The law firm of Cowles & Thompson, PC, celebrates its 40th anniversary on August 1, 2018. The occasion will include a reunion of current and former attorneys on the evening of August 1st in the City Club at 901 Main Street, in the Bank of America. The firm will also honor the career of James E. (Jim) Cowles, one of the four Founding Partners.
Firm History
In 1978, Jim Cowles, Charlie Sorrells, Jay Patterson, and Hardy Thompson, III formed the firm under the name “Cowles, Sorrells, Patterson & Thompson.” It grew to as many as 120 lawyers by the late 1990s and several attorneys took the skills learned at Cowles Thompson to launch their own productive firms and practices in Dallas. Cowles Thompson provides a wide range of legal services from its downtown Dallas and Collin County offices. Despite changes over the years, the firm has stayed true to its definition of professionalism: character, competence, commitment, and courtesy. Mr. Cowles noted, “These qualities have served as the backbone of the firm as we interact with and serve our clients, our employees, our opposition, our judges, and our community.”
Mr. Jim Cowles
Mr. Cowles is renowned for his legal savvy, fearless representation of clients, and leadership in the Texas legal community. He has received numerous accolades over the years, and most recently the Texas Law Book included Mr. Cowles to its list of honorees deemed “Lions of Texas Law.” He was honored by Texas Lawyer in 2010 as one of the 25 greatest Texas Lawyers of the past quarter century.
At age 14, a young Jim Cowles discovered the desire to become a lawyer. Later, just two years into his legal career, he had already tried 40 cases — and won all 40. To date, Mr. Cowles has tried close to 600 cases to a jury verdict.
In 1965, he was one of the first lawyers in Texas to effectively use scientific evidence to demonstrate the flaws in eyewitness testimony. He was a pioneer in the use of demonstrative and scientific exhibits, for example: a toilet paper roll as a cancerous bronchial tube, a paper napkin from lunch for a sketch of an oil pipeline from Texas to California, and an actual airplane wing to demonstrate the difficulty of improperly installing an aileron. Mr. Cowles, following the tradition of an early famous Dallas trial lawyer, commonly memorized the names and occupations of each member of the jury panel and called them off during voir dire. His has been a proverbial lifetime of innovative trial work.
David Metzler, Managing Partner, joined Cowles Thompson in 2000. “I knew of Cowles Thompson by reputation even as a young lawyer. When I was offered an opportunity to join the firm, I jumped at the chance. The people I met, the skills I learned, and the experience I gained while at Cowles Thompson have been invaluable. I hope we continue to pass on these experiences to lawyers for years to come.”
Cowles & Thompson
Cowles Thompson is a full-service law firm with offices in Dallas and Plano, Texas. 2018 marks the firm's 40th year of serving the Dallas-Fort Worth region, Texas, and the nation. Cowles Thompson attorneys strive to provide effective, creative, efficient solutions for their clients’ most complex problems, including critical litigation and appeals, employment, business formation and transactions, creditor’s rights and family law.
