Benjamin Hamel is a member of Winstead’s Real Estate Development & Investments Practice Group. Benjamin focuses his practice on representing clients in all aspects of litigation in both state and federal court including: complex commercial matters, construction litigation, fiduciary litigation, products liability, personal injury, and professional malpractice.
Representative Experience
- As second chair in a two-week products liability trial: cross-examined the Plaintiff’s engineering expert, cross-examined the responsible third party’s corporate representative, presented Defendant’s OSHA expert, and presented closing argument on OSHA violations and liability of responsible third parties. The trial resulted in a jury verdict finding that the client’s product was not defective;
- Briefed and argued a summary judgment motion for a medical center resulting in dismissal of a lawsuit alleging twenty-five causes of action related to an allegedly improper involuntary commitment proceeding
- Argued and successfully defended against an application for receivership regarding a client’s commercial property located in downtown Houston;
- Submitted briefing to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding the enforceability of collateral surety agreements against an individual co-signer of a bankrupt oil and gas entity;
- Won a two-day bench trial in a breach of contract case for a large real estate developer;
- Represented numerous architects and engineers regarding claims of professional negligence related to municipal construction project;
- Submitted briefing to the Texas Supreme Court regarding dismissal of declaratory judgment actions under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a;
- Prosecuted a first party ERISA claim regarding failure to pay accidental death benefits;
- Successfully argued a motion to dismiss pursuant to the Texas Citizens Participation Act for a nurse related to claims based on her mandatory reporting requirements.