legal news Archives -

DANIEL K. HAGOOD FEATURED IN WFAA STORY ON COLLAPSED FEDERAL HEALTH CARE FRAUD CASE

DALLAS, TEXAS — October 2025 — McCathern, Shokouhi, Evans Partner and Chairman of the firm’s White Collar & Government Investigations practice, Daniel K. Hagood, was featured this week in a WFAA Dallas news story after a major federal health care fraud case in Dallas collapsed due to prosecutorial misconduct, including the destruction of court-ordered evidence […]

McCATHERN, SHOKOUHI, EVANS SECURES $1.71 MILLION JURY VERDICT IN HOUSTON FRAUD CASE

HOUSTON, TEXAS — McCathern, Shokouhi, Evans is proud to announce that Partners Rodney Drinnon and David Clark obtained a $1.71 million jury verdict in favor of their client following an eight-day trial in the 295th District Court of Harris County, Texas. The case involved a real estate investment transaction in which the defendant, the general […]

PARTNER JIM SHERRY ARGUES BEFORE THE TEXAS SUPREME COURT

It is an exceptional honor to appear before the Texas Supreme Court, and on October 8th, McCathern, Shokouhi, Evans Partner Jim Sherry had that privilege. Representing both his client and our firm with distinction, Jim argued before the highest court in Texas — a milestone moment in the career of any appellate attorney. Jim appeared […]

Federal Law Update: The Corporate Transparency Act is Now in Effect

One of the many ways McCathern works to improve the lives of our clients is by always keeping our clients out of trouble and in full compliance with all applicable laws. In that spirit, we would like to make our clients aware of a new law that went into effect on January 1, 2024 and […]

Texas Law Update: What Every Business Needs to Know

Now that the dust has settled from the 87th legislative session in Texas there are several key laws from the 666 new laws that went into effect on Sept. 1 that every business operator in Texas should understand. While the highly publicized and politicized “constitutional carry” (HB 1927) or “election integrity law” (SB 1) may […]

Case Update: Waco Rope Case in the News

Originally posted in the New York Times By Julia Jacobs Nov. 1, 2018 A private school in Texas was ordered on Wednesday to pay $68,000 in damages to a black girl’s family two years after she returned from a sixth-grade school trip with severe rope burns around her neck. In 2016, the girl’s family sued […]

Twelve McCathern Attorneys Selected to 2017 Texas Rising Stars List

Law firm McCathern, PLLC is pleased to announce that eleven attorneys from the firm’s Dallas and Houston offices have been named to the 2017 Texas Rising Stars list of exceptional young lawyers. McCathern’s 2017 Texas “Rising Stars” include: McCathern Dallas: Arnold Shokouhi, Commercial Litigation & Banking Stephanie M. Almeter, Civil Litigation Brett M. Chisum, Business Litigation Farbod […]

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.”

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