Moorman, Tate, Moorman, Urquhart & Haley, L.L.P.

Previous Law Firm Name

• Moorman & Tate, January 1, 1980

Law Firm Overview

AN INTRODUCTION

The firm was established by George Moorman, who moved his practice to Brenham in 1954. Since that date, the firm has served the people of Washington County and surrounding areas with quality legal counseling and services in nearly all areas of civil and criminal practice. Our offices in downtown Brenham reflect our interest in the history and traditions of the area's past and our commitment to providing our clients with legal services attuned to the complexities of today's world.

The relationship between you and our lawyers will be one of complete trust and confidence. Your work will be performed in complete confidentiality. It is our policy to keep you informed of the progress of your case on a regular basis. To do this, we use the telephone, memoranda, and, where appropriate, we will send you copies of documents created on your behalf. Of course, if questions arise, you are invited to call us for more information.

It is our objective to best serve our clients in a legal climate which is constantly changing and expanding. To ensure that legal research done on your behalf is both accurate and timely, we maintain an up-to-date law library as well as Internet access to electronic legal research. In addition, our lawyers attend seminars conducted by the State Bar of Texas and other continuing legal education organizations, as well as review current case law and legal periodicals.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

The firm provides our clients with a wide variety of important legal services which include:

Real Estate

Our firm has a broad experience in handling residential and commercial real estate transactions and related litigation. This includes representing the buyer, seller, or lender in residential or commercial real estate transactions; the lessor/lessee of apartment or commercial real estate leases, the developer, builder, or lending institution in the construction and financing of homes, apartments, and commercial real estate ventures; litigation of title problems, easements, rights of way, condemnations (eminent domain) and other real estate problems.

Trials and Appeals

When you have a dispute with another person, business, or institution that requires court action, our firm can also represent you in any resulting lawsuit or litigation. We have broad experience before the courts. This experience involves cases concerning personal and commercial contracts, bodily injury, disputes involving real estate, debt collection, worker's compensation claims, will contests, suits involving insurance contracts, banking litigation, condemnation (eminent domain) litigation involving the taking of property from property owners by power, pipeline, and other public companies, and suits concerning defective products or workmanship. We are experienced in alternate dispute resolution such as mediation and arbitration.

Marital Property Law, Adoptions and Guardianship

We represent and counsel clients on all aspects of adoption, appointment of guardians, and the preparation of pre and post marital agreements.

Wills, Trusts, Probate, and Estate Planning

We provide a complete estate planning service, including the preparation of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, family limited partnerships, and all other documents and instruments relating to estate planning. We stand ready to advise you regarding the estate, inheritance, or gift tax implications of any estate plan or other distribution of your property. We also provide legal counseling and assistance with respect to the administration of estates, including the preparation of estate and inheritance tax returns, probate proceedings, and estate settlement.

Elder Law

We provide counseling on elder law issues such as qualifying for medicaid, preparing qualified income (Miller) trusts, and alternatives to guardianships.

Business

The firm represents individuals, partnerships, and corporations involved in all types of business activities. We can assist in forming corporations, proprietorships, and limited or general partnerships as well as advising on other legal matters such as mergers, reorganizations, dissolutions, and acquisitions. We can also offer advice concerning commercial and secured transactions, collections, securities, and banking.

Oil and Gas

We represent landowners in the negotiation of oil, gas, or mineral leases with oil companies or mining interests. We will also provide title opinions for the landowner or oil company. Our firm will also represent you in litigation over oil and gas leases, competing mineral interests, and the enforcement of debts and liens for drilling services or supplies.

Criminal - Attorney Larry Urquhart

Larry Urquhart represents and counsels clients charged with a misdemeanor or felony offense. Our firm has extensive experience in the trial of criminal cases at all levels of the state court system. In addition, we frequently represent persons in the appeal of their criminal convictions received while represented by other counsel. We also provide legal counseling and assistance to persons who believe they have been the victim of a crime and wish to seek prosecution of the offending person by the local prosecuting attorney.

FEES AND BILLING

At Moorman, Tate, Moorman, Urquhart & Haley, L.L.P., we attempt to provide quality legal services efficiently at costs which are reasonable for the Washington County area. Our fees are based on the complexity of the tasks performed, the results achieved, and the time involved, as well as the experience and skill of the individuals performing the service. Some work is done on an hourly basis. For other matters, a flat fee is appropriate, and some cases, such as personal injury litigation, are handled on a contingent fee basis. For cases handled on a contingent fee basis, there is no fee if there is no recovery. Court costs, litigation expenses and medical bills are paid from your share of the recovery. If there is no recovery, you will not be responsible for any court costs or litigation expenses, except for unpaid medical bills.

Legal services and work for which charges are made include: court appearances, telephone and office conferences, legal research, document drafting, correspondence, depositions, gathering and adducing evidence, and travel to and from conferences and court appearances.

Hourly rates do not include such items as travel expenses incurred on behalf of the client, photocopying, long distance telephone calls, postage, fax, and other miscellaneous charges. These expenses will be itemized for you and billed monthly in most cases.

When you retain our firm, we will discuss your legal problems, the legal remedies available, and the work which we believe will be required to resolve it. We will discuss the fee arrangement and manner of payment. In most cases we will ask you to enter into an attorney employment contract which will more specifically set out the fee structure and billing method to be used with respect to your specific legal problem.

In some cases, the firm will require that the client deposit, in advance, a retainer fee which will be credited to the client's account and against which all costs and fees of the firm may be billed. The client may be asked to deposit an additional retainer fee with the firm each time the retainer fee previously deposited is exhausted and to deposit a trial retainer fee prior to trial.

Areas of Practice

• Litigation & Appeals
• Marital Property Law
• Guardianships
• Real Estate Law
• Criminal Law
• Oil & Gas
• Business & Commercial Law
• Estate Planning
• Trusts
• Wills
• Probate & Estate Administration
• Personal Injury -- Plaintiff
• Elder Law

Representative Clients

• Agriliance, L.L.C.
• Blinn College
• Brenham National Bank
• Brentex Mills, Inc.
• Citizens State Bank, Somerville, Caldwell & Brenham
• Heritage Trading, L.L.C.
• Land O'Lakes, Inc.
• Lubbock Feeders, L.P.
• Pipeline Pigging Products, Inc.
• Purina Mills, LLC
• Western International Gas & Cylinders, Inc.

West Practice Categories

Business & Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Oil & Gas, Estate Planning, Elder Law, Guardianships & Conservatorships, Trusts, Wills, Health & Health Care Law, Litigation & Appeals, Personal Injury -- Plaintiff, Probate & Estate Administration, Real Estate Law