Curt attended Texas A&M University as a National Merit Scholar and double-majored in History and Political Science, graduating Magna Cum Laude. He received his law degree with honors from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he was President of the International Law Review Society. While in law school, Curt interned for the Honorable Xavier Rodriguez, United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas. He also interned at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, Civil Division.
Curt began his practice with Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C., in Dallas, where he became a shareholder in the Litigation Section of the firm. With his family and community ties in Rockwall, Curt moved his practice to Rockwall in 2016 to form Lamberth Ratcliffe Covington, PLLC.
Curt’s emphasis is on all aspects construction litigation and business litigation. He has extensive experience in residential construction, commercial construction, and real-estate litigation, and has often lectured to industry professionals and other lawyers on topics in those areas.
As a trial lawyer, Curt regularly first-chairs trials and arbitrations in a variety of venues. Curt also has diverse experience in products-liability actions, collection litigation, intellectual-property litigation, oil-and-gas disputes, business disputes, and commercial-lease disputes. With a passion for constitutional law, Curt regularly reads Supreme Court opinions and is experienced in advising faith-based non-profits on religious-liberty issues.
In his community, Curt is a deacon in his church, leads a small group, and frequently teaches Bible class. He also enjoys coaching his children in youth sports. In his spare time, he likes to bow hunt and fish.
Representative Experience
Subcontractor Arbitration Win. Two-day arbitration. Represented glass and glazing subcontractor faced with delay claims from a general contractor. Arbitrated to final award. Recovered full damages, plus attorneys’ fees, on counterclaim for the subcontractor, defeating the general contractor’s claims.
Business Dispute Defense. Bench trial. Successful defense of claims in a business dispute among partners, spanning multiple businesses and projects over eight years. Client was sued for over $500,000. Plaintiff recovered $0 and was forced to pay our client for items taken from the business. Reagan Stricklin v. Coy Cleveland, Cause No. 1-23-1710, Rockwall County (Presiding Judge: Hon. David Rakow).
Residential Builder Defense. Five-day arbitration on behalf of a large residential builder. Successfully defended client against claims totaling almost $1M for mold damages. After settling with third-party defendants, Claimant recovered less than the client received in settlements from those parties, recovering only about 5% of the damages sought.
Property Owner Defense. Five-day jury trial on behalf of a property owner. Successfully defended against claims from a general contractor (including lien foreclosure) and recovered on counterclaims in excess of $300,000, including obtaining a finding of punitive damages from the jury under the DTPA for knowing, intentional, and unconscionable conduct. Scott Hooten Construction, LLC v. Crumpton, Cause No. 89238, Hunt County (Presiding Judge: Hon. Keli Aiken).
Property Owner Defense. Five-day jury trial on behalf of a property owner. Successfully defended against claims for breach of an easement agreement. Recovered damages for client on counterclaims, including obtaining a finding of punitive damages from the jury for gross negligence. Kokles v. Lowrance, Cause No. 90574-422, Kaufman County (Hon. Sheldon T.W. Gibbs, IV).
Mold Damage Prosecution. Successful prosecution of claims for mold damage on behalf of a townhome owner. One day arbitration resulted in a final award for client of over $200,000. Settled with other defendant for over $150,000, for a total award of over $350,000.
Reported Cases
Lennar Homes of Tex. Land & Constr., Ltd. v. Cockerham, No. 09-21-00354-CV, 2023 WL 7852058 (Tex. App.—Beaumont Nov. 16, 2023, no pet.), successfully obtained reversal of a trial court’s order denying a Motion to Compel Arbitration.
Lennar Homes of Tex. Inc. v. Alquicira, No. 03-21-00102-CV, 2021 WL 2672039 (Tex. App.—Austin June 30, 2021, no pet.), successfully obtained reversal of a trial court’s order denying a Motion to Compel Arbitration.
Robinson v. Home Owners Mgmt. Enters, Inc., 590 S.W.3d 518 (Tex. 2019). Facing an attempted class action claim in arbitration, successfully obtained an opinion from the Supreme Court of Texas that arbitrability of class claims is a gateway issue for the court and that question of whether parties agreed to arbitrate class claims was for court to answer, overruling prior binding precedent.
