Overview
James Hicks is a civil litigator and business lawyer based in Griffith Davison’s Austin office. His practice focuses on the representation of clients in a wide variety of construction, real estate and commercial disputes and regulatory enforcement matters. He also enjoys helping clients avoid trouble through thoughtful business formation, contracts, and compliance.
James has been litigating since 2012, achieving successful results in state and federal court, arbitration proceedings, and appeals. He has extensive experience with public projects and government agencies, having handled eminent domain cases, land-use matters, bond claims, False Claims Act litigation, immigration enforcement, and administrative law proceedings. His background also includes insurance-defense, insurance coverage and employment law.
James joined Griffith Davison in 2023 for the opportunity to focus on construction and real estate, to become an industry expert, and to build lasting relationships with clients by solving their problems. He primarily works on construction defect and delay claims, lien and bond claims and other payment issues, and business/shareholder disputes. As needed, for creditor clients, he pursues debtors in post-judgment enforcement, foreclosure, bankruptcy, or receivership. He is committed to learning continuously and staying abreast of changes affecting construction, real estate development, and all businesses, so that he can better serve his clients.
James is a member of the Austin Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Construction Law and Environmental & Natural Resources Law Sections of the State Bar of Texas. He is currently licensed to practice law in Texas and New York.
Outside of the office, James spends as much time as possible with his wife and three sons.
- Assisted in obtaining a $1,000,000 arbitration award on behalf of a general contractor against the owner/developer of a luxury apartment complex.
- Successfully defended an appeal of a no-evidence summary judgment in the Austin Court of Appeals on behalf of an architect who was sued by his former employer.
- Obtained a $300,000 summary judgment in Texas on behalf of a New York-based manufacturer and successfully defended the debtors’ appeal of the judgment in the San Antonio Court of Appeals.
- Won motions to dismiss on behalf defendants in five separate False Claims Act lawsuits, where each defendant was sued for millions of dollars in damages.
- Successfully defended licensees from license revocation in Administrative Law Judge hearings at the State Office of Administrative Hearings and at the Texas Commission on Licensing and Regulation.
- Assisted in winning a defense verdict for a highway construction contract from a jury in Dallas County District Court, in a wrongful death case.
- State Bar of Texas, Construction Law Section
- Austin Bar Association
- Austin Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America
- Associated Builders and Contractors of Central Texas
- American Bar Association Excellence Certificate, Land Use and Local Government Law
Areas of Focus
Education
- Duke University
- Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy, 2007
- Cornell Law School
- Juris Doctor, 2012
