Swanson Law Firm, PLLC

SJ DAVIDSON SWANSON
Attorney and Counselor at Law        sjswanson@swansonpllc.com

Education and Experience

Sarahjane "SJ" Davidson Swanson earned a bachelor of science degree in liberal arts from the University of Houston, then graduated cum laude from South Texas College of Law.  While at STCL, she was admitted to the Phi Delta Phi international legal honors fraternity Wood Inn, and earned the Dean's award for contributions to legal journalism for her work on the law school newspaper, Annotations.  She also studied comparative law for a semester at The College of England and Wales in London. 

Before law school, SJ spent fifteen years in the energy business, holding management positions with two major Houston Fortune 50 energy companies in their gas pipeline transportation and marketing, and U.S. and international asset management and project development divisions.  Among other duties, she participated on the development and asset management teams for new power plant construction and operations in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Pakistan, and the U.S.

Before forming the Swanson Law Firm, she was a partner with Irelan Hargis, P.L.L.C., and an associate with Hargis & Harpold, L.L.P. 

Ms. Swanson is licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas and admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Texas. 

Professional and Community Involvement

SJ is the immediate past president of the South Texas College of Law Alumni Association, serving as president from 2011-2012, and previously served as a two-term director and Vice President of Development & Fundraising.  She is a member of the Houston, Texas, and American Bar Associations and the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section, and is a charter council member of the Phi Delta Phi Houston Barrister Inn.

She is a member of CREW Houston (Commercial Real Estate Women) and has previously served as programs co-chair.  She is also a member of the Houston Realty Business Coalition, the Association of Women Attorneys-Houston, the Village Republican Women, and the Ronald Reagan Republican Women.  

SJ currently serves on the Big Brothers Big Sisters Lone Star Advisory Board (formerly known as BBBS of Greater Houston), and from 2006-2012 was the corporate secretary and Director of the Houston predecessor organiztion.  She was matched as a mentor “Big Sister” through BBBS’s community-based program from 2003 - 2010.  SJ is also a rookie committeeman and judge for the 2013 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's Public Speaking Contest.

Areas of Practice

Civil Litigation and Disputes

• Breach of Contract
• Commercial/Residential/  Ag Real Estate
• Commercial/Business
• Deceptive Trade Practices/Fraud
• Fire/Hazard Losses
• Construction Defects
• Professional Malpractice
• Product Liability
• Employment
• Personal Injury
• Family 
• Civil Appeals 

Real Estate Transactions

• Residential
• Commercial
• Farm/Ranch

Business Transactions

• Business Divorce
• Entity Formation
• General Business Matters 

Honors

• Martindale-Hubbell AV-Preeminent Rating  (highest rating for ethics and ability)
• Member, The College of The StateBar of Texas
• 2013 Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell
• Phi Delta Phi, International Legal Honors Organization
• Fellow, Class of 2009 - Houston Young Lawyers Foundation
• South Texas College of Law Dean for the Day 2006

Published Appellate
Decisions

• American First National Bank v. Jordan-Lewis Development, L.P., Westbound Bank, and Bob Karim & Associates, L.P., No. 01-09-00990-CV, 2011 WL 2732779 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] July 14, 2011, no pet.) (upheld the 157th Civil District Court's declaratory judgment in case tried and won for clients Jordan-Lewis Development & Westbound Bank in May 2009, releasing a wrongfully-asserted lien by local Chinese-American bank against client's commercial property, and upheld the clients' $159k attorneys' fee award)

• Frank’s International, Inc. v. Smith International, Inc., 249 S.W.3d 557 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2008, no pet.)(breach of international tool rental contract; successful appeal of trial court’s summary judgment for plaintiff)

 Presentations

• Representing Brokers When Deals Go Bad CLE presentation and white paper - South Texas College of Law/Houston's 28th Annual Real Estate Law Conference, (upcoming) June 2013

• Property Tax Lien Foreclosures CLE presentation and white paper - National Business Institute, audio webcast, February 2013

• Brokerage & Management Contracts & Claims CLE presentation and white paper - TexasBarCLE/State Bar of Texas 34th Annual Advanced Real Estate Law Course, San Antonio, July 2012.

• American Bar Association Law Student Division Fall Regional Leadership Summit - Lunch With Experience, panel discussion, October 2010.

• Resolving Tax Lien Issues and Understanding Tax Lien Foreclosures, Half-Moon Seminars CLE program, contributing author to white paper with Bradford W. Irelan, August 2009.

• Title Claims 2009, Old Republic National Title Company Agency Seminar, contributing author to white paper with Bradford W. Irelan, April 2009.

• View From Outside – The Claims Handling Process From the Perspective of Outside Counsel, presentation to Fidelity National Title Insurance in-house claims counsel with Bradford W. Irelan, February 2009. 

• The Role of Lawyers in the Commercial Real Estate Industry, CREW Careers Program, presented by Commercial Real Estate Women Houston, presenter on the role of lawyers in the real estate industry, 2006 and 2007.

• What They Don’t Teach You in Law School, panel presentation with Grant P. Harpold, Jaime E. Rocha, Andy Townend, and the Hon. Jennifer Walker Elrod, South Texas College of Law, October 2006.

• The Importance of Jury Service and Law as a Career, Houston Bar Association Speakers Bureau presentations at Houston-area high schools and middle schools, various dates in 2004-2008.