARY; GENERAL COUNSEL; BOARD CERTIFIED IN CIVIL TRIAL LAW
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Associate Attorney in the Dallas
Daniel Weinstein is an Associate Attorney in the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC. Daniel's primary focus is on commercial and business litigation matters in a broad range of complex legal issues. His practice includes civil and commercial litigation, defending national corporations, trade secrets, breach of contract, and defamation.
Daniel received his Juris Doctor degree from Texas A&M University School of Law. While at Texas A&M, Daniel served on the Journal of Property Law. He also worked as Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and participated in Mock Trial. Daniel was a law clerk in the United State Senate for Senator Patty Murray. He volunteered for the Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Office of General Counsel, Dallas, TX. Daniel received his Bachelor of Arts, in Political Science with a Minor in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Job Titles:
- Co - Chairman
- Diversity Committee, Co - Vice Chairman 2010
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Attorney
- ASSOCIATE / Commercial and Business Litigation
Dixon J. Cheung is an Associate Attorney Dallas office of Godwin Bowman Mr. Cheung's primary focus is on commercial and business litigation matters in a broad range of complex legal issues.
Dixon was a part of the Mission Critical Litigation team that secured a defense victory in a non-competition/non-solicitation agreement case brought against their clients by an international multi-billion dollar building conglomerate, which was seeking more than $40 million in compensatory damages, in addition to punitive damages and attorney's fees. The two-week jury trial was presided over by the Honorable Judge Maricela Moore in the 162nd Judicial District Court and was one of the first complex commercial litigation jury trials to commence in-person in Dallas County since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020.
Dixon received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center, and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Baylor University. While at the University of Houston Law Center, he served as Notes and Comments Editor of the "Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy," Vice-Chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Team, and Research Assistant in the Lawyering Skills & Strategies Department.
Dixon is fluent in Mandarin Chinese (speaking), Intermediate Spanish (reading, writing, and speaking).
Job Titles:
- CEO
- CHAIRMAN
- CHAIRMAN / CEO TREASURER BOARD CERTIFIED in CIVIL TRIAL LAW
CHAIRMAN/CEO; TREASURER; BOARD CERTIFIED IN CIVIL TRIAL LAW
Donald E. Godwin is considered one of the most respected and tenacious trial lawyers in Texas. For more than 40 years Don has tried significant jury cases in courts throughout Texas and across the United States. Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, he has the ability to translate complex matters of law and fact into easily understandable language for courts and juries.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- of Counsel Chair Mass Tort Litigation
George Carlton is a founding member of Godwin Bowman PC with more than 40 years of experience. George's practice covers a broad range of areas, with emphasis on complex litigation, including oil and gas, environmental and business disputes. He has handled numerous oil field, industrial, trucking, and construction accident cases, many involving death and serious injury. He also has extensive experience litigating numerous property damage, toxic tort and product liability cases. Recognized on the list of the Best Lawyers in America by Woodward-White, chosen among the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America, selected to the list of Texas Super Lawyer by Thomson Reuters. and rated AV "Preeminent" by Martindale-Hubbell for the past 25 years, Mr. Carlton is one of the most highly respected attorneys in his field.
George received a J.D. from Baylor Law School in 1975 and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1970.
Job Titles:
- Trial Championship, Team Member, 2005 & 2006
Job Titles:
- EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
- EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT CHAIR, BUSINESS / CIVIL LITIGATION SECTION
Ira Bowman focuses his practice primarily on the effective resolution of legal disputes in commercial matters. He represents clients in both the prosecution and defense of a wide range of issues in State and Federal courts. Legal issues Ira regularly handles include contract disputes, business related torts, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, partnership disputes, antitrust, copyright and patent litigation, conversion, deceptive trade practices, breach of warranty, franchiser / franchisee disputes and negligence. Ira also handles a wide range of family law matters, including divorce, modifications, property division, conservatorship and surrogacy agreements.
Ira has acted as first and second chair in many trials and has argued before the 5th District Court of Appeals in Dallas. Ira has tried multiple-week long jury trials under both Texas and foreign laws. In addition to his trial experience, Ira has handled many more mediation and arbitration matters for clients dealing with multiple disparate issues in various jurisdictions.
Reflecting the excellence of his practice, Ira was promoted to Executive Vice President in October 2022. He has been honored six times with selection to Thomson Reuters' Texas Rising Stars, honoring the top young attorneys in Texas. Additionally, he has achieved a 10.0 rating from AVVO.com, its highest attorney rating.
