Law Offices of Eric Cedillo, PC

There's a special corner in our office, dedicated to a person who has had a profound impact on this law firm, and to our community at large. Her award wall proudly displays decades of appreciation from local Dallas high schools and juvenile outreach programs, local businesses, Hispanic-led organizations, and faith-based nonprofits.

Mrs. Helen Cedillo, our founder's mother, played a huge role in shaping him to be the person he is today. She worked hard to provide for her family and for her community, and she always did it with heart. When our founder first started this firm back in the 90s, Mrs. Helen was one of the first people to join the team. She was a client favorite. As our founder's biggest supporter, Mrs. Helen always encouraged him to advocate strongly for his clients, while treating everyone with respect - core values that our firm strives to uphold to this day.

We wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for Mrs. Helen, so we thank her and hope that she is proudly watching over our office from heaven.

From the Law Offices of Eric Cedillo,
Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing mothers everywhere!

Friends and Family ask what type of law we practice, (even really close ones) so thought I’d post up an old school business card for nostalgia’s sake. 😉 We mainly do Personal Injury and Immigration but have an attorney who does Family, Criminal and Probate as well. Give us a call for all your legal needs! (Take a look at card for number!) 😉 Thanks Guys!

Law Offices of Eric Cedillo, PC | Attorney Services | Dallas, TX 214-740-1628 - Find your attorneys to represent you regarding divorce, criminal law, personal injury, and child custody disputes at the Law Offices of Eric Cedillo, PC.

March to the Polls March to the Polls (MTTP) is a non-partisan organization dedicated to fostering a more just and equitable democracy through voter empowerment. Our mission is to substantially increase participation in the electoral process by historically underrepresented citizens (primarily people of color, low inc...

Hello All, if you've been hurt in an accident, give us a call..214-740-1628..

FROZEN PIPES, DE-REGULATION AND EXTREME FINGER POINTING:

Not sure where I first heard it but I recall as a kid hearing that when you point your finger at someone, at least three fingers are pointing back at you. Over the last few days the State of Texas has experienced our decennial cold spree. This year however, we've additionally been hit with what amounts to one of the most avoidable, slowest rolling blackouts we've ever experienced.

I recall in the mid 80's many days in the dark because of the ice storm which downed power lines and required that the lines be physically repaired before the power could be returned. Recently, many sustained blackouts for days, not because of downed power lines but because our State failed us in how we run our electric power grid. Ercot, the Electric Reliability (irony) Council of Texas, runs our power grid. They are a private non profit 501(c)(4) run by a CEO who makes over 750K per year and a board of directors. They are quasi governmental in function but not in composition, and probably purposefully so. As a private group, they don't have to adhere to certain government mandated transparency laws like open meetings. This organization runs over 90% of the entire Texas grid. The Governor immediately placed the blame on them for the unprepared response to the storm. However, it is the PUC, Public Utility Commission that oversees Ercot. Many of the members of the PUC commission are Abbott appointees.

In 2011, this same bad weather happened which led to extended rolling blackouts and a big black eye to our area because of the impact it had on the Super Bowl at Jerry World. We paid lip service to the requisite need to effect change, the PUC went so far as to say through suggestion that Ercot require power suppliers to "winterize" their equipment. No mandate was issued and of course nothing of substance was done. Why? Cost too much.

Sunday night, many of the Power suppliers began going off-line because their equipment was improperly "winterized" and began failing. Surprise, surprise! As demand rose, capacity went down and thus the need for rolling blackouts. Additionally, the cost of a megawatt of electricity rose exponentially and probably led to automatic shutdown based on the software used by Ercot. Where a megawatt can cost roughly 40 Dollars on average, the amount for a single megawatt can run up to 9 thousand dollars if the demand is there! Another, governmental allowance and an expense that is ultimately borne by you and me. Once it hits this amount, automatic shutdowns, blackouts, can occur. Why? Cost too much.

This was all foreseeable! People have died (I'm thinking of the little boy who froze in his bed in Conroe) and billions in property damage has been sustained because of the failure to regulate and require what 49 other states mandate. Who suffers because of this? We do! How and why do we continue to allow this to happen? Because we continue to hire (elect) the same bought and sold political finger pointers currently at the helm. The CEO of Ercot recently came out and said we were lucky because we were seconds from a total failure that could have caused a blackout for months. Is this true? If so, why do we have such a vulnerable system that could plunge us into darkness for months because of the incompetence of the organization running the grid? If not true, it's a good way to keep us thanking our lucky stars that it wasn't worse while they continue to do nothing to fix it.

In 2016, the Panda Company sued Ercot for misstatements they say Ercot made which Panda relied on to come to Texas and build 3 Power Plants at a cost of over 2 Billion dollars. They maintain that Ercot said that Texas was way underserved regarding Power Capacity and that new Power Plants were very much needed. Ercot realized that this became misleading, mainly because of many new wind turbines coming on line, but did nothing to change their analysis. Panda spends a whole lotta money to build the Plants but can't recoup the expense because of so much competition they were told didn't exist. Panda sues Ercot and Ercot asserts it's entitled to Sovereign Immunity because of its performance of a governmental function and that the lawsuit should be dismissed. The case has been heard by the Texas Supreme Court and we are currently awaiting a ruling. If they rule Ercot is entitled to Sovereign Immunity, they may be able to continue their misleading statements with civil impunity.

Regulation isn't all bad. Believe it or not it can tend to protect people like you and me. It might cut into corporate profits but at least we can avoid the loss of life and property that comes with unchecked corporate greed. Maybe today isn't the day to shine a light on the Finger pointers, as many of us try to fix our busted water pipes or find potable drinking water, but perhaps next week we'll be ready. I'm free next Wednesday, how about you?