Soña J. Garcia

Soña Garcia’s practice focuses on the effective and efficient defense of civil litigation involving public and private corporations in multiple industries, including real estate, construction, agriculture, transportation and mobility, and medical device manufacturing.  Soña handles cases and disputes all over Texas, including all major metropolitan areas, West Texas, East Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley.  Her experience in construction matters includes defense of large multi-party claims for design defect and professional negligence, defense of catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death matters related to construction projects, and defense of smaller matters including trespass, premises liability, and nuisance claims. Her professional malpractice defense experience includes actions filed against attorneys, insurance agents and brokers, real estate brokers, and architects/engineers.  

Soña also has extensive commercial litigation experience representing businesses ranging from closely held entities to Fortune 500 companies involving claims of breach of contract, purchase and sale agreements, security agreements, and business torts such as tortious interference. 

In addition to work in the construction, real estate, commercial litigation, and professional liability fields, Soña also has experience in defending employment matters involving allegations of discrimination, retaliation, and harassment under Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, FLSA, and state laws and involvement in real estate litigation defending condemnation actions, breach of lease matters, and cases involving zoning and land use changes.   Additionally, she has experience with pharmaceutical and medical device products liability and mass tort litigation and has also defended FIFRA registrants and seed companies in crop loss, products liability, and seed performance claims.  Soña is experienced in providing the day-to-day management of many types of cases, including depositions of key witnesses, preparing dispositive motions, Daubert briefing, and trial preparation.  

Soña is a Partner in the Dallas office and a member of the Commercial Litigation, Professional Liability Defense, Tort & Product Liability, Construction, Agrichemicals & Agribusiness, Employment Law, and Drug & Medical Device practice groups.  Her varied practice gives her an edge in identifying and evaluating unique defense strategies and bringing a fresh look to standard litigation practices.  Understanding that clients view every case as “high stakes”, Soña is accessible and available to her clients and works to understand her clients’ business and interests in resolving litigation. 

Admissions

• Texas
• U.S. District Court, Eastern, Western Southern and Northern Districts of Texas
• U.S. District Court, District of Colorado

Memberships

• Texas Bar Association
• Dallas Bar Association

Professional Leadership

Former Member of the State Bar of Texas Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee, Northern Region

Representative Experience

Examples of Soña's extensive experience includes the following:

• Secured complete defense verdict for property owner in premises liability case involving significant personal injuries.  Plaintiff sued the property owner for negligence and gross negligence, contending that it had a duty to provide safe premises and warn of any dangerous conditions. The pretrial demand was $17 million.
• Successfully defended national glazing contractor in week-long arbitration involving construction defect claims related to a strip center construction project.  At trial, the plaintiff developer an award of more than $2.3 million in damages, of which nearly $300,000 was related to the storefront glass system. Because the arbitration panel was persuaded by the defense arguments, the developer was awarded a total of $25,000, with Gordon & Rees' client owing only $8000.
• Secured multiple dismissals for international beverage producer in claims related to premises liability, vicarious liability, and other negligence causes of action throughout Texas.
• Represented one of the world’s largest consumer products retailers in multiple lawsuits alleging race discrimination and wrongful termination in El Paso, Texas.
• Secured dismissal of breach of fiduciary duty claims against real estate broker in a case where plaintiffs alleged that the broker failed to secure valuable and considerable mineral rights when they purchased their home in North Texas.
• Secured a complete dismissal of all claims on behalf of a national faucet manufacturer in a products liability case where plaintiff alleged that the client's product caused flooding in her home.
• Successful resolution of claims involving multi-million dollar home construction and alleged construction defects for single-family home in Austin, Texas. 
• Represented oil and gas development companies against breach of contract claims related to payment of royalties, breach of joint operating agreement claims, and claims for surface damages.
• Representation of construction subcontractors in various construction disputes alleging breach of contract, professional negligence, and breach of warranty claims including roofing, stucco, window, and grading contractors all over Texas.
• Secured vexatious litigant determination against pro se litigant in multi-year dispute involving several state and federal courts in Texas.

Publications

• New Texas Net Worth Rule Provides Defendants with More Protection – GRSM Construction Law Update (December 2016)
• Significant Change to Texas Responsible Third Party Procedure Benefits Defendants – GRSM Construction Law Update (March 2018)

Education

J.D., cum laude, Tulane Law School, 2004

B.S., Agricultural Development, Texas A&M University, 1998

Honors

Super Lawyers® Rising Stars distinction in Civil Litigation: Defense, Construction Litigation: Business, and Professional Liability: Defense (2012 - 2016)