Ira received a J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 2005 and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2000. Ira and his wife, Laci, have four children who further continue to hone Ira's negotiation skills at home.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT; CHAIR, BUSINESS/CIVIL LITIGATION SECTION
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Associate Attorney in the Dallas
John Minahan is an Associate Attorney in the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC. John's primary focus is on commercial and business litigation matters in a broad range of complex legal issues. His practice includes civil and commercial litigation, defending national corporations, trade secrets, breach of contract, and defamation.
John received his Juris Doctorate degree from Texas A&M University School of Law in 2021, and B.A. in Russian Studies and International Studies from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.
John was a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Edward L. Morris, United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, FAMILY LAW SECTION BOARD CERTIFIED in FAMILY LAW
Laci Bowman is a well-known and highly-respected family law attorney. She represents clients in all aspects of family law, including divorce, modification proceedings, premarital and post marital property agreements, suits affecting parent-child relationship, and enforcement issues.
Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2013, Laci specializes in complex family law issues, and has the ability to negotiate difficult settlement agreements, as well as taking a case through trial when appropriate. Laci specializes in high stakes property issues, complex child custody issues, and modifications of orders. She has tried multiple jury trials, bench trials, and arbitrations involving property and children disputes, and provides clients the ability to weigh the risks and rewards of taking a case to trial or reaching a settlement.
Laci is also trained as a collaborative attorney, offering clients the option of addressing their family law needs outside of the courtroom through the confidential settlement process known as collaborative law. She understands that each client has specific goals and interests, and that it is important for a family law practitioner to have all the tools and knowledge available to help their clients address those goals and interests in the most efficient and effective manner possible. Laci was trained as a collaborative law practitioner in 2009 and then co-founded, and served as President of, the Collaborative Law Professionals of North Texas, a collaborative law practice group. The organization has since merged into Collaborative Law Dallas, a group of skilled lawyers, mental health professionals, and financial professionals, where Laci continues a deep involvement.
Reflecting the excellence of her practice, Laci has been chosen among D Magazine's Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40, named seven times to Thomson Reuters' Texas Rising Stars, honoring the most highly regarded young attorneys in the state, and has been selected to Thomson Reuters' list of the Texas Up and Coming 100 Texas Rising Stars and the Up and Coming 50 Texas Women Rising Stars, honoring the top 100 young lawyers and top 50 young female lawyers among the ranks of Texas Rising Stars.
Prior to devoting her practice to family law, Laci represented clients in complex high stakes commercial litigation issues in both Federal and State Court. That commercial litigation background helps her provide insights, and potential solutions, to her clients with regard to the complex property division issues that often arise in family law disputes.
Laci graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in 2004, with a B.S. in Communications Studies with Honors and a B.A. in Government with Honors, and from Baylor University School of Law in 2009. After law school, Laci moved to Dallas, Texas, where she currently lives with
her husband and four children.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Associate Attorney in the Dallas
Logan Miller is an Associate Attorney in the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC. Logan's primary focus is on commercial and business litigation matters in a broad range of complex legal issues. His practice includes civil and commercial litigation, defending national corporations, and real estate law.
Logan received his Juris Doctor degree from The Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law, where he received a full-ride academic scholarship. While at Penn State Dickinson Law, Logan worked as a judicial extern for the Federal Middle District Court of Pennsylvania; served as a Research Assistant for Intellectual Property Law matters; and worked as a law clerk for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Logan received a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas Tech University, Rawls College of Business, and he graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors. Logan also studied abroad in Norway during his time at Texas Tech.
Logan clerked for the Delaware Superior Court for one year after law school, where he worked on a variety of both civil and criminal matters.
Logan has been involved in research, discovery, and trial prep on commercial litigation cases with damages ranging from upwards of $180 million. Logan has represented a variety of clients, such as managing members, limited liability companies, corporations, partnerships, and limited partnerships. He has also represented commercial and residential developers in construction and commercial litigation cases.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- Associate Attorney at the Dallas
Mollie Rush is an Associate Attorney at the Dallas offices of Godwin Bowman PC. The primary focus of her practice involves the representation of Creditors in contested matters in Bankruptcy proceedings and Texas State Court collection matters. She represents large commercial lenders in high-volume, fast paced litigation focused on assisting secured creditors in recovering collateral. Her work in the creditors' rights field encompasses efficient collateral recovery via sequestration to facilitate the collection of defaulted loans; contesting mechanics' and storage liens, fraud and conversion for recovery of collateral; declaring lienholders' interest in state and federal forfeiture/seizure proceedings to prevent loss of collateral; domestication of foreign judgments for enforcement; defending creditors from alleged violations of a sundry of state and federal consumer law; collection of unsecured business debts; uncover hidden assets by post-judgment depositions; creditor claims in probate proceedings; and creditor claims, motions for relief from the automatic stay and objections to confirmation in bankruptcy proceedings.
