When a business dispute escalates beyond negotiation, you need counsel who can take the case to trial and win it. Murray | Lobb has represented businesses, property owners, lenders, and individuals in commercial litigation before Texas state and federal courts for more than 35 years.
We do not treat litigation as a last resort or a revenue driver — we treat it as a tool, and we deploy it with precision when it is the right answer for our clients.
Our litigation practice is concentrated in commercial and business disputes, which means we handle the cases that matter most to the companies, lenders, and property owners we serve. We practice primarily in the courts of Galveston, Harris, Brazoria, and Chambers Counties, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, and before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Areas of Focus
Breach of contract is the most common source of commercial litigation, and the stakes can be severe — lost revenue, damaged relationships, and disrupted operations. We represent plaintiffs and defendants in contract disputes across all industries, including construction, manufacturing, real estate, banking, energy, and professional services.
When a contract is breached, we move quickly to assess the damages, identify the applicable legal theories, and determine whether litigation, arbitration, or a negotiated resolution best serves our client's interests. When we litigate, we litigate to win — not to run up fees.
Texas law provides for recovery of attorney's fees in many contract cases under Chapter 38 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. We pursue attorney's fees aggressively on behalf of our clients and defend against fee claims with equal rigor.
Real property disputes require attorneys who understand both the law and the specific characteristics of Texas property — its title history, survey practices, deed restriction schemes, and the statutory framework governing easements, adverse possession, and boundary disputes.
We represent landowners, developers, and commercial property owners in:
- Boundary and survey disputes
- Easement conflicts and trespass actions
- Deed restriction enforcement and violation defense
- Title clearing actions, including trespass to try title
- Landlord-tenant disputes and commercial evictions
- Quiet title actions
- Real estate fraud and misrepresentation claims
Construction projects produce disputes — over payment, performance, schedule, and scope. We represent general contractors, subcontractors, property owners, and sureties in construction litigation in Texas state courts and in arbitration proceedings.
Our construction litigation work includes breach of contract claims, delay and disruption damages, defective work disputes, mechanic's lien enforcement and defense, payment bond claims, and subcontractor pass-through claims. We understand construction contract language — AIA, ConsensusDocs, and custom forms — and we know how to build a factual record that holds up at trial.
Winning a judgment is not the end of the process — collecting on it is. We represent commercial creditors in post-judgment enforcement, including writs of garnishment targeting bank accounts and accounts receivable, writs of execution against non-exempt property, turnover proceedings in Texas state courts, and debtor examinations to locate assets.
We also handle pre-judgment collection strategies when the facts support them, including prejudgment attachment and sequestration under the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
Not every business dispute arises from a broken contract. We handle business tort claims including fraud, fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference with existing and prospective contracts, breach of fiduciary duty, and trade secret misappropriation under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
These cases typically involve more complex factual development than pure contract cases, and they often require early coordination between litigation and transactional counsel to preserve claims and evidence. We provide that integrated representation.
Not every dispute should go to trial. Many commercial contracts require mediation or arbitration before or instead of litigation. We represent clients effectively in mediation and in commercial arbitration proceedings before the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, and ad hoc panels. Where ADR produces a better result at lower cost than litigation, we say so and pursue it.
Where ADR is a delay tactic by an opposing party that refuses to take a case seriously, we prepare our client for trial and let the other side know it.
Our 35 years of practice in these courts means our attorneys know the local rules, the standing orders, the judges, and the local practice culture. That institutional knowledge is a practical advantage at every stage of litigation — from motion practice through trial.