Cotten Schmidt & Abbott L.L.P.

Mr. Pouls began working in Fort Worth as an analyst for Pier 1 Imports, where he worked for more than four years before pursuing his legal career. Following law school, Mr. Pouls joined Cotten Schmidt, L.L.P. in 1998 as an associate attorney, and became a partner in January 2005. Complemented by his business and financial experience, Mr. Pouls enjoys a broad practice that includes corporate, commercial, and transactional work, as well as general civil litigation representing plaintiffs and defendants alike in a wide array of legal disputes.

Corporate, Commercial, and Transactional Experience.
Mr. Pouls' transactional practice has included the formation, reorganization, and dissolution of various business organizations, the sale and purchase of business shares and assets, and the preparation and review of an extensive variety of business, real estate, and commercial documents, including employment and sales contracts, non competition agreements, leases, subscription agreements, buy sell agreements, and deeds, deeds of trust, and restrictive covenant agreements. Mr. Pouls is well versed in a broad spectrum of real estate transactions, including the negotiation, acquisition, financing, planning, development, construction, leasing, management, and sale of residential and commercial properties. Mr. Pouls' transactional practice has expanded into the oil and gas arena, where he has assisted in negotiating leases and right-of-way agreements on behalf of developers, landowners, and neighborhood associations. He has also been involved in forming and organizing several startup oil and gas entities that presently conduct drilling operations in the Barnett Shale fields of North Texas.

Litigation Experience.
Mr. Pouls' litigation practice consists of general civil litigation at all levels of the state and federal court systems. Experienced at every stage of a lawsuit, from the earliest case analysis and strategy through discovery to trial before a judge or jury, Mr. Pouls has a demonstrated commitment to preventative and creative lawyering, with a steadfast focus on achieving winning results at a reasonable cost. Mr. Pouls is also an experienced and effective negotiator, having participated in scores of mediations and settlement conferences. He has successfully represented a broad spectrum of clients in a diverse array of actions involving deceptive trade practices, fraud, contracts, real estate, boundary disputes, property tax contests, toxic torts, medical malpractice (defending hospitals, physicians, and nurses), personal injury, products liability, premises liability, ERISA (in relation to insurance disputes), civil rights, intellectual property (with respect to patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets), non competition agreements, employment discrimination, injunctions and temporary restraining orders, and business and commercial litigation. Mr. Pouls also possesses significant expertise in managing a substantial toxic tort docket for a Fortune 100 company. In addition to his numerous litigation victories, Mr. Pouls has prevailed in oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Federal Circuit, successfully challenging the federal trial court’s jurisdiction and findings of fact, ultimately invalidating a $1.2 million judgment. Most recently, Mr. Pouls assisted in securing the complete dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed against a well known sporting goods manufacturer and a renowned golf club designer in an action alleging misappropriation of various trade secrets.