Job Titles:
- ASSOCIATE
- ASSOCIATE / Family Law / Divorce
- Associate Attorney in the Dallas
Samantha Baynes is an Associate Attorney in the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC. Ms. Baynes' primary focus is on Family Law. Her practice areas include divorce, child custody and support disputes, enforcements, modifications of prior orders, and premarital agreements.
Samantha received her J.D. from Baylor University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English, summa cum laude, with concentration in writing, rhetoric and literacy from the Ohio State University. While studying at Baylor, she received Dean's Academic Excellence Full-Tuition Scholarship. During law school, Samantha served as judicial intern for the Hon. Judge Martin Hoffman of the 68th Civil District Court, and clerked with Dunnam & Dunnam, a general litigation firm in Waco, Texas. In 2019 Samantha joined Godwin Bowman as a summer law clerk in the family law section.
Job Titles:
- PRESIDENT
- Board Certified Appellate Attorney
- PRESIDENT MANAGING SHAREHOLDER CHAIR. APPELLATE SECTION BOARD CERTIFIED in CIVIL APPELLATE LAW
PRESIDENT; MANAGING SHAREHOLDER; CHAIR. APPELLATE SECTION; BOARD CERTIFIED IN CIVIL APPELLATE LAW
practices in the Appellate Section at Godwin Bowman PC and has experience with litigation support, appeals and original proceedings in business contracts and torts, insurance coverage, medical malpractice, product liability and premises liability cases in state and federal courts. On April 22, 2013, Shawn prevailed on a petition for writ of mandamus to the Second District Court of Appeals in Fort Worth on behalf of Alisa Rich, in a case styled In re Lipsky (No. 02-12- 00348-CV), involving the Texas Citizens Participation Act (also known as the Texas Anti-SLAPP Act), and obtained a dismissal of all claims against his client. In an opinion issued on April 24, 2015, the Supreme Court of Texas upheld that decision and the dismissal of all claims against his client (No. 13-0928).
Shawn McCaskill was a part of the Mission Critical Litigation team that secured a defense victory in a non-competition/non-solicitation agreement case brought against their clients by an international multi-billion dollar building conglomerate, which was seeking more than $40 million in compensatory damages, in addition to punitive damages and attorney's fees. The two-week jury trial was presided over by the Honorable Judge Maricela Moore in the 162nd Judicial District Court and was one of the first complex commercial litigation jury trials to commence in-person in Dallas County since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020.
Job Titles:
- Chairman, BANKRUPTCY / CREDITORS' RIGHTS SECTION
Sidney H. Scheinberg chairs the Bankruptcy and Creditors Rights section of Godwin Bowman PC, representing clients in complex and critical cases. Based in the firm's Dallas office, the primary focus of his practice is on bankruptcy and business litigation matters, with an emphasis on the representation of secured creditors, such as automobile finance companies and national banking associations. His clients have included such luminaries as Bank of America, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota Financial Services, Nissan and GM Financial.
A former radio broadcaster, he is a frequent speaker at National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees" and National Creditors Bar Association meetings, and has taught a variety of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses on Bankruptcy. Reflecting the excellence of his practice, he has been selected among the "Best Lawyers in Dallas" by D Magazine, is AV-rated "Preeminent" by Martindale-Hubbell, the organization's highest peer rating for legal skills and ethics, named among the "Top Lawyers in Houston" by Houstonia Magazine, and has achieved a 10.0 "Superb" rating from Avvo, the highest attorney rating.
Stefanie Major McGregor is a Shareholder in the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC, focusing her practice on commercial litigation matters. She represents clients in both the prosecution and defense of a wide range of cases before state and federal courts around the country. Stefanie's practice covers a broad range of areas, with an emphasis on complex litigation, environmental and oil and gas litigation, major family law disputes (custody, property division, etc.), property disputes, and disputes involving trusts and estates. Notably, she was an important member of the Firm's trial team in the successful defense of Halliburton in connection with all civil litigation and investigations concerning BP's Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest environmental lawsuit in the history of the United States.