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ATTORNEY / MEDIATOR
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
Litigation Experience
Thirty years of practice, primarily representing businesses and insurers. More than sixty jury and nonjury trials and hundreds of mediations and “near trials” in a broad range of cases: contract and other business litigation, insurance coverage questions, first party "bad faith" insurance claims, arson and fraudulent insurance claims, construction, products liability, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, and other personal injury cases.
Appellate Experience
First chair on more than thirty appeals, including published opinions and several frequently cited cases.
Certifications and Honors
Board Certified: Civil Litigation, Texas Board of Legal Specialization 1992-present
Board Certified: Personal Injury Trial, Texas Board of Legal Specialization 1992-present
Mediation Certification A.A. White Dispute Resolution Center March, 2009
Named: Texas Monthly Super Lawyer 2003, 2005, 2007,
2009, 2010
MEMBERSHIPS AND ADMISSIONS
Admitted to
The Supreme Court of the United States of America
The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
The United States District Court for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas
The State Bar of Texas
Member
State Bar of Texas; Houston Bar Association; Texas Association of Defense Counsel; Defense Research Institute; Houston Medical-Legal Society; Texas Bar Foundation; Houston Bar Foundation; Sports Law Association; Litigator, Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (1989-1996); Investigator, Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee (1989-1996)
EMPLOYMENT
Taylor, Taylor & Russell, Founding Partner, May, 1995 (formerly Taylor & Taylor)
Floyd, Taylor & Riley, Founding Partner, July, 1986-May, 1995
Butler & Binion, Associate attorney, May, 1981-July, 1986
EDUCATION
University of Michigan, J.D., May 1981; Licensed October, 1981
University of Texas, B.A., Liberal Arts (Honors Program), May 1978, with Honors
ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS
Speaker: Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan’s Civil Litigation Seminar Series: “Voir Dire and the Jury Charge - How to Master Two Essential Trial Skills that are often Overlooked” — May 2011
Harris County Democratic Lawyer Association: “Voir Dire - How to Master An Essential Trial Skill” — March 2011
Houston Bar Association: “Voir Dire and the Jury Charge - How to Master Two Essential Trial Skills that are often Overlooked” –– June 2010
Houston Bar Association: “Voir Dire and the Jury Charge - How to Master Two Essential Trial Skills that are often Overlooked” –– November 2009
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “Insureds Gone Wild: Fraud, Policy Conditions & Insurer Alternatives” –– January 2009
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “Guide Two? The Duty to Defend After Guide One” — January 2008
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: Experts in Insurance Cases: “Practice, Tactics and Limits” — January 2007
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: Experts in Insurance Cases: “Uses, Abuses, and Daubert” - January 2006
Medicine and Law Committee of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section: “Toxic Mold: Myth or Mayhem?” — May 2003
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “Challenging Experts in Insurance Claims” — 2003
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “Homeowner Coverage Issues” — 2002
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “Witness Preparation” — 2000
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “The Proper Defendants” — 1999
Texas Insurance Law Symposia: “How to Win Your Case In Voir Dire” — 1998
Taylor, Taylor & Russell Seminar: Wearing the Bull’s Eye — 1999
Texas Automobile Insurance Law Seminar — 1998
Texas Insurance Law Seminar – From Nuts and Bolts to Tips and Tricks — 1997, 1998
Texas Insurance Law Bad Faith Claims Seminar — 1994 & 1995
Author: “Voir Dire and the Jury Charge - How to Master Two Essential Trial Skills that are often Overlooked” –– June 2010
“Voir Dire and the Jury Charge - How to Master Two Essential Trial Skills that are often Overlooked” –– November 2009
“Responding to the Fraud Case” –– January 2009
“Guide Two? The Duty to Defend After Guide One” — January 2008
“Experts in Insurance Cases: Practice, Tactics and Limits” — January 2007
“Experts in Insurance Cases: Uses, Abuses, and Daubert”–– January 2006
“Toxic’ Mold: Defense Perspective” — May 2003
“Homeowner Coverage Issues (Or, How the Texas Supreme Court Accidentally Slew the Golden Goose, Opened Pandora’s Box and Changed the Nature of Insurance in Texas)” — 2002
“Good Faith Witness Preparation in a Bad Faith Age” — November 2000
“Detecting Insurance Fraud and Pursuing False Claims” - March 2000
“Identifying the Proper Defendants” — November 1999
“10 Cases Every Adjuster Should Know” — June 1999
“Alternatives to Suit: Judicial Interpretation of the Appraisal Clause” — June 1999
“When Is It Over? Statutes of Limitations on Insurance Claims” — June 1999
“How to Win Your Case In Voir Dire - A Defense Perspective” — November 1998
“Defending an “Evil Empire”? Seven Steps to Courtroom Success in Defending Insurance Companies,” The Texas Lawyer — September 1997
“Appellate Review of Jury Verdicts Finding a Breach of Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing” — 1995
“Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Insurance Code Update” — 1995
“The Third Party Extra-Contractual Cause of Action in Texas: Does One Exist?” — 1994
“Appellate Review of Jury Verdicts Finding a Breach of Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing” — 1994
Commercial / Contract 