Seven years ago, the firm’s Laura Benitez Geisler took on a case that would ultimately involve thousands of hours of legal work and two trips to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her dedication on behalf of a small-town police captain against some of East Texas’ most influential public officials led to a $21.35 million verdict, with the jury finding that Quitman police officer Terry Bevill was fired and later charged with a third-degree felony in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights.
Providing further vindication for Bevill, the Quitman City Council recently honored him for 25 years of service as a police officer, with a public proclamation acknowledging his “professionalism, integrity, and leadership.”
“For me, filing a lawsuit was such an important step,” said Geisler in an interview with The Texas Lawbook. “Public officials are given a lot of trust. And whenever they violate that trust, the only way I think to right the wrong is to hold them accountable. And filing the lawsuit was the first step in holding them to account publicly by calling them out about what they did.”
Read the article about Terry Bevill’s story and Laura’s fight for justice here.
