Cotten Schmidt & Abbott L.L.P.

Ms. Hoyt is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law -- Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Ms. Hoyt’s legal practice focuses on advising, counseling, litigating and trial work in the areas of labor and employment law, commercial disputes, and premises & products liability cases. Her practice also encompasses defense of employment-related breach of contract, defamation, discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims.

Ms. Hoyt's extensive experience includes counseling and advising for physicians and medical practices, home health care companies, hospital entities, corporations, small businesses and human resource professionals in a broad range of employment-related matters as well as drafting, implementing and training with respect to employment policies and practices including those related to the Fair labor Standards Act, Family Medical Leave Act, USERRA, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Title VII, and various other state and federal laws impacting employment relationships. Ms. Hoyt also has management-side defense experience in administrative proceedings, such as EEOC/TCHR Charges of Discrimination, U.S. Department of Labor Wage & Hour investigations and negotiations, Texas Workforce Commission Wage Claims and Texas Unemployment Insurance Claims. She has reviewed, drafted and litigated non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality/trade secret agreements, along with a variety of other employment-related contracts.

Ms. Hoyt has tried both jury and non-jury trials in Texas courts, obtaining successful defense verdicts for clients in employment discrimination, toxic tort and commercial accident cases. She has also handled alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as employment arbitrations and mediations.

Ms. Hoyt is a frequent faculty presenter for Lorman Education Services, speaking to HR Managers, Payroll Managers, CFO’s and other business personnel in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on topics such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Development of Employer Handbooks and Policies, Managing Wage Challenges, and Effectively Handling Terminations.

Prior to moving to Fort Worth and joining Cotten Schmidt & Abbott in August of 2004, Ms. Hoyt practiced litigation/trial and employment law in Houston, Texas with the firm of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP and before that with Thompson & Knight, P.C.’s Houston office.

Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Hoyt worked for nearly 5 years for Conoco Inc. at its Houston headquarters in downstream marketing, pricing/supply and marketing information systems. While with Conoco, Ms. Hoyt also focused a great deal of her energy on corporate and on-campus recruiting and employment efforts for the company.