AREAS OF EMPHASIS
- Insurance Coverage, including Subrogation Litigation
- General Business Litigation
- Agricultural and business issues
MEMBERSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
- Member State Bar of Texas (Environmental & Natural Resources Law; Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law and Tax; Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law and Tax sections)
- American Agricultural Law Association
- Admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in Texas
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
- Presented speech entitled “An Update On the Duty to Defend Under Texas Law,” Dallas Bar Association Tort & Insurance Practice Section (March 27, 2003)
- Presented speech and paper entitled “Beyond Bodily Injury: Coverage for Business Torts,” 1st Annual Advanced Insurance Law Course, State Bar of Texas (March 26, 2004)
- Authored “General Liability Coverage for Business Torts, 28 Tex. Bus. Lit. J. 33 (Fall 2006)
EDUCATION
- University of Arkansas (admitted to LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law)
- Southern Methodist University, Juris Doctorate, May 1991
- University of Texas at Dallas, Master of Science in management and administrative sciences, December 1982
- University of Oklahoma, Bachelor of Business Administration (finance), May 1979
NOTEWORTHY MATTERS
- Successfully prosecuted coverage claims via subrogation for American Indemnity in Utica National Ins. Co. v. American Indem. Co., 141 S.W.3d 198 (Tex. 2004)
- Obtained award of defense and indemnity for an underlying suit, and an award of all of my fees in Mycon Gen. Contractors, Inc. v. C&M Contracting, Inc., American Arbitration Association No. 71 110 00713 07
- Prosecuted contract and tort claims in Texzon Utilities, Ltd. v. Strategic Energy, L.L.C., American Arbitration Association No. 71 198 00063 08; working relationship restored via negotiated settlement with new contract between the parties
- Obtained release and discharge for innocent stakeholder in Merritt v. PowerMax Energy, L.L.C., No. 09-C-3649 in the County Court at Law No. 1, Ellis County, Texas
PRIOR EXPERIENCE
- 1999 to Present — owner and manager of a cow-calf operation
- 2022 to April 2024 — Asst. Professor & Accounting Program Coordinator at a local university
- 1999 to 2022 — Accounting Adjunct Instructor at 2 universities.
- 2007 to 2010 — solo practitioner, Waxahachie, TX
- 1991 to 2007 — attorney with a civil practice at 3 different downtown Dallas law firms
- 1981 to 1990 — CPA and accounting supervisor with TXO Production Co. in Dallas
RECOGNITIONS
- AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
