Meet Our Team
Hugh Coleman
Attorney - Managing Partner
Hugh Coleman is a native Texan. He graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and received his law degree from the University of Tulsa School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in all Texas State Courts and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Hugh is passionate about public service, as demonstrated by his tenure as Denton County Commissioner for Precinct #1 from 2009 to 2020. He is also an engaged member of the legal community. He is a Past President of the Denton County Bar Association and is a past President of the Denton County Young Lawyers Association. Coleman was also instrumental in the creation of the highly acclaimed Denton County Alternative Dispute Resolution Program (DCAP), which provides pro bono and low-cost mediation services to residents of Denton County. Coleman is also a past Director of the Texas Young Lawyers Association, receiving the President's Award of Merit for exemplary service to the public and bar in 2003 and 2005. He has also served on the Local Rules Committee for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, and the State Bar of Texas Local Services Committee.
His legal experience is comprehensive, encompassing both civil and criminal trial work. As a city attorney, municipal prosecutor, assistant county attorney, and assistant district attorney/General Counsel to the Denton County Sheriff's Office, he has handled diverse litigation claims, including civil rights, employment lawsuits, tort, and negligence claims.
In private practice, Hugh has represented individuals and businesses in various employment law matters. This includes litigating claims under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family Medical Leave Act, for age and sex discrimination, for workers' compensation retaliation, and unemployment disputes. He also has extensive experience working with businesses, where he has drafted and implemented human resources policies and standard operating procedures, and drafted and negotiated employment agreements, severance agreements, non-compete agreements, corporate formation documents, real estate transaction documents, and buy-sell agreements.
Russell Coleman
-Of Counsel
Russ Coleman is an experienced business attorney. He has served as a Fortune 500 company senior executive and general counsel, as additional NYSE-listed companies' general counsel, and as a large law firm partner. In those capacities he has represented clients in a variety of business and related matters to include financings, mergers and acquisitions, other business transactions, commercial contracts, and investments.
Russ is a former chair of the Dallas Bar Foundation and of the Dallas Bar Association's Corporate Counsel section.
He volunteers for various non-profit civic and charitable causes, often serving in leadership. He holds engineering and law degrees from Rice University and The University of Texas, respectively, and completed executive courses in business strategy and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Russell Coleman
-Of Counsel
Russ Coleman is an experienced business attorney. He has served as a Fortune 500 company senior executive and general counsel, as additional NYSE-listed companies' general counsel, and as a large law firm partner. In those capacities he has represented clients in a variety of business and related matters to include financings, mergers and acquisitions, other business transactions, commercial contracts, and investments.
Russ is a former chair of the Dallas Bar Foundation and of the Dallas Bar Association's Corporate Counsel section.
He volunteers for various non-profit civic and charitable causes, often serving in leadership. He holds engineering and law degrees from Rice University and The University of Texas, respectively, and completed executive courses in business strategy and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mandy Smithers
-Paralegal
Mandy Smithers moved to Denton, Texas to attend Texas Woman’s University, where she participated in athletics all 4 years and graduated with a Bachelor of Science, with honors. She attended Southeastern Paralegal Institute (now known as Kaplan College) and graduated from one of their first classes in the burgeoning legal assistant career field. She earned a specialized designation from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization Paralegal Certification Program in Civil Trial Law in 1995.
Before joining the Coleman Law Firm, she retired from the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, where she worked as the Senior Paralegal for their in-house legal department for almost 24 years.
