Overview

Boris Hidalgo focuses his practice on general civil and complex commercial litigation in federal and state trial and appellate courts, in federal bankruptcy courts, and before arbitration panels. He has more than 38 years of experience in litigation and dispute resolution matters in addition to providing general business advice.

Mr. Hidalgo primarily represents clients in matters involving complex business disputes, including contracts, fraud, deceptive trade practices, negligence, collections, fiduciary duty, corporate governance, shareholder/partnership disputes, and class actions. He has also counseled clients in the areas of construction litigation, intellectual property, products liability, personal injury, labor and employment, condemnation, tax, real estate, bankruptcy and creditors' rights, partnerships, and joint ventures.

Mr. Hidalgo's clients include major corporations in a variety of industry groups, such as architecture, automotive, banking, construction, engineering, insurance, medical, manufacturing, oil and gas, ranching, real estate, retail, seismic data, shipping, and timber management.

Representative Experience

  • Represented a Canadian corporation in U.S. District Court against claims by U.S. companies that it had infringed upon patents and intellectual property rights involving the encapsulation of electrified rail systems; case settled on terms satisfactory to the client
  • Represented a physician group in a dispute with its business partner over the ownership and management of a multi-story professional office building; case was resolved on terms favorable to the clients, which included the sale of the building at a value that paid trade creditors and returned substantial equity to the clients, and allowed the clients to acquire an ownership interest and a multi-year lease in the building
  • Represented a national engineering firm which provided testing and consulting services to various companies involved in the capping of the Macondo well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico; no claims were asserted against the client or its engineers in the resulting BP Deepwater Horizon litigation, but they were subpoenaed to testify in a series of depositions in New Orleans; depositions were concluded with no resulting claims against the client
  • Represented a national alarm monitoring system corporation against claims that, by hiring the former employees of a competitor, it had engaged in misappropriation of trade secrets and proprietary information; after the competitor’s repeated failure to secure injunctive relief against the client in a series of hearings, the competitor nonsuited the case
  • Represented a national alarm monitoring system corporation in a suit against a regional competitor for misappropriation of trade secrets and proprietary property; the case was settled to the complete satisfaction of all parties and for confidential consideration
  • Represented the widow and family of a prominent businessman in litigation against a bank serving as executor, trustee, and manager of the family’s assets in pursuing claims of mismanagement and misappropriation of millions of dollars in family trusts and bank accounts; after the bank sought to dismiss the lawsuit and compel arbitration, which was rejected by the trial and appellate courts, the bank settled on terms favorable to the family
  • Represented an East Texas landowner in its efforts to evict a tenant operating a nonhazardous waste injection well on the landowner's property due to more than $6 million in unpaid rent; in a series of lawsuits in state district court and county court at law, tenant sought to enjoin landowner’s efforts on allegations of breach of contract and tortious interference; at trial, tenant confessed judgment for unpaid rent, interest, attorneys’ fees, and costs in exchange for the landlord’s agreement to convey the property for a negotiated price
  • Represented three former National Oilwell Varco (NOV) employees against NOV’s claims that they and their new employer had conspired to misappropriate NOV’s trade secrets, customer lists, and product information; after a four-week trial, jury rendered a complete defense verdict
  • Represented a multinational food company’s bottled water division in a dispute with the adjacent landowners relating to the alleged drainage of an aquifer; the client was awarded summary judgment at trial level, which was affirmed at the intermediate appellate level and again at the Texas Supreme Court, resulting in the affirmation of Texas’ rule of capture for underground water rights
  • Represented a client in setting aside deceased spouse’s will for lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence; the estate included a multimillion-dollar South Texas ranch, livestock, mineral interests, and other real estate in a multi-county area; case settled in our client’s favor and the defective will was withdrawn from probate, after which the client was awarded 100% of ranch properties and majority of mineral interests, livestock, and real estate in other counties, as well as the right to establish a charitable foundation to receive the balance of the estate property
  • Represented a bankruptcy trustee in an action against a petroleum/chemical trading company’s founders and shareholders to recover estate assets transferred to offshore affiliates immediately before bankruptcy filing; the trial court rendered judgment in favor of our client
  • Represented an art publishing house and nationally known western artist in a copyright infringement case against art dealers; the judgment for our client permanently enjoined art dealers from selling unauthorized prints
  • Represented a European crane manufacturer in litigation against a NASA subcontractor to recover the unpaid purchase price for an overhead crane system used in the manufacture of space shuttle solid rocket boosters; the case settled favorably for our client
  • Represented an apartment developer in combined litigation/arbitration dispute regarding general contractor’s breach of contract on multimillion-dollar renovation of 450-unit apartment complex; issues included architectural plan and code compliance, asbestos remediation, and delay damages; client received both court judgment and arbitration award against contractor for substantial monetary damages
  • Represented a neighborhood association for lake resort community in deed restriction enforcement action; trial court enforced deed restrictions and rendered an award to our client
  • General litigation and corporate representation of luxury car dealership and other dealerships, including negotiations with automobile manufacturers/distributors and appearances before Texas Motor Vehicle Commission regarding franchise issues
  • General litigation and corporate representation of privately-held timber management company with holdings in excess of 25,000 acres in multi-county area
  • General litigation and corporate representation of privately-held seismic data company with one of the largest data libraries in South Texas

Credentials

Education
  • University of Houston Law Center, J.D.
  • Texas AI University, B.A.
Bar Admissions/Licenses
  • Texas
Court Admissions
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Memberships
  • Houston Bar Association
  • State Bar of Texas; Grievance Committee 4F, 1993-1998; Chair, 1995-1998
  • Member (Mayoral Appointee), Board of Directors, Houston Arts Alliance (formerly Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County), 2008-2013; Chair, Human Resources Committee, 2009-2013; Member, Marketing Committee, 2009-2012; Member, Grants Committee, 2009-2012; Advisory Council, 2013-present
  • Texas CASA, Inc., Board of Directors, 2009-2013; Emeritus Board, 2013-present
  • Arte Público Press (a division of the University of Houston); Board of Advisors, 1994-present; Chair, 1996-2006
  • Raul Tijerina Jr. Foundation, Board of Directors, 2002-present; Secretary/Treasurer, 2003-2014; President, 2014-present
  • Woodway Financial Advisors, Advisory Board, 2008
  • Inprint, Inc., Board of Directors, 2003-2006; Board of Advisors, 2006-2012
Honors & Awards
  • Influencer in Retail Real Estate - Holland & Knight's Retail Development and Leasing TeamGlobeSt. Real Estate Forum2023
  • The Best Lawyers in America guide, Commercial Litigation, 2021-2024

News