Dave strives to be a complete business lawyer. In 2010, after a successful 13-year career, Dave left the Dallas office of a national law firm to build his own firm. Today, Dave uses the agility of a small firm platform, and the knowledge and skills that he has developed over more than two decades as a practicing attorney and business owner, to provide personalized, high-quality service to his clients more efficiently and at a lower cost.
Dave has a sophisticated commercial litigation practice, and represents companies and individuals in the prosecution and defense of a broad range of business matters. He has more than 20-years’ first-chair experience as a trial lawyer in federal courts, state courts, and arbitrations around the country.
Dave has also developed a diverse transactional practice, serving as outside general counsel for businesses spanning a spectrum of industries including construction firms; medical practices and services organizations; commercial real estate owners; technology companies; equipment importers and distributors; product manufacturers; energy companies; restaurant groups, retailers, and entrepreneurs. Through his long-term relationships with these clients, Dave knows their businesses and their people. He is proud to be the first person they call for help – whether negotiating and closing a complex multi-million-dollar transaction, or answering a simple question about any of the many legal issues that businesses encounter every day.
In his outside general counsel role, Dave oversees and coordinates
- Business and medical practice acquisitions and sales.
- Entity structuring and formation.
- Negotiation and drafting of business contracts, licensing agreements, and strategic transactions.
- Construction contracts, projects, delays, incomplete and defective work, payment and lien issues.
- Commercial real estate purchase, sale and lease transactions.
- Capital raises and SEC and state securities law filings and reporting obligations
- Employment contracts; hiring, supervision, and termination; and advice on day-to-day HR matters.
- Risk management.
- Litigation and dispute resolution.
And when a client encounters a non-business issue requiring specialized advice, Dave acts as an “air traffic controller,” leveraging relationships that he has developed with lawyers across virtually every practice area over the past two decades to ensure that his clients are protected.
Education & Experience
- University of Texas School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1997
- Texas A&M University, B.B.A. / Finance, with honors, 1994
- Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, 1997-2010
Awards & Activities
- Super Lawyers 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023, a Thompson Reuters Service
- Texas Rising Star / Law & Politics Magazine (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) a Thompson Reuters service.
- Order of the Coif
- Texas State Bar Fellow
- Building Smiles Foundation, Board of Directors (2012-2013)
- Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP Pro Bono Chairman (2007 – 2010)
- Dallas Bar Association
- Texas A&M Association of Former Students, 12th Man Foundation
- United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Funding Allocation Panel
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Oratorical Contest Committee
- Avid runner, cyclist, skier, hiker and climber
- Co-Chairman, Jingle Bell Run Committee
- Sam’s Club MS150 / “Gardere Gearheads” (2007-2013)