Thomas Feldman & Wilshusen, L.L.P.

Focus and the clients it serves

Construction law is the main focus of this Dallas firm. Thomas Feldman & Wilshusen represents contractors and other businesses in the commercial construction industry, and it states that it can act for clients in all 254 Texas counties. That reach covers projects well beyond the Dallas area.

The client list runs across the whole chain of a construction project: subcontractors, general contractors, suppliers, and owners. It also reaches lenders, sureties, design professionals, developers, and construction trade associations. In my opinion, that spread points to a firm that works on more than one side of a project dispute.

What the construction work covers

The firm groups its construction services under a clear menu. These include legal counsel and risk management, construction claims and disputes, and lien and bond claims. Litigation and arbitration, contract drafting and negotiation, and general commercial litigation fill out the rest.

Lien and bond claims

Lien and bond claims follow strict rules in Texas, and timing matters a great deal. A subcontractor or supplier who wants to secure payment usually has to send statutory notices and file within set deadlines. The firm's work here covers perfecting and foreclosing these claims, which is the formal process of establishing a claim and then enforcing it. As a reviewer, I read this as a core part of what a construction firm handles day to day.

Claims and disputes

Construction claims often turn on delay, defective work, or payment that stalls partway through a project. The firm evaluates project claims and contract disputes, which means reviewing the contract, the schedule, and the record of what happened on site. Sound documentation tends to decide these matters, so the paper trail from a project carries real weight. Early review can show a client whether a claim is worth pursuing.

Contracts and risk before a dispute

Much construction work begins before a dispute exists. The firm drafts and negotiates construction contracts and advises on risk management, the part of the job aimed at heading off problems written into an agreement. Clear allocation of risk in a contract can decide who pays when a project runs late or over budget. This early work often shapes how any later claim plays out.

Paths a dispute can take

The firm names four ways it resolves construction disputes: negotiation, mediation, the courts, and arbitration. Each path carries its own costs and timelines. Which one fits a given matter often comes down to the contract and the relationship between the parties.

Negotiation and mediation keep the parties in control of the outcome. A mediator helps both sides work toward a settlement they both accept. These routes tend to cost less and close faster than a trial.

Arbitration and litigation hand the decision to a third party. Many construction contracts require arbitration, where an arbitrator hears the case and issues a binding award. Court litigation puts the matter before a judge or jury under the public rules of civil procedure. Having a firm comfortable in all four settings gives a client room to pick the right tool for the claim.

Work beyond construction disputes

The firm also handles matters that reach past the job site. It takes on business and corporate formation, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial real estate transactions. Construction-related insurance defense and legislative drafting appear on the list as well.

These areas connect back to a construction client base. A contractor that forms a new entity, buys property, or faces an insurance question can keep that work with the same firm. In my opinion, that mix suits businesses that want one office handling several related needs.

How the team is built

The firm lists five practicing attorneys and two retired attorneys, along with support staff at its Dallas office. It names Fred D. Wilshusen and Todd Ryan Nectoux as partners. Regan Gayle O'Steen holds the title of senior counsel.

Sabrina E. Allen and Jett P. Johnson carry associate titles. Two of the names on the door belong to the emeritus attorneys, Richard Gary Thomas and Robert L Feldman, both now retired. Fred D. Wilshusen, the third name, is a current partner.

That link between the firm's title and its people is worth noting. It fits a firm that traces its line back several decades. The current roster keeps the work in the hands of five active attorneys.

History and statewide reach

The firm was established in its current form in 1990. It continues a legacy that dates back to the 1970s, according to its own materials. The site does not name the earlier firm or give a precise founding date for that first chapter.

More than thirty years in one field gives a firm time to learn how Texas construction disputes tend to move. Such cases can run through negotiation, mediation, the courts, or arbitration, and the right route often depends on the contract and the sum at stake. The firm says it resolves disputes through all four of these channels.

Coverage across all 254 counties matters in construction, where projects sit in city centers and out along rural county roads alike. A firm that can file in any Texas county can follow its clients' work wherever it lands. Thomas Feldman & Wilshusen is a Dallas-based firm focused on construction law, with five active attorneys and a history reaching back to the 1970s.

The record says more about two of these attorneys

Titles aside, the public record fills in the background of two lawyers named in the firm. Fred D. Wilshusen took a B.A. from Austin College in 1979 and then a J.D., cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1983. His practice spans construction law, commercial and real estate matters, bankruptcy, and litigation that runs into appellate work and arbitration. A lawyer who has argued on appeal tends to read a trial record with the later stages in mind, and that habit can shape how a case gets built from the first filing.

Robert L Feldman, one of the retired attorneys, trained a generation earlier. He earned a B.A. from Tufts University in 1969 and a J.D. from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1977. His work covered construction law, commercial transactions, real estate transactions, and probate matters. To my eye, that probate line is the outlier on a construction roster, and it points back to the broader general practice the firm grew out of.

A foothold in the construction bar

Both attorneys have given time to the professional groups that shape construction practice. Wilshusen has served on committees of the American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law and the Construction Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. Feldman has taken part in the Dallas Bar Association Construction Law Section and that same ABA Forum. In my view, this kind of committee work counts for more than a directory line suggests, since it keeps a lawyer close to the statutes and rulings that move quickly in this field. It also puts the firm near the discussions where construction rules take shape.

The Dallas office

The firm works from a single office in Dallas at 5001 LBJ Freeway, with a main line at 214-369-3008. One address rather than a branch network suits a practice that holds to one field inside one state. For a client, the point of contact stays the same from the first call through the close of a matter. That steadiness can matter on a construction project, where the same dispute may sit for months before it resolves.