Practice Areas and General Experience

Twenty four years of practice as an attorney and insurance underwriter in the following areas: property and casualty insurance coverage, bad faith, claims handling practices, insurance statutory claims, insurance regulations, retrospective rating, premium calculation, insurance audits, insurance class action insurance,and Stowers claims.

Employment History

Brown, Dean, Wiseman, Liser, Proctor & Hart, L.L.P.
Fort Worth, Texas
2003 to 2005
Position: Senior Attorney

My practice primarily involved insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, insurance coverage opinions and analysis, insurance class action litigation, and appellate work. Some of my accomplishments included:

Drafted arbitration briefs in a $3.6 million insurance arbitration, in which our client prevailed

Obtained summary judgment for our client in an insurance bad faith case

Successfully defended against numerous summary judgment motions, which resulted in our clients obtaining favorable settlement terms



Travelers Insurance Group
Dallas, Texas
2000-2003
Position: In house coverage counsel

I handled virtually all of the in house insurance coverage litigation for the Dallas regional office, which included all of Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. The other part of my practice involved providing coverage opinions and legal advice to claims and underwriting personnel, training claims personnel on legal and coverage issues, and representing the company at mediations. Some of my accomplishments included:

Prevailed in a $250,000 insurance arbitration with another insurance carrier

Obtained summary judgment in a $500,000 insurance coverage case

Obtained summary judgment in a $350,000 insurance bad faith case

Obtained summary judgment in a $150,000 insurance bad faith case

Settled numerous cases on terms favorable to the company



Jackson Walker, L.L.P.
Dallas, Texas
1990-2000
Position: Non Equity Partner

I began my legal career at Jackson Walker as an associate in 1990. I made non equity partner in 1997. My practice was very similar to my practice at the Brown Dean firm, and included insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, insurance coverage opinions and analysis, insurance class action litigation, and appellate work. Briefed and argued several successful appeals, both as part of a legal team and as first chair appellate counsel


Employers Casualty Company
Dallas, Texas
1978-1987
Position: Director of Commercial Casualty Underwriting

I began my professional career as a commercial casualty underwriter in 1978. I was promoted to senior underwriter in 1979, underwriting supervisor in 1980, and underwriting director in 1982. In this capacity, I reported directly to the underwriting vice president and had underwriting responsibility for a $40 million book of commercial casualty insurance business. I supervised ten underwriters and underwriting assistants.


Legal Education

Southern Methodist University
J.D., 1990
Class rank: 7th of 229
Honors: Order of the Coif, Southwestern Law Journal Editor


Undergraduate Education


University of Texas at Arlington
B.A. Economics, 1978
GPA: 3.93/4.00
Honors: Summa Cum Laude, Beta Gamma Sigma, Alpha Chi


Professional Designations

Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter ("CPCU")


Bar Admissions

All state courts in the State of Texas
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas


Publications/Presentations

Authored and lectured on "The Standard Auto Insurance Agreement," presented at the Texas Auto Insurance and Accident Litigation Seminar, sponsored by Lorman Educational Services, in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Authored and lectured on "Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation," presented at the Texas Auto Insurance and Accident Litigation Seminar, sponsored by Lorman Educational Services, in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Authored and lectured on "Insurance and Contractual Risk Transfer Provisions in Construction Contracts," presented at the Texas Construction Law Seminar, sponsored by Lorman Educational Services, in 2004.

Authored and lectured on "First Party Bad Faith," presented at the Insurance Bad Faith Claims in Texas Seminar, sponsored by Lorman Educational Services, in 2005.

Lectured on "What is an Occurrence?," presented at the Advanced Insurance Law Seminar, sponsored by the University of Houston Law Center, in 1999.