Meet Kent
"If I could design a trial lawyer, they would have all of Kent's wonderful characteristics." — Mike Lynn
Kent has bagged groceries, hung drywall, taught sixth grade, and clerked on the Fifth Circuit. Juries can tell. Kent is a trial lawyer who understands the people in the jury box because he has been one of them, and he has built a career on turning complex commercial disputes into stories that both judges and jurors trust.
817-881-8113
Credentials
Prior to launching Garcia Krabill, Kent spent 17 years at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, where he built a substantial trial practice and chaired the firm’s selection committee as hiring partner for several years.
He represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial, real estate, environmental, energy and oil and gas, trade secret, antitrust and competition, employment, and fiduciary duty disputes. He has tried numerous jury and bench trials, handled dozens of arbitrations and mediations, and argued multiple appeals.
His clients have ranged from multinational corporations including Southwest Airlines, Tenet Healthcare, Keurig Dr Pepper, Aptive Pest Control, Capital One, Quikrete, Pavestone, Texas Hardscape Materials, LLC, Retail Plazas, Inc. to family farmers and private individuals.
Kent also leads a nationally significant First Amendment practice. He challenges restrictions on commercial speech on behalf of some of the country’s largest home services companies. That work has led hundreds of municipalities to repeal or amend their laws.
Recognition
Kent has been recognized for his work in business litigation through repeated selections to Texas Super Lawyers, including recognition as a Texas Rising Star earlier in his career. These honors reflect a longstanding reputation for skilled advocacy in complex commercial disputes.
Education
Pepperdine University School of Law
J.D., 2005 Magna Cum Laude
University of Texas at Arlington
B.A., 1998 Summa Cum Laude
Clerkship
US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Edith H. Jones
Experience
Lynn Pinker Hurst
& Schwegmann LLP
Partner / Hiring Partner
Jones Day
Associate
Gallager Kennedy
Associate
Bar Admissions
Texas – 2007
Arizona – 2005
Representative Matters
Secured a summary judgment in favor of six officers and directors of Nobilis Health Corporation, a Houston-based chain of ambulatory and surgical health clinics that filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in 2019. Nobilis was a publicly traded entity that, through its affiliates, owned and operated more than 30 surgical facilities and clinics in Texas and Arizona. The trustee had sued for breach of fiduciary duty and equitable subordination, seeking $285 million over allegedly inaccurate accounts receivable financials, and the court dismissed all of those claims.
Obtained dismissal of a class action lawsuit against Southwest Airlines brought by passengers from Alabama to Texas who claimed the Dallas-based airline flew planes that violated federal “airworthiness directive” safety measures and who were seeking damages in excess of $1 billion in Lopez et al. v. Southwest Airlines Co., Cause No. 3:09-cv-00137-O, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, Dallas, Texas
Defeated a temporary injunction request after a hearing in which the plaintiffs sought to obtain an implied easement in an effort to stop a $400 million mixed-use development between Uptown and Victory Park in Triton 2414, LLC et al. v. Red Akard Place, LLC and the City of Dallas, Cause No. DC-15-08981, in the 95th Judicial District Court, Dallas County, Texas
Negotiated the resolution of over $2 million in claims against an acid-gas injection well operator in Layline Petroleum I, LLC and Layline Petroleum II, LLC v. Regency Field Services, LLC and Regency Energy Partners, LP, Cause No. M-13-0034-CV-B, 156th Judicial District, McMullen County, Texas
Negotiated settlement of multimillion-dollar claims against two hockey teams and a competing league in Western Professional Hockey League Inc. d/b/a Central Hockey League et al. v. Top Shelf, L.L.C. et al., Cause No. 13-05044, in the 298th Judicial District Court, Dallas County, Dallas, Texas
Obtained a take-nothing verdict in a breach of non-compete and misappropriation of trade secret trial in Protec Equipment Resources, Inc. v. Jason Ray, Cause No. 2010-30331-211, in the 2011th Judicial District Court, Denton County, Texas
Drafted Brief for State Firearm Associations as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondent in District of Columbia et al. v. Dick Anthony Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 2008