Keller v. Legend Home Corp., No. 09-17-00199-CV, 2019 WL 2292331 (Tex. App.—Beaumont May 30, 2019, pet. denied). Obtained summary judgment at the trial court level on behalf of a residential warranty company. Successfully defended that judgment on appeal.
In re Lennar Homes of Texas Sales & Mktg., Ltd., No. 02-15-00174-CV, 2015 WL 4366046 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth July 15, 2015, no pet.). Successfully obtained mandamus relief on behalf of a large residential builder after a trial court failed to compel arbitration in accordance with the contract, with the appellate court ruling that “[c]ourts do not rewrite contracts.”
Awards & Honors
- Texas Super Lawyers 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
- Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
- Martindale Hubbell Client Review Rated Lawyer of Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 as of 2013
Associations & Memberships
- Construction Law Foundation of Texas- Council Member 2020-2023
- Construction Lawyers Society of America- Member
- State Bar of Texas- Construction and Litigation Sections State Bar College of Texas, Member
- Rockwall Bar Association
- Rockwall Noon Rotary
- Eastridge Church of Christ
Publications
- Jury Charges in Construction Cases, 38th Annual Construction Law Conference, San Antonio, Texas 3/7/2025
- The Road Less Traveled- Current Residential Issues and Topics (March 2, 2023)
- A Walk on the Wild Side- Residential Construction Arbitration From Demand to Final Hearing (March 1, 2019)
- Tweeting through the Condo Act- Key Issues for Practitioners, Owners, and Developers in Bite-sized Pieces (March 2, 2018)
- Reclaim Your Mind: Practicing law in a culture of information overload, Texas Lawyer (June 10, 2013)
- Residential Construction Liability: What Builders and Contractors Need to Know, Texas Builder (July 2012)
Education
Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, J.D., cum laude.
- President, International Law Review Society
Texas A&M University, B.A., History and Political Science, magna cum laude.
- National Merit Scholar, President’s Scholarship, Galen T. Brown Foundation Scholar
Speaking Engagements
- Jury Charges in Construction Cases, 38th Annual Construction Law Conference, San Antonio, Texas 3/7/2025
- Construction Law Update, Rockwall County Bar Association, September 13, 2023
- The Road Less Traveled in Residential Construction Litigation, March 2, 2023
- So You Want to Be a Construction Lawyer?; Top Ten Tips for the Under-A-Decade Lawyer, May 19, 2022
- Residential Construction Litigation: 2020 and Beyond; Texas Construction Law Section Basic Course CLE, 12/11/2020
- Justice that Hits Close to Home: Trying a Residential Construction Case and What You Need to Know, 33rd Annual Construction Law Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 3/5/2020
- A Walk on the Wild Side: Residential Construction Arbitration from Demand to Final Hearing, 32nd Annual Construction Law Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 3/1/2019.
- The Basics of Residential Construction Litigation, North Dallas Bar Association, 12/11/18.
- Residential Construction Law Update, Dallas Bar Association Construction Law Section, 5/3/2018
- Tweeting through the Condo Act: Key Issues for Practitioners, Owners, and Developers in Bite-Sized Pieces, 31st Annual Construction Law Conference, San Antonio, Texas, 3/2/2018.
- The Residential Construction Liability Act: asserting and defending a residential construction claim, Texas Construction Law Section Basic Course CLE, 12/01/2017.
- The Residential Construction Liability Act: asserting and defending a residential construction claim, Texas Construction Law Section Basic Course CLE, 12/02/2016.
- Testifying in Arbitration, HOME of Texas Engineers’ Roundtable, Dallas, 10/11/2016
- The Residential Construction Liability Act: asserting and defending a residential construction claim, Texas Construction Law Section Basic Course CLE, 11/13/2015.
- Basics of Residential Construction Litigation, Dallas Bar Association—Senior Lawyers’ Committee, 9/15/2014
- Testifying in Arbitration, HOME of Texas Engineers’ Roundtable, Dallas, 4/29/2014 Construction Contracts and Risk-Transferring Strategies, Dallas Conference, 9/17/2013
- Basics of Residential Construction Litigation, North Dallas Bar Association, 9/10/2013
- Basics of Residential Construction Litigation, Rockwall Bar Association, 3/13/2013
- Construction Law Update, Dallas Builders Association—Metro East, 11/15/2012