Civil Trial Mediation
Commercial and Construction Disputes
All kinds of civil disputes fall in Alan’s mediation wheelhouse. His mediation practice has been heavy in disputes over:
Commercial matters, like contracts and fraud
Construction projects
Real estate
Partnership and shareholder issues
Trade secrets and non-competes
Before turning to mediation, Alan had a varied litigation practice.
Trade secret and non-compete disputes were Alan’s bread-and-butter. He routinely prosecuted and defended against these claims. The Texas Bar’s Corporate Counsel Review published two of Alan’s articles on trade secrets and non-competes.
Partnership disputes and divorces were no stranger to Alan.
Construction disputes also got Alan’s attention. In one, Alan represented a subcontractor on a highway project where a tunnel collapsed.
Alan even successfully defended against a proposed class action. Owner-operator truckers alleged that their trucking company was bilking them.
Real estate disputes were fundamental during the five years Alan spent at a large firm. That drove him deep into real estate title, probate and heirship.
Property taxes came along with Alan’s territory. He also taught property tax professionals, like appraisal district and tax office staff, about the property tax system.
Those experiences have made Alan a balanced civil trial mediator.
Personal Injury
Like every decision, a verdict or a ruling on a personal injury suit comes down to who made it. Alan knows the Houston area and Montgomery County, in particular, down deep.
Twice, Alan has run contested (and winning) political campaigns for his wife. He’s also been involved in other campaigns. Know the voters, know the jury pool.
Our judiciary is also familiar to Alan who has practiced here nearly 20 years. All the judges who try personal injury suits first took the bench since Alan has been involved in local politics. Also, Alan has long served as a conduit between the Montgomery County Bar and the judiciary. In 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, Alan spearheaded the County Bar’s first four bench-bar conferences.
Expect Alan to know something about how your judge or jury will look at your Houston personal injury case — particularly in Montgomery County.
Lessons learned
Litigation has taught Alan some lessons. The most fundamental lesson came at the Walker County Courthouse. When Alan and his mentor pulled up to the courthouse, the mentor threw his gold F-150 into park. Alan grabbed the door pull – itching to pop open the door, jump out, run into the courtroom for his first hearing and kick some butt.
The mentor put up his hand, “Wait, let’s pray.”
Alan said to himself: “Great! I really respect this guy, and he’s about to pray for us to win. Now we’re set.”
The mentor folded his hands and prayed, “Heavenly Father, be with us today. We pray that your justice be done. Amen.”
It sank in. Justice might not be what counsel wants for the client. Drive hard, but let the result go.
Since then, life experiences have taught Alan about civil trial work. He has written for Texas Lawyer about how his work as a winning campaign manager taught lessons about negotiating and civil trial advocacy. He also wrote about lessons learned from:
Spending a day on an oil rig
Stepping into the boxing ring for a real-deal fight against a much heavier opponent
Courtrooms
Alan has litigated civil trial disputes across Texas. He is prepared to weigh in as a civil trial mediator.
Although the bulk of Alan’s civil trial work happened in Houston and in Montgomery County, he has appeared in Brazos, Crockett, Travis, Trinity and Walker Counties. Alan has worked many federal cases in the Southern District of Texas, but has also ventured into the Western and Northern Districts of Texas.
Arbitration also drew in Alan’s clients. He handled arbitration matters before the AAA and JAMS.