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.
Wrongful Death
The legal issues involved in Sarles & Ouimet’s representations also have been diverse, including litigation and arbitration for unlawful termination, Title VII claims, wrongful death, antitrust, deceptive trade practices, patent and copyright infringement, trademark and trade dress infringement, and misappropriation of trade secrets disputes in Texas and Oklahoma. Sarles & Ouimet attorneys also have extensive experience in representing employers and employees in disputes over employment agreements and covenants not to compete. Sarles & Ouimet attorneys practice in both state and federal courts.
A significant portion of the Firm’s work is representing companies and individuals in personal injury litigation. Although the Firm is based in Dallas, the Firm’s attorneys defend personal injury claims and lawsuits throughout the state in both State and Federal Courts, as well as in various arbitration forums. We have successfully defended hundreds of personal injury and wrongful death claims by injured employees of nonsubscribers, gross negligence wrongful death claims against employers covered by Workers Compensation, premises liability claims ranging from slip-and-fall injuries to rapes, assaults and murders committed on our clients’ premises, vehicle collision claims ranging from automobile accidents through multi-fatality 18-wheeler collisions, various manufacturing and/or industrial equipment injury claims, and a variety of other personal injury claims and lawsuits. Our attorneys routinely work with a variety of medical, economic and scientific experts in defending personal injury lawsuits ranging from minor injuries to catastrophic injury and death cases. The Firm’s clients include multiple nationwide and local fast food chains, national, state-wide and local grocery store chains, a multi-state maintenance company, a national dairy company, a multi-state cable company, a statewide utility company, multiple national and worldwide manufacturing companies, multiple national and statewide nursing home companies, multiple liability and casualty insurers, other smaller companies and individuals. The Firm’s attorneys have practiced in both large and small firm settings and have practiced on both the plaintiff and defense side of the docket. This variety of background and experience has provided the Firm with a unique perspective in defending personal injury claims, lawsuits and arbitrations.
Wrongful Termination
In litigation, Sarles & Ouimet represents its clients on such employment issues as discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, tortious interference with contract, breach of employment contracts, breach of confidentiality and non-competition agreements, invasion of privacy, and defamation. Sarles & Ouimet also has extensive experience defending employee claims for benefits from a variety of plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). Sarles & Ouimet has also represented employers on labor relations issues, including negotiations of collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) and arbitrations of disputes that arise under them.
Employment Contract
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.
Employment Litigation
Sarles & Ouimet’s labor and employment practice represents employers in litigation and, perhaps more importantly to our clients, helps our clients avoid litigation in the first place. Sarles & Ouimet represents employers large and small, publicly-traded and private, on a wide variety of employment disputes. All of our attorneys have experience representing employers on employment issues. The experience gained from that representation allows attorneys at Sarles & Ouimet to counsel clients and provide innovative and proactive solutions to the issues that employers face every day.
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.
Property Damage
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.
Welcome to the web site of Sarles & Ouimet ! We have a broad practice, with emphases on Commercial, Insurance, Personal Injury, Litigation and Arbitration, ERISA, non-subscribers to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, Employment Law, and Intellectual Property. Our members previously practiced law at large Texas, national or international law firms. Sarles & Ouimet lawyers are dedicated to providing their clients with similar quality service, but using a better focused, more-efficient, cost-sensitive, results-oriented approach. We invite you to review our site to learn a little about us, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss your legal needs.
Medical Malpractice
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.”