Cause No. B111173CA, Blueberry Hills Water Works, LLC and Abeja Properties, LLC v. City of Beeville Texas and Bee County, Texas, in the 36th District Court of Bee County, Texas. This was a water utility breach of contract lawsuit that was filed by RJ on behalf of the Plaintiff, a for profit private water utility, for money damages related to a water utility contract against the City of Beeville, Texas. The case resulted in a negotiated settlement on behalf of the Plaintiff for approximately $105,000 in cash to the Plaintiff for water utility improvements to the Plaintiff’s water distribution system and approximately a 2 million dollar wholesale water supply contract for the Plaintiff from the City of Beeville for approximately 20 years.
Cause No. D-1-GN-18-007696, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Plaintiff, v. All Phase Electrical Service, Inc. et al, in the 419th Judicial District Court in Travis County, Texas. This was a significant cost recovery lawsuit that was brought by the Texas Attorney General’s office on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding a multimillion dollar environmental hazard clean up by the State against approximately 34 companies and individuals that allegedly illegally disposed of hazardous material at an unauthorized hazardous waste disposal site in Texas. RJ represented one company and two individual Defendants in this case and was successful in a pretrial matter regarding this case and settled this case with the TCEQ for a di minimis amount on behalf of his clients.
Cause No. D-1-GN-19-005066, Ron Binkley, Plaintiff, v. David Burkett and Richard Gentsch,in the 353rd Judicial District Court in Travis County, Texas. This is a pending groundwater well lawsuit that was filed by RJ on behalf of the Plaintiff regarding a dispute about the ownership of a groundwater well and a potable groundwater supply by private landowners. This case is scheduled for a trial on the merits on February 22, 2021. |
| Mr. Jones was
an Assistant City Attorney for the City of
Austin’s Water and Wastewater Utility from
March 1999 to October 2004. One of the
significant projects that he worked on is
known as the Austin Clean Water Program and
it concerns noncompliance with federal
regulations and the issuance of an
administrative order against the City by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that
requires the City to make approximately 300
million dollars worth of improvements to its
wastewater collection system within a
defined time period or pay approximately
$30,000 per day for each day that it failed
to complete the improvements within the
permitted time period. Mr. Jones worked as a
lead attorney on the project for several
years. His job responsibilities included
providing legal advice to the City Manager,
City Council, and the Utility’s management
on compliance issues related to the EPA’s
Order and/or federal appropriations related
to the EPA’s Order, providing legal advice
to the City regarding approximately 300
construction projects related to the
implementation of the EPA’s Order. Additionally, Mr. Jones was part of the City
of Austin’s legal team that negotiated and
executed a one hundred million dollar water
supply contract with the Lower Colorado
River Authority.
Mr. Jones was an Assistant Attorney General
for the Texas Attorney General from October
1996 to March 1999. During that time, he
represented the State of Texas and several
Texas state agencies in significant
litigation in courtrooms throughout the
state that concerned the imposition of fines
and penalties for noncompliance with the
regulations of Texas state agencies.
Mr. Jones was a Staff Attorney for the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality from
June 1993 to October 1996. During that time,
he represented the Executive Director in
significant administrative hearings
regarding permitting and compliance and
enforcement matters. |
