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David Coale

Widely recognized as one of the top appellate lawyers in Texas, David Coale’s diverse experience ranges from sophisticated constitutional issues in the United States Supreme Court to defense of a payphone operator before a Tarrant County Justice of the Peace. He is among the few lawyers to have handled a matter in all fourteen of the Texas intermediate courts of appeal, and is the only known Texas appellate lawyer who has been fictionalized in a romance-novel series as the lawyer for an outlaw motorcycle gang.

A frequent commentator on legal issues, David publishes 600camp.com, a popular blog about business cases in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and 600commerce.com, a similar blog about the Dallas Court of Appeals and Texas Supreme Court. His recent articles have appeared in Slate, Salon, the Times of Israel, and the Cornell Law Review Online.

  • Obtained affirmance of a substantial judgment for a landlord in a dispute alleging “force majeure” arising from COVID shutdown orders. BB Fit, LP v. EREP Preston Trail II, LLC, 2023 WL 7401501 (Tex. App.—Dallas Nov. 9, 2023, no pet. h.).
  • Obtained reinstatement of a dismissed case about a contract to sell a house originally built by Roger Staubach. Aflalo v. Harris, 2023 WL 2522206 (Tex. App.—Dallas March 15, 2023, pet. denied)
  • Obtained affirmance of a defense judgment in a multi-million-dollar contract claim about processing payments in the federal food stamp program; tort claims continue. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Xerox State & Local Solutions, Inc., 663 S.W.3d 569 (Tex. 2023)
  • Obtained affirmance of dismissal of claims against an out-of-state attorney for lack of personal jurisdiction. Hinduja Global Solution, Inc. v. Ganjaei, 2023 WL 179898 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 13, 2023, pet. denied)
  • Obtained complete reversal of a $1 million-plus judgment, entered after a jury trial, about an allegedly wrongful commercial eviction. Virtuolotry v. Westwood Motorcars, 2022 WL 1769232 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 1, 2022, pet. filed).
  • Obtained reinstatement of a dismissed case involving several thousand pilots’ losses from the grounding of the 737 MAX. SWAPA v. Boeing, 2022 WL 951027 (Tex. App.—Dallas March 30, 2022, pet. filed).
  • Obtained complete reversal of a $1 million-plus judgment in a landlord-tenant dispute. AMLI Downtown Austin, L.P. v. Peli Peli Austin, LLC, 2022 WL 722762 (Tex. App.—Austin March 11, 2022, pet. denied).
  • Successfully defended the denial of a TCPA motion to dismiss in a high-profile business defamation case. Marble Ridge Capital LP v. Neiman Marcus Group, Inc., 611 S.W.3d 113 (Tex. App.–Dallas 2020, pet. dism'd).
  • Obtained affirmance of a take-nothing judgment in a multi-million dollar dispute about the development of an “energy tea” product line. Jacked Up, LLC v. Sara Lee Corp., 807 Fed. Appx. 344 (5th Cir. 2020).
  • Successfully argued for dismissal, on personal jurisdiction grounds, of a bellwether case about federal securities claims in state court. Venator Materials PLC v. Macomb County Employees’ Retirement System, 2020 WL 289296 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 21, 2020, no pet.)
  • Obtained reversal of a “bet the business” case for a short-line railroad in the Texas Panhandle. BNSF Railway v. Panhandle Northern R.R., 946 F.3d 705 (5th Cir. 2020)
  • Obtained substantial affirmance of a multi-million dollar judgment in an oil-and-gas case, Stephens v. Three Finger Black Shale P’ship, 580 S.W.3d 687 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2018, pet. denied).
  • Obtained reversal of a summary judgment in a major tire-failure case. Medina v. Michelin, 2018 WL 580263 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 29, 2018, no pet.); recognized as “Appellate Lawyer of the Week“ by Texas Lawyer for this win
  • Appellate counsel for the team that won a $135 million judgment in Mesa Petroleum Partners v. Baytech LLP et al., (Reeves County, Dec.
    8, 2017)
  • Appellate counsel for Energy Transfer Partners in its $550 million dispute with Enterprise Products Partners.
  • Recognized as “Best Lawyers” (Appellate and Commercial Litigation) by D Magazine in 2008-2011, 2014-2024
  • Named as one of “500 Leading Litigators in America,” by Lawdragon, 2022, 2024
  • Named “Leading Appellate Attorney of the Year in Texas” by Acquisition International, 2022
  • Honored as a “Leader in His Field” by Chambers & Partners USA Guide to Leading Lawyers – Appellate Litigation (Texas) Lawyers,
    2022
  • Named “Lawyer of the Year” in DFW appellate law by Best Lawyers, 2021
  • Awarded “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation, 2021-2024
  • Received the “Legal Innovator” award by Texas Lawyer, 2020
  • Senior Fellow, Litigation Council of America, 2020-2024
  • Named “Best Lawyers in America” (Appellate and Commercial Litigation) by Best Lawyers, 2012-2024
  • Selected as “Texas Super Lawyer,” by Super Lawyers, 2003-2023 (Top 100 in DFW, 2014-2019, 2023 and Top 100 in Texas, 2015, 2017, 2019)
  • Recognized as “Best Lawyers” (Appellate and Commercial Litigation) by D Magazine in 2008-2011, 2014-2020, 2022
  • Received the “Texas Trailblazers” award by Texas Lawyer, 2019
  • Profiled as a "Defender," one of 15 leading defense lawyers, by the Dallas Business Journal, 2009
  • Law Clerk, Hon. Patrick Higginbotham, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • University of Texas School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1993
    • Chief Articles Editor, Texas Law Review
    • Order of the Coif
  • Harvard University, B.A., cum laude, 1990
    • National Policy Debate Champion, 1990