Adrienne A. Stonecypher

Overview

Adrienne Stonecypher helps manage litigation services for O’Hagan Meyer’s Texas practice and defends commercial clients in high-exposure civil litigation. Her practice centers on general liability representation including catastrophic loss and complex claims, as well as civil sex trafficking claims brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), representing hotel franchisors, franchisees, owners, and management companies in state and federal courts across Texas.

In TVPRA matters, Adrienne represents both national hotel franchisors and independent franchisees, giving her a working view of how these claims develop from each side of the franchise relationship. This is a highly specialized area of law in which cases frequently involve multiple defendants, unsettled questions of beneficiary and vicarious liability under the federal statute, contested discovery, and substantial expert and evidentiary practice.

Beyond trafficking litigation, Adrienne handles a wide range of general liability and catastrophic injury claims, including premises liability, negligent security and third-party criminal conduct, commercial vehicle and trucking accidents, Dram Shop liability, and construction defects. Adrienne leads case teams and works closely with carriers, adjusters, and in-house counsel on early evaluation, budgeting, and resolution strategy. She takes matters from initial assessment through written discovery, depositions, dispositive motions, mediation, and trial.

Before focusing on litigation, Adrienne practiced in family law, estate planning, and public finance, where she was part of a two-attorney team that closed nearly 30 bond transactions securing more than $600 million for Texas public schools. That transactional background shapes how she reads contracts and corporate structure in franchise and multi-party disputes.

Experience

• First-chaired and obtained a full defense verdict in a premises liability trial as counsel for a national retailer, wherein millions of dollars were sought in personal injury damages.
• Currently defending a national economy hotel franchisor and its affiliated entities in multiple TVPRA sex-trafficking actions pending in the federal courts across the country.
• Currently defending hotel franchisees in multiple TVPRA sex-trafficking actions in federal and state courts of Texas.
• Defended oilfield services companies against catastrophic loss claims arising from commercial vehicle collisions.
• Defended a national fuel services purveyor in a negligent security/criminal acts premises liability claim and negotiated a cost of defense settlement.
• Obtained dozens of summary judgment orders in matters including general negligence, gross negligence, premises liability, and construction defect.
• Served on a two-attorney team that closed nearly 30 municipal bond transactions totaling more than $600 million for Texas public school districts.

Publications

• “Draping the Veil of Ignorance Over Families: A Rawlsian Case-Study of Swedish & U.S. Social Welfare Policy,” Carnegie Mellon University Heinz Journal, March 2017
• “All the Pretty Little Ponies: Flaws in the Government’s Plan to Control North American Wild Horses & Burros,” University of Louisville Journal of Animal & Environmental Law, Fall 2014