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Stephanie Kaiser is both a skilled litigator and accomplished transactional and corporate attorney, who provides strategic guidance across complex business and legal challenges. Her methodical yet pragmatic approach to enterprise risk management, coupled with her unique problem-solving style, has established her as an effective advisor in both litigation and advisory roles.

Her track record of success in high-stakes litigation spans numerous areas, including lending and banking, internal and external fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties, professional liability, construction and telecommunications, data privacy and cyber security, wrongful death, workplace disputes and personnel matters, as well as unfair competition, intellectual property infringement cases, Lanham Act complaints, and lease disputes.

Early in her career, Stephanie was entrusted to represent a considerable number of clients in bet the company cases and high stakes litigation, as well as complex bankruptcy matters.  Through that work, Stephanie knew that to best represent her clients, she had to know their industries and their operations.  Stephanie gained a tremendous amount of depth and experience in a considerable number of areas as a result, and her practice expanded to include corporate and transactional work, real estate, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, healthcare issues, and insurance concerns. She serves a diverse range of clients, including corporations, executives, boards of directors, and licensed professionals, across a wide range of industries, including financial services, security technology, general and tower construction, telecommunications, real estate, healthcare, and energy sectors.

Stephanie has developed particular experience in representing creditors in complex commercial loan and consumer finance disputes. Her practice encompasses matters involving the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, consumer protection regulations, Dodd-Frank Act compliance, and regulatory enforcement proceedings.  Stephanie's practice includes representing lending and financial institutions with regard to examinations and in addressing regulator concerns.

Additionally, she collaborates closely with organizations to establish robust policies, conduct internal reviews and investigations, manage audits, and deliver comprehensive, effective training programs. Her experience extends to distressed asset management, restructuring, and developing customized loan documentation, including participation agreements and loan syndication documents, demonstrating her comprehensive approach to legal services. Stephanie routinely provides guidance on general compliance matters, mergers and acquisitions, and post-merger activity.

Stephanie's role extends beyond her litigation practice. She is a trusted advisor and outside general counsel, developing integrated legal strategies for multifaceted challenges. She regularly counsels boards of directors and management teams on corporate governance, including bylaw development, committee structuring, policy formation, fiduciary obligations, and board-management dynamics.

Bar Admissions

  • State Bar of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas

Education

  • University of Texas School of Law, J.D.
  • Texas Christian University, B.A., summa cum laude

General Litigation, Regulatory, & Administrative Law

  • Represents clients in a variety of litigation matters, including fraud, fraudulent transfer, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, conversion, Texas Theft Liability Act, wrongful death, Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), Lanham Act, and patent and trademark infringement.
  • Represents clients with regard to identifying, responding to, reporting on, and investigating data breach and cyber security events.
  • Represents clients in administrative and regulatory matters, including federal and state OSHA inspections, citations, and audits and banking examinations and external audits.
  • Represents various medical and dental practitioners in state board, administrative, and litigation matters.
  • Represents clients in negligence, gross negligence, shareholder derivative, and misappropriation of fiduciary property matters.
  • Represents various medical and dental practitioners in state board, administrative, and litigation matters.
  • Represented professional association in litigation, corporate, labor and employment, board, administrative, and regulatory matters.
  • Represented real estate investment trust and other lessors in various lease agreement disputes involving real property located in Texas and Mexico.
  • Represented religious organization in insurance coverage of sexual abuse allegations.
  • Defeated claims of fraud and negligence on summary judgment.
  • Represented various plaintiffs and defendants in insurance coverage disputes.
  • Represented widow and child of man who was shot, abandoned, and killed by employees of a Webb County ranch in obtaining favorable jury verdict, judgment, and settlement.
  • Represented victim of negligent and excessive force by nightclub security guard in obtaining favorable jury verdict and judgment, including award of punitive damages that was affirmed by Third Court of Appeals.
  • Represented alarm company in federal court against Lanham Act allegations.
  • Obtained vacating of citation issued against the employer relating to workplace fatality.
  • Obtained favorable settlement for tower construction company in defending against gross negligence allegations relating to deaths of two employees who fell from 300-foot tower.
  • Obtained injunctive relief on behalf of daycare against state agency.
  • Successfully represented clients in connection with OSHA inspections, investigations, and citations.

Corporate Governance & Counseling

  • Serves as standards of conduct official/speak up official for clients and external compliance resource.
  • Serves as a board consultant and as a consultant to management employees.
  • Develops policy and procedure guidance, including Bylaws, charters, Board policies, and management procedures on conflicts of interest, fiduciary duties, standards of conduct, internal investigations and reviews, and Whistleblower programs and provides practical training on such areas and with regard to such guidance to all levels within the organization.

Lending, Troubled Debt, & Bankruptcy

  • Represents various creditors and parties in distressed asset transactions and restructures, including the identification of distressed assets and non-interest earning (non-accrual) debts and options for returning such assets and debts to viability.
  • Represents various creditors in bankruptcy court proceedings, including adversary proceedings involving preferences, fraudulent transfers and breaches of contracts, and involving contested confirmation and valuation proceedings. Also represents various creditors in state court proceedings to: recover monies owed, including obtaining writs of sequestration and possession of collateral; defend against collection efforts; and obtain injunctive and other relief.
  • Represented creditor in obtaining dismissal of Chapter 11 bankruptcy case with prejudice for bad faith filing.
  • Advised and trained clients on various litigation, bankruptcy, administrative, regulatory, labor and employment, and consumer law matters.
  • Served as sole arbitrator and mediator in matter involving two financing institutions.
  • Represented clients in handling special assets and resolving issues involving distressed debt.
  • Represented creditor in seeking declaratory relief in multi-state dispute over real estate and non-judicial foreclosure.
  • Advised clients and prepared documents on various financing projects, including syndication, participation and custom loans.
  • Represented clients to recover assets in matter involving extensive Ponzi scheme.

Corporate and Corporate Finance

  • Serves as outside general counsel to a number of clients in a variety of industries to provide overall guidance and management of legal affairs and related matters.
  • Represents clients in custom loans, participation loans and agreements, loan syndications, and refinances and assignments, including considerations of agribusiness, private equity, and multi-party participants.
  • Represents clients in corporate filing reviews and updating corporate filings to reflect goals of the company.
  • Represents clients on mergers and acquisitions, franchise agreements and relationships, and initiating and responding to due diligence-related items.
  • Consumer Finance Experience
  • Advised clients on consumer laws, including Dodd–Frank Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and provided training on same.
  • Defended cable company in federal court against Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act class action case. Plaintiff dismissed complaint after motion to dismiss was filed on behalf of cable company.
  • Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court, Master
  • Standards of Conduct Workgroup
  • Data Privacy Workgroup
  • Collateral Evaluation Workgroup
  • Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Texas Christian University
    • AddRan Board of Visitors
    • Strategic Planning Committee, Chair
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Member
  • St. Andrew Catholic Church, Member
  • Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business
    • General Commercial Litigation, 2022-2024
  • Austin Monthly Magazine
    • Top Austin Attorney, Commercial Litigation, 2019
  • Fort Worth Magazine
    • Top Attorney, 2012, 2016
  • Fort Worth Business Press
    • Top 40 Under 40, 2013
  • Thomson Reuters' Texas
    • Rising Star: Business Litigation, 2006-2012
  • Data Privacy and Cybersecurity – from an Ethical and Practical Perspective
  • Standards of Conduct, Fiduciary Duties, and Conflicts of Interest
  • Borrower Rights and Distressed Debts
  • Internal Investigations, Whistleblowers, and Criminal Referrals
  • Workplace Considerations for the Telecommunications and Tower Industry