Ryan O. Cantrell

Ralph (Skip) McBride serves as Of Counsel for The Lanier Law Firm in the Houston office. During his more than 40 years in legal practice Mr. McBride has focused his practice on the representation of banks, energy companies and insurance companies in commercial and contract disputes. As a member of The Lanier Law Firm team, Mr. McBride continues to represent commercial clients and individuals in real estate disputes, products liability lawsuits, oil and gas disputes, personal injury cases, con...

John Absher represents investors and business owners in a wide range of real estate transactions, including but not limited to purchase agreements, survey and title reviews, objection letters, commercial lease negotiations, and limited partnerships for commercial real estate developments. Drawing on his unique background overseeing his family’s businesses—ranging from movie theaters and franchise restaurants to commercial real estate properties—John brings a hands-on, busine...

Michael Bennett is a Houston, Texas attorney with CM Law, LLP . His practice focuses on Commercial Litigation and Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law , with an emphasis on complex business disputes, investigations, and litigation involving energy, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and other business clients. Michael advises and represents clients in disputes involving joint operating agreements, joint venture agreements, service and supply agreements, foreign agency agreements, and employee retirement...

Andy is a trial lawyer with more than two decades of civil litigation experience involving complex insurance coverage, alleged insurer bad faith, complex commercial disputes, serious personal injuries, and allegedly defective products. Andy has tried cases in multiple jurisdictions, and has handled all aspects of pre-trial, trial, and post-trial litigation, including case analysis, discovery plans, written discovery, depositions, pre-trial motions, jury charges, voir dire, direct and cross ex...

Erik D. Garza is the managing partner of SBSB’s Galveston office. An accomplished legal career has taken him from the courtroom to the boardroom, as he has encountered trials at both the state and federal levels and has served as General Counsel in more than a dozen board meetings. Before joining the firm in April 2024, he served as Vice President and General Counsel at ABS Group of Companies, Inc. Prior to that, he served as Associate General Counsel for the international classificatio...

Zeke DeRose is a member of The Lanier Law Firm’s Business Litigation section. He brings extensive experience to plaintiffs and defendants in a range of disputes before courts and in arbitration, including complex commercial and business litigation, antitrust, licensing disputes, merger disputes, qui tam (under both state and federal False Claims Act), federal securities, and intellectual property. He has represented both large and small clients across the nation in federal court, arbitr...

Todd G. Crawford has handled a broad scope of complex litigation, ranging from toxic exposures to marine disasters to catastrophic oilfield blowouts. Todd remains busy splitting his time between the firm’s Houston office and New Orleans office, while still managing the Gulfport office allowing him to easily represent his clients all along the Gulf Coast region. Todd's practice includes general maritime law matters, including arrests and attachments, cargo claims, limitation of liability...

Neal Sweeney is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. He focuses his practice exclusively on construction law and government contracts. Drawing on his more than 30 years of experience with the construction industry, Neal counsels clients on major infrastructure and P3 projects such as transit, airports, highways, wastewater treatment, and tunnels. He is also involved in energy and industrial projects linked to clean technology and renewable sources, including hydro, solar, wind, geother...

Scott Fletcher is one of the leading securities litigation and enforcement attorneys in the country. He represents institutions and individuals in securities, commercial, and bankruptcy litigation; government enforcement actions; and internal investigations. Before forming his own firm, Scott was co-head of the securities litigation and enforcement groups at Jones Day and at Vinson & Elkins. For more than 30 years he has represented clients in matters ranging from routine securities litig...

Michael Riordan is a senior attorney in the firm’s Bankruptcy & Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. His practice is primarily focused on the restructuring of companies in and out of bankruptcy, debtors' and creditors' rights, debtor-in-possession financers, and the acquisition and sale of distressed assets. Michael regularly counsels clients on out-of-court workouts and turnarounds, as well as strategies clients can employ to minimize the risk of doing business with distressed c...