John Michael Frick

John has been representing businesses and business people in the North Texas area for more than thirty years. He has tried numerous cases at various levels of the judicial system, including federal district court and state district court. He has presented appeals to the Supreme Court of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and ten of the fourteen intermediate courts of appeal in Texas. He has arbitrated cases before the American Arbitration Association and JAMS, Inc. In addition to his trial practice, John is a trained mediator and summary jury trial judge. As a result of displaying a high degree of skill, competence, and professionalism, he has earned an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell.

John received his law degree from SMU School of Law in 1988, where he served as an Associate Editor for the Southwestern Law Journal. While still in law school, he successfully presented an appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas through the school’s civil clinic program, resulting in a published opinion reversing the lower court. He also completed his first jury trial through the school’s clinic program.

After graduating from law school, John served a judicial clerkship as briefing attorney for the Honorable Gordon H. Rowe, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas. There, John had the pleasure of working with future Supreme Court of Texas Justices Nathan Hecht, Craig Enoch, and James Baker.

As a seasoned trial lawyer, John continues to maintain a high level of practice. He has represented clients in cases reported in the Wall Street Journal and Dallas Morning News, as well as ones featured on local news broadcasts and the national news program, Nightline. His civil trial practice includes representation in both state and federal court and encompasses a wide range of areas.

• Civil Litigation
• Contract Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Real Estate Litigation
• Professional Liability

• Zoom
• Microsoft Teams
• WebEx

• Credit Cards Accepted
  Visa & Mastercard Only
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  Provides 90-minute initial consultation for a flat fee of $500. Does not typically work on a contingency fee. Usually requires a retainer.

Texas

State Bar of Texas

ID Number: 07455200

Since 1988

5th Circuit

Since 1992

Partner

Reid, Dennis & Frick, PC

2022 - Current

Member

Steptoe & Johnson, PLLC

2021 - 2021

Partner

Bennett, Weston LaJone & Turner, P.C.

2017 - 2021

Senior Attorney

Reid & Dennis, PC

2010 - 2017

Solo Practitioner

Law Offices of John M. Frick

2001 - 2010

Partner

Mills, Presby & Associates, L.L.P.

1995 - 2001

Associate

Godwin & Carlton, P.C.

1989 - 1995

Briefing Attorney

Court of Appeals, Fifth District of Texas at Dallas

1988 - 1989

SMU Dedman School of Law

Doctor of Jurisprudence/Juris Doctor (J.D.)

1988

Southern Methodist University

B.S. (1985) | Political Science

1981 - 1985

Honors: Summa Cum Laude

Southern Methodist University

B.A. (1985) | Psychology

1981 - 1985

Honors: Summa Cum Laude

AV-Preeminent

Martindale-Hubbell

2004

For over 100 years, the Bar Register has been a unique guide to the legal community's most eminent professionals. It includes only those select law practices that have earned the highest rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and have been designated by their colleagues as preeminent in their field. The 2022 Bar Register contains over 14,000 member listings out of more than 1.3 million attorneys in the United States.

Texas State Bar  # 07455200

Member

1988 - Current

Board-Certified, Civil Trial Law

Texas Board of Legal Specialization

2010

Q. Can my contracting company enforce minimum weekly hours as an independent contractor?

June 10, 2025

A: You should contact the company that hired you as an independent contractor and let them know that your agreement with them allows you to control your own schedule and decide how much time to devote to servicing them. If you have other clients who also hire you as a contractor, it may be time to terminate the contract with that company and to devote more of your time to your other customers.

Q. Do I have to pay the neighbor's horse medical bills after it kicked through the fence?

June 10, 2025

A: It depends on whether you took reasonable care to control your dog. If you are negligent in failing to control your pet, you can be legally liable for any harm it causes. When there is a leash law or local ordinance, it can be per se negligence as a matter of law if you do not comply with that ordinance. When there is no leash law or local ordinance, it is a fact question what an ordinary reasonably prudent person would have done to control the pet under the same or similar circumstances.

Q. How can I appeal a child support decision not considering late discovery documents and VA disability?

June 10, 2025

A: Evidence like your VA disability and financial situation should have been considered in the proceeding determining the amount of child support you were ordered to pay. If that changed in your favor after the child support order was entered, it was incumbent on you to promptly file a motion to modify the amount of child support to be paid by you in the future. A court only has authority to modify that amount from the date you filed a motion to modify going forward. It cannot retroactively modify the amount you were previously ordered to pay.

In a child support arrearage case, the relevant evidence is what amount were you ordered to pay (usually established by taking judicial notice of the prior support order) and what amount did you actually pay (usually established by entering your child support payment record into evidence). If you had evidence of payments you actually made which were not accurately reflected in the child support payment record, you could have offered evidence of those payments as well.

Your VA disability and financial condition are not a defense to your failure to timely pay previously ordered child support. Documents in your possession which were not timely produced by you in discovery is automatically excluded from evidence unless you establish good cause and the absence of prejudice to the opposing party. ... Read More