Cleveland (Cleve) G. Clinton

• Commercial Litigation
• Crisis Management
• General Civil Litigation
• Real Estate

• Cleve Clinton Discusses Whether Terrorists Have a Right to a US Criminal Trial
  November 26, 2009
• Covenants Not To Compete: Still Enforceable!
  May 1, 2009
• A Guide to Employee Terminations
  February 26, 2009
• LRM Attorneys Speak on Downsizing Work Force
  February 19, 2009

• Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Attorney at Law - Board Certified Civil Trial Law, Litigation Solutions

• Represented multiple "bad banks" in the "workout" and collection of over $1 billion in loans and rehabilitation of their "toxic assets," including bankruptcy and state court receiverships
• Obtained receivership to secure the assets and, subsequently, secured favorable plan of reorganization in bankruptcy court to navigate the sale of Angel Fire Ski Resort on behalf of the largest secured creditor
• Represented joint venture partner in the first Texas Chapter 9 municipal utility district bankruptcy, and successfully defended $35 million deceptive trade practices claims by the municipal utility district homeowners
• Successfully defended a corporate officer and director against allegations in federal court complaint of insider bond trading manipulation, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud
• Secured a sequestration order and recovered a bulldozer for a large equipment distributor and lessor
• Successfully defended former black male employee's claim that company discriminated against him by hiring white male rather than promoting the former employee
• Secured permanent injunction against former employees and competing business in theft of computer data and company trade secrets, by securing the mirrored image of the hard drive containing the hijacked data

Counselor at Law - Non-Litigation Solutions 

• Navigating manufacturing company through embezzlement by key employee, accusations of criminal complicity by management, and bank threatening to terminate its lending relationship triggering bankruptcy of the company
• Orchestrating response of developer and planned community to adverse television coverage reporting that the community's waste water treatment plant was operating over its available capacity
• Implementing Manufacturing Services Agreement enabling manufacturing company to collect its accounts receivable before litigation and to manage its inventory "turn"
• Orchestrating homeowners approval of a bond issue resolving a lawsuit and averting bankruptcy of a special utility district serving the homeowners and their neighborhood
• Working out agreements with secured debtors and guarantors for payment of loans secured by real estate including chain sandwich shop properties, office buildings, car lots, strip and retail shopping centers
• Assisting due diligence efforts in sale of manufacturing company with history of bankruptcy and embezzlement claims
• Managing the options of a utility provider and a real estate developer for resolution of a dispute over relocation of utilities currently in a city street which the city intends to abandon to the developer
• Negotiating enforcement terms of various non-compete agreements for both employers and employees
• Securing zoning and land use protections for a residential lot developer negatively impacted by the issuance of a Type 1 municipal landfill permit on adjacent property

• Admitted to practice before U.S. District Court, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas.
• State Bar of Texas, admitted 1978;
• AV Rated Attorney - Highest Rating in Legal Ability & Ethical Standards
• Member Sections - Litigation, Real Estate, Collaborative Law and Technology
• Dallas Bar Association Dallas (Chairman, Fee Disputes Subcommittee, 1984-86) and American Bar Associations; Dallas Association of Young Lawyers (Director, 1985)

• Born Burnet, Texas
• Rotary Club of Park Cities, Director 2006 to date
• La Fiesta de Las Seis Banderas, Director 2005 to date
• Labors for Neighbors, Inc., co-founder and director (2005 to date), a Texas non-profit corporation assisting Southeast Texas hurricane victims
• Project Transformation, an urban day camp for inner city youth - Director and Vice Chairman (2001 - 2007)
• Highland Park United Methodist Church, Youth and Adult Sunday School teacher, Bible Study leader
• Theatre Three - Board of Directors, Chair (1990 - 1992)
• Leadership Dallas 1992
• Scottish Rite 32* Mason
• Dallas Young Texas Exes

