Williams Kherkher Attorneys

Armi Easterby

E. Armistead (Armi) Easterby heads up the Patent Litigation docket for Williams Kherkher Law Firm. A cum laude graduate of The University of Houston Law Center, Armi has been practicing law for over a decade. Prior to joining Williams Kherkher, Armi was a partner at Looper Reed & McGraw.

In addition to trying cases involving disputes over intellectual property, Armi also has vast experience with commercial as well as consumer litigation. Armi has successfully settled patent infringement cases, including a complex case against BP.

Armi is licensed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court of Federal Claims, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and all U.S. District Courts in Texas. He also is a member of the Houston Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice.

John Boundas

John Boundas, a partner at Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas, is one of the attorneys on the Auction Rate Securities docket. John graduated #1 in his class from the University of Iowa College of Law. After passing the Texas bar in 1995, he interned at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. and was recognized by for "outstanding" performance. From 1995-1996, he was a law clerk for the Hon. Milton I. Shadur of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

From 1996-2001, John was an associate in the litigation section of Fulbright & Jaworski. While there, he worked on many different types of litigation matters including securities and antitrust. In 2001, he joined Williams Kherkher and has since represented numerous individuals in the firm's pharmaceutical dockets.

John has tried jury trials in Pennsylvania, California, Louisiana and Texas. Additionally, he has also handled appeals, including arguing at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas Attorneys

William S. Shepherd

Received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and his law degree (JD) from South Texas College of Law in Houston. He also earned a Masters of Law Degree (LLM) in Securities Regulation from Georgetown University Law School in Washington, D.C. Prior to founding our firm, Mr. Shepherd served as vice-president of several major brokerage firms. His experience in the brokerage industry spans more than two decades, including in management as well as advising individuals, banks and other financial institutions' with their investment portfolios. Mr. Shepherd was also formerly employed by and has served as an advisor to the U. S. Congress.

Mr. Shepherd has been selected by his peers for three consecutive years - 2005, 2006, 2007 - as a SuperLawyer under the category of securities law, an honor granted to less than 5% of all attorneys.

Kirk G. Smith

Received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University, in New Orleans and his law degree (JD) from South Texas College of Law in Houston. Mr. Smith's experience in the brokerage industry is well diversified, from marketing for a smaller specialized Wall Street firm to working as an investment advisor for a major brokerage firm. In his career Mr. Smith has worked on several hundred arbitration matters in various capacities. Besides focusing on securities arbitration, Mr. Smith also devotes his time to protecting the rights of the investor through his membership in the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, and is also a member of the American Trial Lawyers Association. Mr. Smith has been featured as a guest speaker on the topic of Securities Arbitration at the ATLA Annual Convention.

Samuel B. Edwards

Received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and his law degree (JD) from the University of Houston, where he was a honors graduate (cum laude) and a member of the Phi Alpha Delta international legal fraternity. Mr. Edwards is an active member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) and the American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA), working in conjunction with attorneys across the country to fight for the rights of individual investors in the marketplace. Additionally, Mr. Edwards is on the Board of Editors of the PIABA Bar Journal where he is also a regular contributing author. In the last several years, Mr. Edwards has represented hundreds of investors and recovered millions of dollars for wronged customers, including extensive work on the largest broker-fraud arbitration award in the history of the NYSE.

Robert A. Kantas

Robert Kantas maintains a national securities arbitration and litigation practice. He has successfully completed dozens of securities cases against major brokerage firms including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, Edward Jones, UBS, Wachovia, A.G. Edwards, and AIG SunAmerica, among others - recovering millions of dollars for defrauded investors across the nation. Mr. Kantas has written and taught on the subject of securities arbitration and specifically broker/customer disputes. He is the Co-Author of Arbitrating Claims Against Stockbrokers, The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyer's Association, pp. 3-13, Winter 2002/2003, and Co-Author and Lecturer of the Virginia CLE Program, Claims Against Stockbrokers: How to Advise Your Investor Client, February 2003.

Mr. Kantas received his Bachelor of Science degree in Management (cum laude) from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He is a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Association for Justice. Mr. Kantas is admitted to practice in all Virginia and Texas State Courts, as well as Federal Courts in the Western District of Virginia, Southern District of Texas, District of Columbia, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Kantas maintains a BV Martindale-Hubble rating. Prior to beginning his law practice, he served in the United States Air Force for more than ten years.