About Rhodes & Vela, LLP

Firm Experience

Rhodes & Vela, LLP has extensive experience in major complex litigation.

After 30 years combined experience as firm members and managing partners of a predecessor firm, in August of 2005, Tom Rhodes and Fil Vela formed Rhodes & Vela, L.L.P. The firm's attorneys bring together a wide range of talent and skill with combined legal experience of over 100 years. Rhodes Vela has offices in Houston, San Antonio, and Corpus Christi, Texas. The attorneys at Rhodes Vela presently represent and have represented governmental entities, corporations, and individuals in numerous complex matters. The firm has successfully litigated against some of the largest multi-national organizations on the globe. Their representation includes matters involving construction defects, anti-trust violations, products liability, insurance fraud, medical malpractice, personal injury and SEC enforcement actions. One of the firm's lawyers devotes her practice exclusively to the energy sector.

Rhodes Vela attorneys know the courtroom. The experienced staff at Rhodes Vela includes nine attorneys, seven paralegals, and an experienced staff of administrative and technical support which provide quality representation of clients, both state and nationwide. Through their extensive experience in complex litigation, Rhodes Vela attorneys are highly skilled in the evaluation of complex cases. Their broad experience in conducting complex discovery has helped them develop expertise in the drafting of pleadings and motions in the management of documentary evidence. Attorneys at Rhodes Vela are especially adept in courtroom presentation.

Rhodes Vela's impressive courtroom presence is founded in knowledge developed through years of litigation. Rhodes Vela provides state of the art discovery and technology resources for use in aggressive case development. Rhodes Vela’s achievements and abilities have been recognized by the firm's peers, as evidenced by their 4 "AV" rated attorneys (Martindale Hubbell, highest ratings). The following Rhodes Vela attorneys are also listed in the publication, the "Best Lawyers in America": Clem Lyons (1996-2007), J. Thomas Rhodes, III (2001-2007), Mary I. Wilson (2005-2007), and Robert E. Brzezinski (2007). The predecessor firm, Lyons & Rhodes, P.C., was consistently listed in the Bar Registry of Preeminent Law Firms by Martindale Hubbell.

Rhodes Vela believe that service to the community and advancement of consumer protection, is not only a duty but an honor bestowed upon those in the legal profession. Their work for the victims of 9/11 in pro bono representation of families through the claims process of the Victims Compensation Fund, support this ethic. Lawyers at Rhodes Vela were able to make significant recoveries from the Victims' Compensation Fund on behalf of victims who lost loved ones in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.