Speeches

• Trimming Your Fat Without Becoming the Biggest Loser - Downsizing Your Workforce in a Down Economy (2009)
• The Cascading Credit Crunch - Implications to Entrepreneurs and Businesses (October 2008)
• What Every Business Owner and Entrepreneur Should Know about Litigation (August 2007)
• Anticipating and Managing the Costs of Litigation in a Commercial Lawsuit (February 2007)
• "Selling" in Special Districts - What are They and What to Disclose? (Greater Dallas Board of Realtors 2006)
• Labors for Neighbors - Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (2005)
• Alternate Dispute Resolution and Arbitration (1985)

Publications - Tilting The Scales Blog

• "Who Are These Idiots?" (September 2009)
• "No Man's Life, Liberty or Property is Safe While the Legislature is in Session ... New Texas Laws to Know" (September 2009)
• "When is a Tweet Not So Sweet" (August 2009)
• "Scalping the Redskins" (August 2009)
• "Jet Ski Man" (July 2009)
• "What Happens in Vegas Stays on Facebook" (July 2009)
• "It's in the Bag... A Little Friendly Judicial Persuasion" (June 2009)
• "Happy Campers - Childish Pranks" (June 2009)
• "The Tax Man Cometh - Property Valuations and Contests" (May 2009)
• "My Child, a Registered Sex Offender?" (May 2009)
• "Covenants Not to Compete: Still Enforceable!" (April 2009)
• "Fair or Foul - Liability at the Ballpark" (April 2009)
• "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished - Bank Loans & Dropping Prices" (March 2009)
• "Wrestling with Records and the Tax Man - Business Entertainment Deductions" (March 2009)
• "Becha Could Bust Your Bracket! - Office Basketball Brackets" (March 2009)
• "Viva Annulment! - Wedding Disasters" (February 2009)
• "Love Shack - Contract" (February 2009)
• "Employee Terminations 101 - Limitations to Employment 'at-will'" (February 2009)
• "Shaking Out the Dough - Collecting Receivables in a Down Economy" (January 2009)
• "A Case of Buyer's Remorse - Does a Consumer Have 3 Days to Cancel Every Purchase?" (January 2009)
• "We Wish You a Merry Holiday ... and a Happy New Year!" (December 2008)
• "Let Them Eat Turkey - Texas Employment at Will" (December 2008)
• "When Harry Met Sally and They Negotiated Their Wedding Vows" (November 2008)
• "The Costly Case of the Gyrating Granny - Is Winning at all Costs Worth the Cost?" (November 2008)
• "Pitfalls of the Cascading Credit Crunch" (October 2008)
• "House for Sale - 2BR, 1B, 1 Poltergeist - What Do You Tell Your Realtor" (October 2008)
• "Office Politics - The Risks of 'Selling' Your Candidate to Your Employees" (September 2008)
• "Privacy Unlocked...Are School Lockers Subject to Search?" (September 2008)
• "Hunting Buddies, Ooops! - Who is Liable If Someone Is Shot?" (August 2008)
• "Say Again ... A Little Closer to the Microphone: Recording a Telephone Conversation in Texas (August 2008)
• "Liar! Liar! - Employee Polygraph Tests in Texas" (July 2008)
• "POW! BANG! BOOM! Texas Fireworks Law in Texas" (July 2008)
• "Thoughts on Avoiding E-mail Contracts" [see May 2008 article] (June 2008)
• "Who is Lord of the Ring?" (June 2008)
• "When Your Customer List Has Legs" (May 2008)
• "A Party to The Party: Your Boy, His Buds and Booze" (May 2008)
• "You've Got Mail ... AND a Contract?! - Emails Can Be Binding Contracts" (May 2008)
• "Non-Compete Repeats in Texas - Are Noncompetition Agreements Enforceable?" (April 2008)
• "The Case of the Dangerous Duffer" - (April 2008)

• Burnet High School
• University of Texas McCombs School of Business (B.B.A. - Finance, 1975)
• Legal education, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (J.D. 1978)

• Rotary Club of Park Cities - Paul Harris Fellow
• Rotary Club of Park Cities - Club Service Award 2007