After graduating with distinction in economics is from Stanford University, David received his law degree magna cum laude from  Harvard Law School in 1980.  He then clerked for a United States  District Judge on the Northern District of California in San Francisco,  before moving to Houston in 1981.  David has been a civil trial lawyer  in Houston since that time.  He is a Fellow in the Chartered Institute  of Arbitrators (“CIArb”).   Some of David's legal experience  is summarized below.

Over the years, David has handled a wide  variety of litigation and arbitration matters.  The litigation has  ranged from workers comp to antitrust, securities, energy and complex  commercial litigation.  During his career, his practice was sometimes  defense oriented and, at other times, it was plaintiff oriented.  At  various periods before founding his current firm, David was a partner at  one of Houston's largest law firms and practiced at several  firms: Fulbright & Jaworski; Greenberg Peden P.C.; Miller Keeton  Bristow Brown; Bishop, Peterson & Sharp, P.C.; Beirne Maynard &  Parsons L.L.P; and Gunderson Sharp LLP.  David has represented and sued  Fortune 500 Companies, smaller companies, and individuals.  He has  handled matters on both sides of the docket in antitrust and securities  cases, including class actions.  He has also had experience in various  types of energy litigation, including most recently representing  plaintiffs in royalty underpayment class actions in Kansas, Colorado and  Oklahoma.  For a number of years, David was  in charge of a large toxic  tort docket on the defense side and managed a team of lawyers and  paralegals that routinely had 30-35 trial settings per month.  His  experience also includes numerous construction disputes, insurance  coverage matters, contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims,  legal malpractice, representation of  securities broker dealers, and  representation of plaintiffs and defendants in personal injury cases,  including a long running case involving the death or injury of numerous  people in a foreign country, application of a foreign country’s law in a  state court, and taking of testimony via letters rogatory proceedings  in a foreign country.  He has handled arbitration matters before the  American Arbitration Association, the National Association of Securities  Dealers and, as it became known, the Financial Industry Regulatory  Authority, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Municipal  Securities Rulemaking Board, and ad hoc arbitrations under private  agreement.  David has drafted arbitration agreements and successfully  sued to force arbitrations. For several years, he was on the New York  Stock Exchange's approved arbitrator list.  Complex conflicts of law  issues have arisen in matters various matters that he has handed  including one involving ownership of funds transferred by a Swiss power  of attorney that survived death under Swiss law and possible application  of Swiss, New York or Texas law and another involving a choice not only  between Texas and Louisiana law, but between the Louisiana UCC and the  law that predated its then recent enactment.   

David has  tried cases to jury verdict in state and federal courts. He has been  arbitration counsel before the ICC, MSRB, NASD/FINRA, and AAA as well as  counsel in ad hoc proceedings that did not utilize an arbitral forum.   He has also appeared as appellate counsel on briefs in numerous state  and federal courts.  He has argued numerous motions to trial courts and  appeals in both the federal and state system. Of course, David has also  been involved in negotiating numerous settlements, both with and without  mediation.

In the October 2014 Term, David was co-counsel and at counsel table in the United States Supreme Court argument of Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co., LLC v. Owens, 135 S.Ct. 547 (2014).  Some other cases (not including arbitrations) in  which David was lead or cocounsel include the following: Hershey v. ExxonMobil Oil Corp, No. 07-1300-JTM, 2012 WL 5306260, aff'd inpart and remainder dismissed, Nos. 12–3309, 13–3029, 550 F. App'x. 566 (10th Cir. Dec. 16, 2013)(royalty owners class action); Fitzgerald v. Chesapeake Operating, et. al.,  Case No. CJ-10-38, 2015 WL 5794007, 5794008 & 5794010 (Beaver  County, Okla. Dist. Ct.,  July 2, 2015) (royalty owners class action); Eatinger v. BP America Production,  2012 WL 4006472 ( D. Kan., Sep 12, 2012), aff'd, 528 Fed.Appx. 859 ( 10th Cir.,  Jun 27, 2013)(royalty owners class action);  Hockett v. Trees Oil Co.,  292 Kan. 213, 251 P.3d 65 (2011), as corrected (June 20,  2011)(established that Kansas Conservation Fee could not be deducted by  producers from payments to royalty owners); In re U.S. Silica,  Co., 157 S.W.3d 434 (Tex. 2005) (representing lead defendant; procedural  implications of multiple filings in one judicial district); Piggly Wiggly Clarksville, et. al. v. Mrs. Baird's Bakeries, Inc., et. al.,  Civil No. 3:95 CV48 in the United States District Court for the Eastern  District of Texas, Paris Division (on plaintiffs steering committee;  antitrust class action); In re Securities Corporation International, C.A. No. H-99-0280 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (securities class action); Davis, et. al. v. Universal Maintenance & Construction, Inc., Cause No. 1980-22739 in the 133rd Judicial District Court of Harris  County, Texas (lead defense trial counsel; 3rd degree burns products and  negligent construction case tried to jury verdict); Crown Central Petroleum v. Oiltanking of Texas, et.al., Cause No. 1980-22739 in the 243th Judicial District Court of  Harris County, Texas (lead counsel at trial for defendant electrical  contractor, tried to jury verdict); Mescalero Oil & Gas Company, et. al. v. Citizens Gas Supply, et. al, Case  No. H-90-575 in the United States District Court for the Southern  District of Texas and, later, Case No. 93-25306 in the 11th Judicial  District Court of Harris County, Texas (lead counsel for  defendant/counterclaimant in two jury trials concerning an oil and gas  joint venture involving sour gas wells, gathering line and take or pay  settlement payments);   Mitchell, et. al. v. Chevron U.S.A. , 1:86-cv-0185 (represented defendant Fortune 500 engineering and construction contractor in industrial accident death case); Billy Baird v. Valspar, et. al., ​Case  B-86-0667 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District  of Texas, Beaumont Division (lead trial counsel for a Fortune 500  engineering and construction firm in double operated back case tried to  jury verdict); Atlas Global Group, L.P. v. Grupo Dataflux, 312 F.3d 168 (5th Cir. 2002) (involved only post-trial through 5th Circuit appeal), reversed,Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P.,  541 U.S. 567 (2004)(case concerned rules regarding diversity  jurisdiction in removed cases where jurisdiction was lacking upon  removal but would have been proper at time of trial and judgment) and,  represented an amicus curiae supporting petitioner in Highland Homes Ltd v. The State of Texas, 448 S.W.3d 403 (2014). 
 

David  is admitted to practice in Texas, Kansas, the United States Supreme  Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth and  Tenth Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Districts  of Colorado, Kansas, and the Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western  Districts of Texas.  He has also appeared by permission or pro hac  vice in proceedings in the Republic of Panama, the States of Tennessee  and Oklahoma, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit,  United States District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois,  the Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of Oklahoma, the District of  Delaware, and the District of Wyoming. He serves on the Board of  Directors of Texas Appleseed and is an Eagle Scout.