Biography

Before a state or federal court, behind a podium at the Fifth Circuit, in the hearing room of a regulatory commission, and in a mediation caucus room, Kathleen McElroy LaValle's career has been dedicated to achieving successful results in high stakes legal disputes.

Ms. LaValle has handled a wide range of complex litigation at the trial and appellate level in state and federal courts, including the areas of antitrust, banking and lender liability, health care, libel and slander, securities fraud, breach of warranty, product liability, telecommunications, business tort, oil and gas, intellectual property, toxic tort and environmental, and employment discrimination. With each changing trend in complex commercial litigation, Ms. LaValle has played a significant role in defining the applicable law, shaping the appropriate procedures, and developing winning strategies.

With the passage of the Federal Telecommunications Act in 1996, Ms. LaValle became centrally involved in high profile state and federal regulatory proceedings impacting the expansion of competition in the communications industry. Ms. LaValle served as lead outside counsel in pivotal arbitration proceedings establishing interconnection agreement terms permitting competitive local exchange companies to enter and expand their presence within the local service market. The results of the arbitration are widely regarded in the industry today as having laid the foundation for local competition in areas of policy, operational detail, and standards. More recently, Ms. LaValle's regulatory practice has expanded to include proceedings impacting the deregulated electric industry.

Attorney Profile: Kathleen LaValle — Sharing success with clients and community

More about Kathleen M. LaValle: Involvement | Recognition | Speeches / Publications | News

Organization Membership

Ms. LaValle is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Dallas Bar Association, and Fifth Circuit Bar Association. She is Past Chair of the Texas State Bar Antitrust & Business Litigation Section and serves on the Council of the Texas State Bar Public Utility Law Section. She also is on the Council of the Dallas Bar Association Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section.

Ms. LaValle is a Sustaining Life Fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation and a Fellow in the Dallas Bar Foundation. She has been a member of the SMU Law School Executive Board and College of the State Bar of Texas. She also served as a Barrister in the Patrick Higginbotham Inn of Court. Ms. LaValle is a Past President of the Board of Directors for Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).

More about Kathleen M. LaValle: Biography | Recognition | Speeches / Publications | News

Peer Recognition

Ms. LaValle was selected as one of Dallas-Fort Worth's "2009 Top 25 Women to Watch" by the Dallas Business Journal, an award given to those who have demonstrated leadership in their companies or professions and in giving back. She is listed in The Best Lawyers in America under Commercial Litigation (2007-2012) and Antitrust and Regulatory Enforcement Litigation (2012), and in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business under Energy: State and Regulatory & Litigation (Texas). Ms. LaValle is included in the Competition (antitrust and trade regulation chapter of Who's Who Legal: Texas (2007-2008). She was honored by Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition for being a "Super Lawyer in Business Litigation." She has been recognized as a "Super Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters (2003-2007, 2011), and in July 2000, the Texas Public Utility Commission named Ms. LaValle "Cross Examiner of the Year."

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Speeches / Publications

Ms. LaValle is a frequent author and speaker on topics as diverse as practical and procedural issues in class action litigation, venue selection and changes, competing federal and state jurisdiction over regulatory matters, antitrust developments in telecommunications, enforceability of arbitration clauses in consumer transactions, and intellectual property issues impacting mobility of high tech employees.

Ms. LaValle also has spoken at the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce Telecommunications Conference and the SMU Cox School of Business and Maguire Energy Institute Symposium: Deregulation in a Turbulent Environment.

Ms. LaValle has been a co-chair and faculty member for the annual University of Texas Law School Telecommunications Seminar. She has taught as an Adjunct Professor at SMU School of Law teaching Texas Trial and Appellate Practice and Texas Pre-Trial Procedure.

Links to Publications

• Connect - Summer 2009
• U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Price-Squeeze Claim
• Connect - Summer 2008
• Connect - Spring 2007
• Petitions to Terminate the Rural Exemption
• Competition in the Telecommunications Local Service Market - 7 Years Later
• Start to Finish: Procedural Issues and Practical Outcomes in Class Actions
• Mandatory Arbitration of Consumer Disputes Against Telecommunications Companies

More about Kathleen M. LaValle: Biography | Involvement | Recognition | News

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