Steve Wakefield has been a Partner in Burford & Ryburn for over twenty-five years. His practice has focused on defending clients in a wide variety of employment-related matters including various types of discrimination, sexual harassment, unlawful termination and retaliation claims. He has extensive experience in defending and counseling corporations, health care institutions and individuals on matters of immigration law and I-9 compliance. Mr. Wakefield also has extensive experience in handling various types of non-litigation matters including contracts (drafting, reviewing and negotiating) for professional services, non-competition agreements, non-disclosure agreements and other transactional matters.
Representative Clients
- Baylor Health Care System
- Pinnacle Anesthesia Consultants, P.A
- Methodist Health System
- Methodist Regional Medical Center
- Trinity Mother Frances Health System
- Texas Health Resources
- CB Richard Ellis, Inc.
- Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America
- Leggett & Platt, Inc.
Professional Memberships and Involvement
- State Bar of Texas, member Employment Law Section
- Dallas Bar Association, member Employment Law Section
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
Civic and Community Involvement
- Past President, 2003-2008 Lake Highlands Area Improvement Association
- Board Member, Northeast Dallas Chamber of Commerce
- Chairman of Volunteers of America Texas
Honors and Awards
- Phi Delta Phi, Legal Honor Fraternity
Publications and Speeches
- Frequent speaker at seminars in the areas of discrimination, HIPAA, FMLA, OSHA and other employment-related issues
- Prepared and presented training seminars to management and human resources personnel on HIPAA, FMLA, OSHA, Harassment, FLSA, Immigration law, I-9 compliance, ADA, etc.
Education and Professional Background
- J.D., Southern Methodist University School of Law, 1975, Order of the Coif
- B.A., University of Tulsa, 1972
Significant Cases
- Hicks v. Baylor Univ. Med. Ctr., case reaffirms the viability of employment at will in Texas.
- Johnson v. Baylor Health Care System (2007), successfully defended Baylor in jury trial against a breach of contract and whistle-blower type of claim by a former Baylor executive
- Champion EMS v. Memorial Health System of East Texas successfully pursued a large commercial claim in arbitration against Memorial Health System of East Texas. Successfully defended Champion and its parent entities (Trinity Mother Frances Health System and Good Shepherd Hospital of Longview) against a substantial counterclaim.
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas
- 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
- Texas Supreme Court