ScottHulse, P.C.

What the firm handles

The firm describes itself as a full-service commercial law firm, and the practice groups it lists support that description. The firm names groups in Corporate and Securities, Litigation, Labor and Employment, Real Estate, and Tax. It also lists Estate Planning, Probate and Asset Protection, Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy, Mergers and Acquisitions, Construction, Healthcare, Immigration and Nationality Law, and Intellectual Property. The firm's own pages also mention appellate work alongside its trial litigation.

That range fits a business clientele. Corporate work, mergers and acquisitions, and creditors' rights usually come from companies and institutions. In my opinion the immigration and estate planning groups are what bring individual clients through the door as well. A firm that pairs transactional groups with a litigation group can often keep a dispute in house if a deal later goes wrong.

The site also states that attorneys are organized by industry as well as by area of law. That kind of setup lets a client in, say, healthcare or construction work with lawyers who see the same sector repeatedly. It is a common structure at commercial firms of this size.

Roots that go back to 1889

The firm traces its start to 1889, when William Henry Burges, Jr. opened a law office in El Paso. He had just graduated from the University of Texas School of Law. By the firm's own account, El Paso had a population of about 10,000 at that time.

A founding date that old is rare, and this one ties to a named person and a named law school. The firm grew from that single attorney into its current roster of shareholders, associates, and of counsel. As a reviewer, I read that long continuity as the strongest verifiable point about the firm. A firm that has kept its doors open across more than a century has survived the kind of economic cycles that close many firms. A firm with that history usually holds long-standing ties to local courts and the surrounding business community.

How the team is built

The attorneys page lists 25 lawyers. Their titles cover Shareholder, Associate, Of Counsel, Chairman, and Director, so the firm runs a formal corporate structure with a chairman and directors named among the shareholders. That structure is typical of a professional corporation, which is what the "P.C." in the firm's legal name signals. With 25 lawyers across two offices, ScottHulse sits in the range of a mid-sized regional firm.

Named shareholders include Matthew T. Armendariz, W. David Bernard, Donald "Don" Davie, R. Glenn Davis, Zach Daw, Joshua Dwyer, Bernard D. Felsen, James M. H. Feuille, and Robert R. Feuille. James M. H. Feuille also carries a Director title. Jeffrey C. Brown is listed as Of Counsel. Michael A. Alcala and Zachery A. Grigg are the two associates named on the attorneys page.

The site lists names, titles, and practice areas for each attorney, without published biographies. A prospective client who wants a lawyer's law school or year of admission will need to ask the firm directly. For a business client, the practice group listing may matter more than a bio, since it shows who works in which area.

What some of these matters involve

Mergers and acquisitions work usually moves through due diligence, drafting, and closing, and the lawyers review contracts, liabilities, and regulatory filings along the way. Corporate and securities work covers the formation of entities, governance questions, and the rules that apply when a company raises money.

Creditors' rights and bankruptcy matters move through federal bankruptcy court, where a trustee and a judge oversee claims and the distribution of assets. Real estate work spans purchases, leases, and financing, often with title review and closing documents at the center. Labor and employment matters can involve workplace policies, contracts, and disputes that reach state or federal agencies before they reach a courtroom.

Immigration and nationality work covers petitions and applications filed with federal agencies, and the outcomes turn on eligibility rules set in statute. Estate planning and probate matters generally begin with wills or trusts, and they can later pass through a probate court after a death. These steps are common across the field, and each real matter follows its own path.

Working across the Borderplex

ScottHulse keeps two offices, one in El Paso, Texas and one in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The firm states that it serves clients in Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico, which fits a firm built around the region where those three meet. El Paso and Las Cruces sit close together, so a single firm covering both puts lawyers on each side of the Texas and New Mexico line. The firm's stated reach into Mexico lines up with where those two offices sit.

Many of the attorneys are bilingual in English and Spanish, by the firm's account. For cross-border commercial work and for immigration matters, that language capacity has practical value. It lets one lawyer handle the client conversation and the underlying documents in either language. For clients whose business runs between the United States and Mexico, that language capacity is a working part of the service.