Carlsbad, NM

James Tawney

James Tawney is a native of the Southwest dedicated to serving his community. He was born and raised in Arizona, where he attended Northern Arizona University and graduated summa cum laude. After receiving his undergraduate degree, he attended Texas Tech University School of Law in Lubbock, Texas. During this time, he received multiple awards for academic excellence and was actively involved in the trial advocacy program. He served as the lead articles editor for the Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal, for which he was also a published author. He graduated from law school magna cum laude. After law school, James began his professional legal career at an El Paso-based plaintiff’s personal injury law firm. His practice included representing multiple injury victims and their families throughout New Mexico and Texas. In 2016, he, along with fellow plaintiff’s attorney Alejandro Acosta, founded Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro P.C. with offices located in Las Cruces, Carlsbad, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. James Tawney is board-certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA).

Alejandro Acosta

Alejandro Acosta is an accomplished trial lawyer with over 10 years of experience representing clients seeking to recover damages in significant personal injury and wrongful death cases. Alejandro has tried over a dozen personal injury cases to verdict in the states of Texas and New Mexico. Additionally, he has successfully tried multiple personal injury cases in arbitration and argued personal injury matters in front of the 8th Court of Appeals in El Paso and the New Mexico Court of Appeals in Santa Fe. Due to his passionate representation and diligence, Alejandro has been able to recover significant amounts for his clients, including verdicts and settlements above seven figures. He is a co-founder of Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro P.C.

W. Perry Zivley Jr.

Perry Zivley was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After completing his undergraduate degree at Southwestern University, he came back to Houston to get his law degree and start his practice. Mr. Zivley’s legal practice has always focused on litigation and trying cases. He is very comfortable in the courtroom having won many major victories against large corporations, including multi-national entities. Representing plaintiffs against corporate giants is his passion. Perry works on a contingent fee basis because he knows his clients, more often than not, would not get their day in court otherwise. His talent for finding the needle in the haystack of evidence serves his clients well. Tenacity, a strong work ethic, and his compassion for victims of personal injury, negligence, or business fraud are what Mr. Zivley is known for, along with his remarkable gift for strategic moves during the prosecution of cases.

Craig M. Sico

Craig M. Sico serves as of counsel at our firm, bringing over three decades of distinguished legal experience. He is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is a member of The American Board of Trial Advocates. His exceptional legal acumen has earned him recognition by Super Lawyers and an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, indicating “very high to pre-eminent legal ability” and “very high ethical standards.” He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates’ Forum, the State Bar of Texas, and the American Bar Association. Throughout his career, Mr. Sico has successfully litigated complex commercial disputes involving insurance bad faith, breach of contract, oil and gas claims, and antitrust litigation. He has represented clients in complex product liability, workplace injury, trucking, class action, commercial, and aviation disputes across multiple states. Mr. Sico’s dedication to his clients and his relentless pursuit of justice make him an invaluable asset to our firm and the legal profession.

Kirk Mathis

Kirk Mathis is a native of Lufkin, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1994 earning a B.B.A. in Accounting and from Texas Tech School of Law earning a J.D. in 1998. He went to work for George and Reich Chandler in Lufkin immediately after graduating from law school and has specialized since that time in Plaintiff’s personal injury and commercial litigation. Mr. Mathis has tried numerous cases both in Texas and out of state that have resulted in significant verdicts for his clients (including the largest Texas Tort Claims Act verdict for a Plaintiff in Nacogdoches County, Texas in 1998, the largest personal injury verdict in Jasper County, Texas in 1999, the largest personal injury verdict in Angelina County, Texas in 2001, the largest premises liability verdict in Angelina County, Texas in 2008, and the largest personal injury verdict in San Jacinto County, Texas in 2012).

Cesar Ornelas II

Licensed in Texas, Cesar Ornelas II’s nationwide practice is entirely contingency fee-based and consists of a wide variety of catastrophic personal injury and death cases. He has represented countless victims of catastrophic accidents across the United States. Mr. Ornelas II has devoted his entire career to giving a voice to the voiceless. Cesar Ornelas II was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and is the son of Cesar and Belia Ornelas. In Mr. Ornelas II’s early years, he was raised in a mobile home park in Kyle, Texas. It was during this time that Mr. Ornelas II and his father would go around selling watermelons in order to provide for his family. Through this life lesson, Mr. Ornelas II learned the value of hard work and discipline. These values translated through to his education through both college and law school, during which Mr. Ornelas II supported himself by successfully starting and operating multiple companies. Mr. Ornelas II started to practice law after graduating from St. Mary’s Law School in record time. Mr. Ornelas II has been handling catastrophic personal injury and death cases since his first day in practice. Since becoming a lawyer, Mr. Ornelas II has done significant work for his clients throughout the state of Texas and the United States.

Frank Balderrama

Frank Balderrama is a native New Mexican who graduated from New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2006. He focuses his practice on personal injury, litigating a variety of cases including trucking/auto/motorcycle collisions, DWI accidents, oilfield accidents, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, train and airplane collisions, electrocution cases, slip/trip and fall cases, and bug infestation injuries. He has also been involved in mass tort litigation. Frank has litigated cases in State and Federal Court and successfully argued before the New Mexico Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court.