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Pierre J. Riou Partner |
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Civil practice representing clients in transactions and civil negotiation, mediation, arbitration, litigation, and appeals, state, and federal courts. Representative Engagements
Represented deputy receiver of insolvent insurer in arbitration asserting claims for breach of contract and professional negligence against insurer’s former appointed actuary Represented deputy receiver of insolvent insurer asserting claims against the insurer’s former parent, certain former officers and former actuary, through investigation, pre-suit negotiation, and mediated pre-suit settlement Represented deputy receiver of insolvent insurer in federal civil suit asserting professional negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and RICO claims against insurer’s former auditor, former appointed actuary, former outside counsel, former offices and directors, and a reinsurer, through pleading, discovery, motions, negotiations, and mediated pre-trial settlement Defended deputy receiver of insolvent insurer, through summary judgment, in civil suit by reinsured risk retention groups seeking to pierce the corporate veil or impose a constructive trust to reach assets of the insurer Defended deputy receiver of insolvent insurer, through summary judgment, in civil suit by former additional insured for money damages for alleged breach of the duty to defend Represented third-party plaintiff deputy receiver of insolvent insurer, through summary judgment and settlement, in civil suit asserting equitable subrogation claim against third party defendant professional medical liability insurer arising from the settlement of claims against a common insured of the two insurers Defended deputy receiver of insolvent insurer in a civil suit, through summary judgment, against a counterclaim seeking indemnification of counter-claimant’s settlement of claims asserted by other parties in a different lawsuit Represented officer of company, through pre-suit settlement, against sexual harassment claims alleging hostile work environment Defended vice president of software company in civil suit asserting federal securities fraud claims Represented deputy receiver of insolvent life insurance company in direct party settlement negotiations related to various contract disputes Represented deputy receiver of insolvent insurer, through pre-trial settlement, in rescission action brought by issuer of directors and officers liability policy (a/k/a D&O insurance) Other Practice Areas Assisting those interested in having their local government prohibit aerial advertising (a/k/a banner towing) consistent with federal law and advocating for the enactment of such ordinances; assisting in drafting revisions to a home rule city’s code of ordinances to more effectively regulate helicopter take-offs and landings within its geographic boundaries; advocating for or against proposed ordinances to a home rule city’s code of ordinances; developing strategies for advocacy in favor or in opposition to proposed revisions to a home rule city’s code of ordinances; advocating against a home rule city’s approval of re-zoning of a parcel of land as a planned unit development (a/k/a a "PUD"); providing guidance to a public official interested in requesting that a county attorney, district attorney or the state Attorney General’s office bring a quo warranto proceeding to prevent the continued exercise of alleged unlawful authority by another public official; evaluating whether a citizen could bring a court proceeding against the officer of a home rule city commanding the official to perform purely ministerial duties that the official refused to perform (a/k/a a proceeding in the nature of mandamus), or to command the official to rescind the doing of an act that the official lacked legal authority or discretion to perform (a/k/a a proceeding in the nature of prohibition); advising how to frame an open records request for certain documents of a home rule city pursuant to the state Public Information Act. Publications
Co-author, Chapter 97, Insurer Insolvency, Vol. No. 9, Jeffrey E. Thomas, New Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition (LexisNexis 2015) Note, General Jurisdiction over Foreign Corporations: All That Glitters Is Not Gold Issue Mining, 14 Rev. Litig. 741 (1995). National finalist for the 1994 Judge John R. Brown Award for Excellence in Legal Writing, for which the article was republished in the South Texas Law Review, 36 S. Tex. L. Rev. 327 (1995). Cited by, inter alia, Viko v. World Vision, Inc., 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 133923, *22,27 (Apr. 28, 2009); Bohreer v. Erie Ins. Exch. Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division One, Department C, 165 P.3d 186, 194 n.9 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2007); Merriman v. Crompton Corp., 146 P.3d 162, 175 (Kan. 2006); Freeman v. Second Judicial Dist. Court, 1 P.3d 963, 968 (Nev. 2000); R. Lea Brilmayer, Jack L. Goldsmith & Erin O’Hara O’Connor, Conflict of Laws: Cases and Materials (2015); Jonathan R. Macey, Macey on Corporation Laws (Supp. 2017-3); Christopher B. Mueller, Twenty-First Century Procedure (2016); Mark Tremayne, Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media 208 (2012); Jack B. Harrison, Registration, Fairness, and General Jurisdiction, 95 Neb. L. Rev. 477, 54-41 n.450 (2016); Walter W. Heiser, General Jurisdiction in the Place of Incorporation: An Artificial “Home” for an Artificial Person, 53 Hous. L. Rev. 631, 672 n.224, 673-74 nn.230-33, 685 n.291 (2016); Megan M. La Belle, Patent Litigation, Personal Jurisdiction, and the Public Good, 18 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 43, 66 n.131 (2010); Tanya J. Monestier, Registration Statutes, General Jurisdiction, and the Fallacy of Consent, 36 Cardozo L. Rev. 1343, passim (2015); Tanya J. Monestier, Where Is Home Depot “At Home”?: Daimler v. Bauman and the End of Doing Business Jurisdiction, 66 Hastings L.J. 233, 282 n.286 (2014); Jeffrey A. Van Detta, The Decline and Fall of the American Judicial Opinion, Part II: Back to the Future From the Roberts Court to Learned Hand - Segmentation, Audience, and the Opportunity of Sotomayor, 13 Barry L. Rev. 29, 38 n.34 (2009) Verity Winship, Jurisdiction Over Corporate Officers and the Incoherence of Implied Consent, 2013 U. Ill. L. Rev. 1171, 1185-86 n.97, 1188 n.109 (2013). Article, The Flap over Flip Clauses:Should They Flop Against Debtors’ Nondebtor Subsidiaries? ABI Journal, July 2012; cited by Lehman Bros. Special Fin. v. Bank of Am. N.A. (In re Lehman Bros. Holdings), 553 B.R. 476, 492 n.7 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2016) Education and Honors J.D. (with honors), The University of Texas School of Law, 1995 - Judge John R. Brown Admiralty Moot Court Competition (1995), Member of National Champion Team and Author of the Competition’s Best Brief Overall - The Review of Litigation, Staff Member - Legal Research Board M.P.A., University of Texas at San Antonio, 1992 B.S. (summa cum laude), Marine Biology, Texas A&M University, 1980 - Gathright Award Admissions and Affiliations State Bar of Texas United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Fourth Circuit United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Court of Federal Claims Austin Bar Association Languages French
Not Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization |
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