Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP has been recognized in the U.S. News-Best Lawyers® 2011-2012 "Best Law Firms" rankings as an Austin Tier 1 firm in Water Law and an Austin Tier 2 firm in Corporate Law. The rankings showcase 9,633 different law firms ranked nationally in one or more of 75 major legal practice areas and in metropolitan or state rankings in one or more of 119 major legal practice areas. Rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process.

To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included in Best Lawyers as part of the annual peer review assessment. BHDA attorneys Douglas G. Caroom and John E. Gangstad were both included in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Mr. Caroom, who was first listed in the guide in 2007, practices in the firm's Water Law group, along with attorneys William D. Dugat III, Susan M. Maxwell, Emily Rogers, and Joshua Katz. Mr. Gangstad, who was first listed in the guide in 1987, practices in the firm's Corporate Law group with attorneys Denise V. Cheney, Hector Delgado, Syd Falk, and Steven H. Weller. Mr. Caroom was also named Best Lawyers 2012 Austin Water Law Lawyer of the Year.

Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Administrative Law, Doug Caroom practices in the areas of water and environmental law, administrative law, and public law. Doug represents governmental, industrial, commercial, and private clients in both litigation matters and administrative proceedings.

John Gangstad practices in the areas of general corporate, entity formation and acquisitions, securities, and oil and gas law. He assists clients in private placements of securities, preparation of proxy statements and periodic reports required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and public offerings of securities.

BHDA's Water and Wastewater Utilities attorneys counsel both public and private entities in all facets of water and wastewater utility law. Our attorneys have a broad range of experience in this area, having represented numerous cities and several river authorities in certificate of convenience and necessity cases before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and other cities in various wholesale and retail water and wastewater rate cases. Our Water and Wastewater Utilities practice includes:

- Certificates of Convenience and Necessity
- Water and Wastewater Utility Regulation
- Ratemaking
- Wholesale and Retail Water and Wastewater Supply Contracts
- Service Territory Disputes
- Acquisition and Sale of Water and Wastewater Systems and Real Property
- Financing

We have substantial experience in developing and implementing comprehensive water supply strategies and water management plans for municipalities, water districts, river authorities, and water utilities. We have represented public and private entities in the acquisition and development of surface water and groundwater rights permits as well as major surface water and groundwater supply facilities needed for production, such as reservoirs, pipelines, water treatment facilities, and salinity control facilities. In addition, our attorneys have served as bond counsel for the financing of these major transactions. Our expertise in the areas of water rights law and strategic water planning enables us to assist clients with the development and distribution of their water resources, whether groundwater or surface water, and to guide them through the myriad of local, state, and federal laws and regulations that affect water rights. Our Water Rights and Water Development practice includes:

- Surface Water Rights, Reuse Permitting, and Interbasin Transfers
- Groundwater Regulations and Rights
- Water Supply and Management, and Comprehensive Strategic Planning
- Water Sales, Transfers, and Leases and Water Marketing
- Water Facility and Land Acquisitions and Sales
- Financing

The firm's Corporate Law practice group assists clients in the following areas:

- Real Estate Matters
- General Corporate Counseling
- Securities Law
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Partnership Matters
- Banking Matters
- General Business
- Intellectual Property
- Representative Transactions of Our Transactional Attorneys

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Douglas G. Caroom as the Best Lawyers 2012 Austin Water Law Lawyer of the Year.

Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Administrative Law, Doug Caroom practices in the areas of water and environmental law, administrative law, and public law. Doug represents governmental, industrial, commercial, and private clients in both litigation matters and administrative proceedings.

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating "Lawyers of the Year" in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the "Lawyer of the Year."

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 18th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2012) is based on more than 3.9 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The lawyers being honored as "Lawyers of the Year" have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta attorneys Doug Caroom, Bill Dugat, Bob Heath, and Tom Pollan have been named by Texas Super Lawyers magazine as four of the top attorneys in Texas for 2011. Only five percent of Texas attorneys are selected by Super Lawyers for inclusion on its esteemed list.

Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Administrative Law, Doug Caroom practices in the areas of water and environmental law, administrative law, and public law. Doug represents governmental, industrial, commercial, and private clients in both litigation matters and administrative proceedings. He was selected a Texas Super Lawyer for Environmental practice.

A founder of the firm and a member of the state's original group of board-certified administrative law attorneys, Bob Heath practices in the areas of administrative law, public law, open government, and redistricting. Bob works with private and public entity clients on matters including voting rights, election law, purchasing, ethics, regulatory actions, and school law. In addition, he is an accomplished litigator, with numerous reported cases to his credit, and the author of many notable publications. Bob was selected a Texas Super Lawyer for Administrative Law practice.

Tom Pollan's practice areas include public finance law, administrative law, public law, open government, and redistricting. He has extensive experience organizing and coordinating bond elections and handling public financing for local governments. Tom is also one of the original lawyers certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Administrative Law and was selected a Texas Super Lawyer for Administrative Law practice.

Bill Dugat is also certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Administrative Law. Bill's practice areas include water and environmental law, public law, and administrative law. He represents and advises municipalities, river authorities, and water districts before state and federal agencies. Bill was also selected a Texas Super Lawyer for Administrative Law practice.

In producing its annual list, the research team at Super Lawyers undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check.

First published by Law & Politics, Super Lawyers was recently acquired by Thomson Reuters, Legal. Super Lawyers can be found online at superlawyers.com, where lawyers can be searched by practice area and location.

BHDA attorneys Douglas G. Caroom and John E. Gangstad have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2012 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® (Copyright 2011 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, S.C.).

Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 41,000 attorneys cast almost 3.9 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas. Mr. Caroom was first listed in the guide in 2007, and Mr. Gangstad was first listed in 1987.

On August 24, 2011, The Third Court of Appeals ruled in a case entitled Dan A. Gattis, et al v. Jana Duty, which involved a suit by Jana Duty, County Attorney for Williamson County, against the Williamson County Commissioners Court. Ms. Duty sued the Commissioners Court for reducing the County Attorney's budget in order to use the savings to hire the Commissioner Court's own attorney. Although Ms. Duty admitted that the Commissioners had the authority to hire their own counsel, she objected to various aspects of the procedure the Commissioners Court followed in making the budget transfer.

C. Robert Heath, a senior partner in Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, represented the County and filed a plea to the jurisdiction asking the district judge to dismiss the case. When the district judge ruled against the County, we immediately appealed. The Court of Appeals, in issuing its ruling, determined that the County Attorney had no standing to sue the County Commissioners Court, that the district judge erred in not dismissing the case, and then rendered judgment in favor of the Commissioners Court.