Inter Vivos Trust Lawyers for Abilene, Texas

I am a Texas Board Certified specialist in Labor and Employment Law (since 2002) with nearly three decades of experience across private practice, Big Law, in-house counsel, and national civil rights litigation. I currently own and manage Jump Start Legal Justice Center, where I lead nationwide litigation for nonprofit domestic entities, defending free speech and constitutional rights, litigating Title VI and Title VII claims for professors, and representing individuals in No Fly list and watchlist challenges. For nearly a decade, I served as Civil Litigation Department Head at the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America (now MLFA), managing a nationwide team of up to 12 attorneys, paralegals, and interns. My docket included religious freedom and religious discrimination cases for Muslim, Jewish, and Native American clients; birthright citizenship challenges; and inmate rights litigation for meal and prayer accommodations. My employment law background includes senior roles at Littler Mendelson, Jackson Walker, Akin Gump, and Jackson Lewis, as well as serving as the Texas state expert for Thomson Reuters Practical Law. I have counseled corporations on wage/hour compliance, non-compete agreements, FMLA, discrimination, retaliation, and workplace investigations. I have first-chaired federal court jury trials and handled appeals across the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits. I also hold a Mediation Certification from the University of Houston and have served as an Associate Hearing Officer for the City of Dallas. I am a multiple-year Texas Super Lawyer (through 2026), Fellow of the Texas Bar College, and Fellow of the American Bar Association. I draft and review employment agreements, severance agreements, non-compete agreements, employee handbooks, independent contractor agreements, and settlement agreements. I also advise on nonprofit compliance, religious accommodations, and constitutional claims. Bar admissions: Texas (1996), U.S. Supreme Court, multiple Circuit Courts of Appeal, and federal district courts in Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, and Illinois (General Bar and Trial Bar).

Small Business Attorney licensed in Texas and Colorado. Based in Dallas, appointments available in DFW area.

Experienced attorney and tax analyst with a history of working in the government and private industry. Skilled in Public Speaking, Contract Law, Corporate Governance, and Contract Negotiation. Strong professional graduate from Penn State Law.

Charlton Messer helps businesses and their owners with general counsel and contract drafting services. He has helped over 500 businesses with their legal needs across a variety of industries in nearly a decade of practice.

Josh Bernstein has been serving real estate and corporate transactional clients since 2002. His experience is varied, and he enjoys working on and puzzling out novel and complex corporate and real estate matters. Josh’s experience includes, among other things, the following: representation of public companies in connection with SEC reporting and compliance work (proxies, 10-K’s; 10-Q’s; 8-K’s, etc.); representation of public and private company securities issuances (including private placements, and other similar offerings); assistance in structuring and drafting joint ventures, both for investors and operating partners, and including both real estate and corporate ventures; handling public and private company mergers and acquisitions; and asset sales and dispositions; assisting clients, big and small, with real estate acquisitions, sales and financings; managing large-scale and multi-state real estate portfolio acquisitions, dispositions and financings; complex condominium creation, structuring and governance work, including: commercial condominiums, use of condominiums as a land planning tool, wholesale condominium property acquisitions and dispositions, and rehabilitating failed or faulty condominium legal structures to make ready for sale; development of restrictive covenants and owners’ association documents for master-planned communities; compliance with federal statutes governing real estate sale and development (including, without limitation, the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, the Housing for Older Persons Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act); representation of real estate lenders, for both improved and unimproved property, and including numerous construction financings secured by real estate; assistance with commercial leasing; from both the landlord and tenant side, and including condominium leasing; training residential home and condominium sales staff for compliance with applicable local and federal law; and workouts of all kinds. When he’s not busy lawyering, Josh may be found watching 80’s commercials, flying a single-engine plane, playing poker, or trying to be a good dad.

I am a business, transactions, contracts attorney. I was the sole in-house attorney for a good-sized staffing company. I can review and create nearly any type of document you need. I enjoy writing, reading, and editing contracts. I want to read your contract. If I cannot do it, I won't take the job and I won't charge you for what I cannot do. However, in reality, unless you need a 225 page financing agreement, is has never been an issue.

I guide businesses and their owners through the intricacies of regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and high-stakes transactions. With a proven track record in deal structuring, due diligence, and building robust data protection and privacy frameworks, I deliver solutions that seamlessly align with my clients' goals while mitigating risks and driving success.

Attorney licensed in Texas & Illinois

Atim is an international business lawyer licensed in New York and Texas. She advises businesses on smart and fit-for purpose legal and business solutions to achieve their strategic objectives. Equipped with strong legal, regulatory compliance, tax advisory, as well as contract drafting skills, she serves clients internationally at the intersection of law, finance and technology across industry verticals.

After 30 years of practice I large, publicly traded companies, I went out on my own. I engaged in general practice for 10 years before retiring. I continue to do work on a contract basis.