Houston Business Litigation Lawyers

Deceptive Trade Practices

Texas provides protection for consumers who have suffered from deceptive conduct by a business through the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA). Because many consumers rely on salespeople and/or advertising to make purchase decisions, it is important that those representations are true and not misleading. When companies are dishonest about what they are selling, consumers can be left high and dry with products that fail to live up to their expectations. This cause of action provides consumers with significant legal leverage to deter false, misleading, and deceptive business practices, along with unconscionable actions, and breaches of warranty in trade or commerce.

Under the Texas DTPA, consumers are protected against “false, misleading, and deceptive business practices, unconscionable actions, and breaches of warranty.” This means any vendor using false statements or misleading advertisements to promote products and/or services is breaking the law.

How The Texas DTPA Protects Consumers

Because individuals and businesses are not always honest, the DTPA was put in place to help safeguard consumers against companies using deceptive practices. The DTPA protects consumers from a variety of situations including:

Price gouging after an emergency or natural disaster
Making false statements about a competitor
Claiming a used product is new
Obscuring needed replacements or repairs
Lying about endorsements of a product or service
Taking advantage of language difficulties, particularly speaking English as a second language
Taking advantage of a consumer’s lack of knowledge

What To Know If You’ve Been A Victim

While the government may file charges against a company violating the DTPA, consumers also have the right to file civil lawsuits. Consumers are entitled to receive compensation for the product or service in question, and can receive compensation if they sustained injuries because of the deception. Anyone who has been a victim of deceptive trade practices should immediately contact an attorney. An attorney will be able to determine the best course action to help you get the compensation you are entitled to.

Most importantly, the DTPA mandates companies found guilty of violating the DTPA must pay the victims’ attorneys’ fees. This means filing a DTPA lawsuit does not cost the consumer anything if he or she is successful.

Walston Bowlin Callender: DTPA Lawyers

At Walston Bowlin Callender, our DTPA lawyers help victims of deceptive trade practices. Taking on a large company may seem intimidating on your own, but our lawyers have over 30 years of combined experience standing up for consumers. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.

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Our firm has had the great pleasure of using Walston Bowlin Callender on several occasions and they have always delivered. Litigation is never enjoyable and if you use the wrong attorney you will spend innumerable sleepless nights worrying about your case and whether or not you are receiving sufficient counsel. The team at Walston Bowlin Callender is as knowledgeable as I've encountered and they take an aggressive yet well measured approach to each case. The attorneys we have worked with at Walston Bowlin Callender have passionately fought for us and we couldn't be happier with the results. When it comes to litigating matters our company had used a number of different firms prior to our first engagement with Walston Bowlin Callender. Now, our first call is to Walston Bowlin Callender.

Neil Martin

Client

I've worked with Cliff Walston for many years as co-counsel on various matters and found him to be an insightful, creative, and intelligent attorney. I've had the opportunity to work with Walston Bowlin Callender as co-counsel on a complex commercial litigation matter, and I have found Josh to be a dynamic, hard working, and results oriented attorney. Based on that experience, I regularly refer cases to Walston Bowlin Callender because I am comfortable that any client they accept will be well represented by attorneys that I respect both inside and outside of the courtroom.

J. Maxwell Beatty

Partner | Diamond McCarthy LLP

Josh Bowlin represented me in a lawsuit - prior to his intervention, I was petrified and thought that the my world would come to an end... conversely, Josh calmly navigated through the details, gave me confidence along the way, and WON MY CASE! I have been an entrepreneur for decades, Josh and Cliff performed like masters during all aspects of my case. They are aggressive and know the law - these guys fear no lawyer... PERIOD! I would hire them again without hesitation.

Kevin Worfe