BIOGRAPHIES:  SKIP SIMPSON  |  MOLLIE COLVIN

SKIP SIMPSON
With a legal background ranging from duties as a U.S. Air Force Courts Martial Judge lawyer to services as Texas' top drug traffic prosecutor, Skip Simpson has created a private law practice that has covered a wide range of intriguing matters both civil and criminal. Now, he has limited his practice primarily to psychiatric and psychological malpractice, although he rules no case out.

Nationally recognized for his expertise in suicide and repressed memory cases, he also has claimed successes in commercial litigation, and toxic torts lawsuits. A natural curiosity and an obsession with gathering background research have given him opportunities to handle cases in groundbreaking fields of the law.

Profiled in The Wall Street Journal in 1997 for his pioneering work in suicide litigation, Simpson has been most active in cases where psychiatry and mental health questions have arisen. But his personal background reveals a varied career with stints as a military prosecutor, defense lawyer and general courts martial judge; an in-house corporate lawyer, a state and federal criminal prosecutor; and, a privately practicing civil litigator.

Officially named Texas's top narcotics prosecutor in 1985, he launched his legal career from a position in the U.S. Air Force, which put him through law school at St. Mary's University in San Antonio. After earning his law degree in 1974 - fives years after joining the Air Force, Simpson became a military prosecutor and handled numerous cases of alleged recruit abuse by training instructors at Lackland Air Base. Later he served as a military defense counsel and handled numerous insanity cases, duty that stimulated his curiosity in the mental health legal arena.

Although Simpson left active duty in 1981 to join the Dallas County District Attorney's office, the U.S. Justice and Defense departments teamed up one year later to recall Major Simpson for service as a special prosecutor investigating public integrity issues in the military. Highlights of that tenure included the conviction of the highest ranking civilian in the military in Texas.

Moving to the U.S. Attorney's office in Dallas, he won recognition in 1985 from the Texas Narcotics Officers Association and Texas businessman H. Ross Perot as the state's most effective narcotics prosecutor that year. He left the U.S. Attorney's office to accept a position as a trial lawyer for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1985. He launched his own law firm in 1987.

Following his interest in psychology, he's become one of the nation's ranking experts on the legal aspects of psychological problems, handling numerous cases that deal with everything from memory repression and multiple personalities to satanic cult worship and suicide. Simpson settled the first case ever brought by a sexual abuse "retractor" against her therapist based on repressed memory issues.

He also won a $3 million jury verdict against a doctor accused of causing a suicide through the prescription of depression-invoking medications and negligent follow-up to the patient's complaints. In 1996, he scored a $40 million verdict in an intellectual property and breach of contract dispute largely by preventing a key psychologist from testifying against a corporate client. Again in 1997 he scored a $5.9 million verdict in another mental health case.

In recognition as a leader in the mental health field, Mr. Simpson in 2003 received an academic appointment as a senior fellow, Harvard Medical School Program in Psychiatry and the Law at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston, Massachusetts. On January 1, 2004 he was appointed as a Clinical Instructor at The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. As Clinical Instructor, Mr. Simpson teaches medical residents subjects focusing on psychiatry and the law. In 2005 Mr. Simpson was named to the board of directors for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Collin County, Texas which he believes is among the best honors he has received.

Simpson does not take credit for the large verdicts. The facts of the cases cause the large verdicts. U.S. Juries are bright and typically evaluate cases properly.

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MOLLIE COLVIN, Paralegal
Mollie came to the firm in January of 1995, after working in both the public and private sectors. In 1998, she received her Paralegal certificate from PDI, a division at the University of North Texas. As a key member of the firm, her duties range from administrative work to assisting in trial preparation.

Mollie brings to the firm her ability to keep up with details. She manages the office on a day to day basis and helps during all phases of the litigation process. Intense, detailed work is nothing new to Mollie. While in the public sector, she spent countless hours working to help bring special projects to her area. These earlier experiences instilled in her an appreciation for the power of teamwork. She contributes this true team effort to all her work with the firm.

Mollie brings this same spirit of teamwork outside of the office, through her involvement in the community. She is a former, long-time member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Greater Ennis, serving as Chairman of the Board in 1992. In 1991 and 1994, she served as Chair and Co-Chair, respectively, of the organization's fundraising drive, presiding over record levels of contributions. Her service to the United Way reinforced her belief in the importance of helping others get the help they need - an objective she now pursues with our firm.

For Mollie, one thing which makes her job so interesting is getting to know people from all across the country, and from all walks of life. "I have made some lifelong friends since I have been here."

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