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Evan Selik and Christine Zaouk Earn Victory in Class Action Case

McCathern Los Angeles attorneys Evan Selik and Christine Zaouk recently won a significant victory for their 790 clients who are former and current employees of employees of a box manufacturing company. This was a result of a prolonged legal battle over wage and hour violations. The company had shorted these employees of overtime wages, and […]

McCathern Adds Corporate Services Attorney Tarig Anani to Dallas Office

McCathern, Shokouhi, Evans, Grinke is excited to announce that experienced corporate services and business lawyer Tarig Anani has joined the firm’s Dallas office as a Partner. Tarig brings three decades of specialized counsel to the firm and is already having a positive impact on McCathern clients. Tarig’s experience includes working as an outside General Counsel […]

Arnold Shokouhi Elected a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation

McCathern is proud to announce that Managing Partner Arnold Shokouhi was recently elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. The distinction is a recognition of Arnold’s professional achievements, commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout Texas, and his contributions to the legal profession. Each year only one-third of one […]

Paul Grinke Selected by National Trial Lawyers to Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers List

McCathern is excited to announce that Frisco Managing Partner Paul Grinke has been selected by The National Trial Lawyers to their Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Texas list for Civil Plaintiff attorneys. Paul has over two decades of courtroom experience at the national level, litigating and trying catastrophic events and complex commercial claims as well […]

Attorney Brandon N. Paine Joins McCathern Los Angeles Office

McCathern is excited to announce that attorney Brandon N. Paine has joined its Los Angeles office. Brandon is a valuable addition to the firm’s Media & Entertainment Law practice, as he brings with him substantial media industry experience and a passion for his clients and seeing their creative projects succeed. In addition, Brandon will assist […]

Partner Kelli Hawley Retires After Decades of Legal Counsel and Leadership

Partner Kelli G. Hawley is retiring from the day-to-day practice of law after nearly four decades of counsel. Kelli most recently served as the Managing Partner of McCathern’s Los Angeles office. She will continue as an Of Counsel attorney at the firm, assisting her current clients as needed. Kelli was a founding partner at the […]

Dallas’ Almeter and Cromwell Make 2023 D Magazine Best Lawyers Under 40 List

McCathern is proud to announce that Dallas Partners Stephanie M. Almeter and Jesse Cromwell were again named to D Magazine’s Best Lawyers Under 40 list. The 2023 list is published in the January issue of D Magazine, and it recognizes many of the best young attorneys in the North Texas region. To create the list, D Magazine asks attorneys […]

McCathern Attorneys Secure Jury Verdict for Client

McCathern is proud to announce another recent trial victory for a client. In this most recent matter, our client was represented by Managing Partner Arnold Shokouhi, Partner James “Jim” Sherry, and Associate Attorney Shane Eghbal, all from the firm’s Dallas office. McCathern represented the 75% owner of a recreational vehicle park located in Bryan County, […]

Jury Awards $675K to McCathern Client for Theft of Services

McCathern Frisco Partner Ty Sheaks, along with Partners Scott Becker and Jen Falk, who picked not one but two juries, won a jury verdict recently in the 439th District Court of Texas in Rockwall County after a week-long trial. McCathern’s client, Platinum Construction, is a family-owned construction company who alleged defendants stole labor by directing […]

McCathern Honored at 2022 Dallas 100 Entrepreneur Awards

McCathern is proud to be named the 80th fastest-growing privately held business in the North Texas region for 2022 by the SMU Cox Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship. The Institute revealed the order of the 2022 Dallas 100 list at Wednesday night’s Dallas 100 Awards Gala held at the Hyatt Regency Dallas hotel and a group of […]

PROSPER ISD PARENTS QUESTION DISTRICT RESPONSE TO BUS DRIVER ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STUDENTS

December 15, 2025

Author: Rebecca Lopez with WFAA Watch the interview here. PROSPER, Texas — Parents of two young girls who say they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by a Prosper ISD school bus driver are speaking out about what they describe as serious failures by the district — including delayed notification to families and promised safety changes they say were never fully implemented. The parents asked that they not be identified to protect their children, who were just elementary school age at the time of the abuse. In a lawsuit filed in 2023, the girls — identified only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 — allege former bus driver Frank Paniagua assaulted them repeatedly during the 2021–2022 school year. According to the lawsuit, Paniagua would wait until other students exited the bus, then assault the girls, sometimes holding one child back so he could take her to the rear of the bus. Attorneys say the abuse occurred over several months and was captured on bus surveillance video. How the abuse was discovered The girls’ mother said the abuse came to light after their grandmother noticed troubling comments about gift cards offered by the bus driver. When the mother later questioned the girls again, they disclosed what had been happening. Prosper ISD police reviewed surveillance video from the bus in May 2022. Paniagua was arrested two days later and charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and indecency with a child. Paniagua later died after jumping from the second floor of the Collin County Jail while awaiting trial. Concerns about delayed notifications Attorneys for the family say more than 100 days passed after Paniagua’s arrest before Prosper ISD publicly acknowledged the allegations — a delay parents say may have prevented other potential victims from being identified. At a packed school board meeting, Prosper ISD parent Morgan Grahovec, a child psychologist whose daughter attended the same school as the victims, told trustees that delays in notifying parents can have serious consequences. “Children who are victims of abuse need to be identified and interviewed as soon as possible because memory fades over time,” Grahovec said. “The longer you wait, it’s harder to get a child to report abuse accurately.” Parents at those meetings called for Superintendent Holly Ferguson’s resignation, arguing district leaders should have acted sooner and communicated more transparently. Ferguson did not step down, instead promising changes to safety protocols. District response and former statement In an earlier written statement to WFAA, Prosper ISD said it took appropriate action once allegations surfaced: “We are horrified that an employee violated the trust of our families and students, as Prosper ISD’s foremost priority is to protect our students’ safety and well-being at all times. We strongly condemn the actions of any adult who would cause mental or physical harm to a child, and we do not tolerate such behavior.” The district has declined additional comment, citing pending litigation. Disputed claims about safety changes Prosper ISD previously told parents it would implement additional safeguards, including increased supervision during bus drop-offs, a volunteer “bus buddy” program, and improved monitoring of bus surveillance video. But the parents and their attorneys say those changes were not consistently put in place. Attorney Levi McCathern says the district does not regularly review bus surveillance footage — even though video captured the alleged abuse in this case. “You would think the first thing you would do after this happens is change your monitoring program,” McCathern said. “They don’t monitor them at all.” McCathern and co-counsel Kristin Hecker say the lawsuit is aimed at forcing policy changes rather than seeking financial gain. Questions about oversight and leadership The case has also raised broader concerns about district leadership and oversight. Prosper ISD’s school board president later resigned in an unrelated child abuse case, further shaking confidence among some parents. Families have also questioned the independence of the district’s internal review, noting that the law firm hired to investigate the district’s response is also defending Prosper ISD in the lawsuit. “All we want is an independent investigation,” McCathern said. Parents push for accountability and change The parents say their children remain enrolled in Prosper ISD, but they continue to press for reforms they believe could prevent similar abuse. “We want justice for our kids,” the girls’ mother said. “But we also want changes to happen at the district so that this doesn’t happen to other children.”

Author: Matthew Kellogg