Swift, Donald L.

I come from a middle class background. My parents divorced when I was young and I watched my mother raise four children by herself working double shifts at a grocery store and local police station in the Chicago suburbs.  In 1980, when I was ten years old, she moved our family from Chicago to Houston where she started a small business in the Rice Village neighborhood of Houston selling fruit baskets and floral arrangements.  During summers and the Christmas rush, she woke me up at the crack of dawn to help her get the orders ready and, when I was old enough, make deliveries of the gift baskets and flowers all over the Houston area.  Our whole family participated in the business.

She inspired a work ethic that I still carry with me today.  Based on that ethic and sense of independence, I put myself through college on a debate team scholarship and by working just about every odd job out there (painting houses, janitor, call center, scholastic tutor, waiter, English teacher, news reporter, etc.). I excelled at public speaking at national competitions as the captain of Northern Illinois University's debate team and decided to attend law school.  I had the distinct privilege of working for one of the most venerable Plaintiff's lawyers in the country, the late John O'Quinn.  I witnessed firsthand how attorneys armed with a law license and passion can help small clients stand up to large corporate and governmental entities with virtually unlimited resources.
 
This David vs. Goliath structure of our legal system played perfectly into my modest upbringings and naturally-competitive streak. After working as an associate attorney for a medium-sized law firm representing people in employment matters, deceptive trade practice cases, securities fraud claims, defective product cases and various personal injury matters, I opened the Kennedy Law Firm in 2000.  One year later, after representing more than 300 clients, my best friend from law school, David Hodges, and I created our current law firm, Kennedy Hodges, LLP.

Our mission: to level the playing field for workers against their employers by using our legal expertise, financial resources and creative strategies to deliver outstanding results.  And that is exactly what we've done.

Case Results:

Successfully represented a class of hundreds of janitors in 13 states. Their overtime pay was diluted through a mathematical formula that gave the impression that overtime was paid, when in fact all janitors were paid straight time for overtime hours. The case was certified as a collective action by a federal judge. Defendant paid 100% of the overtime owed, an equal amount as liquidated damages (penalties), and virtually all of the Plaintiff's attorneys' fees incurred.

Successfully represented a large class of employees who worked at multiple call centers for an international telecommunications company. The case was certified as a collective action by a federal judge. Notice of rights to join the suit was sent out to over 100 employees, many of whom became part of the lawsuit and recovered all of the back pay, liquidated damages (penalties) and attorneys' fees from their employer.

Successfully represented dozens of waiters and kitchen staff who worked at upscale chain of South American cuisine restaurants in Houston. The employer was cheating its employees out of overtime by having them work at multiple locations in the same week and issuing multiple pay checks. The law required the defendant to add all hours worked for the same company to determine if more than 40 hours were worked in the same week. Each plaintiff recovered his or her overtime pay, liquidated damages (penalties) and attorneys' fees from the defendant.

Successfully represented multiple paralegals against prominent Houston law firms. Clients claimed they were misclassified as exempt under the professional exemption and administrative exemption. The law firm employers ended up paying all the back overtime pay, liquidated damages (penalties) and a substantial portion of attorneys' fees.

Successfully represented large class of employees at a metal factory who were misclassified as independent contractors. After an investigation, the defendant admitted the employees were misclassified and they owed the money, but claimed the practice was limited to Houston only. After additional discovery and obtaining class certification from a federal judge, we unveiled documents showing the employer was denying overtime pay to hundreds of employees in more than 10 states.

Successfully represented dozens of factory workers. They were paid on a piece-rate basis without consideration for the overtime requirements. We reached a settlement that awarded more than double what the Department of Labor obtained for employees who pursued their claim with the department.

Miscellaneous:

I taught English in Barcelona, Spain, where I honed my Spanish speaking skills that I use with many of clients today.
I completed the Rome, Italy marathon in four hours in 2009. I also compete in regional and national triathlons on a regular basis.

Lead class counsel:

Mr. Kennedy has never lost a motion for certification of a collective action.  The following is a partial list of certified collective actions in which Mr. Kennedy served as lead class counsel:

1.Civil Action No. 4:10-cv-00986; John Glass v. Konica Minolta Business Solutions; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Lake)(national class certified adversely as to repair technicians)(settled $4.35 million).

2.Civil Action No. 6:11-cv-00255; Jeanette Wallace, et al. v Examination Management Services, Inc.; In the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division (Judge W. Smith)(national collective action certified as to virtual case workers ordering medical records from home).

3.Civil Action No. 4:11-cv-712; Cherie Turner, et al. v. NTFN, Inc. and Nationwide Home Lending; In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division (Judge Bush)(multi-state collective action certified as to loan officers).

4.Civil Action No. 4:11-cv-02198; Robert Barnard, et al. v. Intertek, et al.; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Lake) (national class certified adversely as to oil and gas inspectors; later expanded to dispatchers).

5.Civil action No. 3:11-CV-02110; Michael Shackelford, et al. v. Time Warner NY Cable LLC, et al.;  In the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (Judge Solis)(Texas class certified adversely as to cable TV installers).

6.Civil Action No. 4:08-cv-00486 Alvaro Albanil v. Coast 2 Coast; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Miller)(national class certified adversely as to cement workers).

7.Civil Action No. 4:06-cv-01721; Casandra Fuentes, et al. v. Target Corporation; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Gilmore)(multi-state class certified).

8.Civil Action No. 4:08-cv-01692; Tomas Ruiz, et al. v. GVMS, Inc., GVHC, Inc., GV Marine Services, etc.; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Rosenthal)(Texas class certified adversely).

9.Civil Action No. 4:08-cv-00212; Brett Smith, et al. v. CBS Mechanical Inc.; In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division (Judge Schneider)(Texas class certified).

10.Civil action No. H-12-1003; Hector Cabrera, et al. v. A&A Cable Contractors, Inc., et al.;  In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Solis)(Texas class certified).

11.Civil Action No. 1:12-cv-00111 Aaron Covey, et al. v. Iron Cactus, et al.; In the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division (Judge Sparks)(Texas class of 5 restaurants certified).

12.Civil Action No. 4:05-cv-03924; Javier Garcia, et al. v. Maintenance, Inc.; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Gilmore)(multi-state class certified adversely).

13.Civil Action No. 1:12-CV-77; Samantha Patrick, et al. v. Madison Restaurants of Texas, Inc., et al.; In the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division (Judge Clark) (Texas class certified).

14.Civil Action No. 4:05-cv-03620; Cynthia Guerrero, et al. v. Habla Communications, Inc.; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Hittner)(Texas class certified adversely).

15.Civil Action No. 4:11-cv-01007; Samuel Puac, et al. v. Qin Dynasty; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Hughes)(Houston class certified).

16.Civil Action No. 4:11-cv-01160 Jorge Viveros, et al. v. Nit Noi, et al.; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Huges) (Houston class certified).

17.Civil Action No. 4:09-cv-03981 Ricardo Vargas v. The Richardson Trident Co. In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Harmon) (multi-state class certified adversely).

18.Civil Action No. 08-511; Liliana Mendoza, et al. v. BK 6341, Burger King, et al.; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Miller)(Texas class certified).

19.Civil Action No. 4:05-cv-01240; Gregoria Lopez, et al. v. Churrascos and Cordua Restaurants; In the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division (Judge Lake)(Texas class certified via arbitration).