I have been a trial lawyer for 25 years. I joined Vinson & Elkins, L.P. in 1986 upon graduation from law school, and after seventeen years at V&E as an associate and then partner, formed Fossi & Jewell LLP in 2004 with Lawrence Fossi, with whom I was in practice for the next seven years.

My focus has been commercial cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as arbitration proceedings conducted by the American Arbitration Association, by the NASD and FINRA, or under private arrangements between the parties. My docket divides about evenly between plaintiffs and defendants, and my cases involve a wide range of contract disputes and business torts.

In one recent twelve-month period, I won a $1 million jury verdict in Michigan state court for an individual against his former employer for intentional infliction of emotional distress; persuaded a federal court in Dallas to enter summary judgment for a defendant preferred provider organization on breach of contract and ERISA claims; won a reversal in the Texas Supreme Court of an adverse court of appeals opinion in a breach of contract case against a governmental entity; was awarded summary judgment on tortious interference claims brought against my client, a multi-billion dollar global investment firm; and settled, a week before trial in Texas state court, a multi-million dollar case against a real estate developer client on highly favorable terms (made possible by earlier rulings in our favor on motions for summary judgment).

I graduated from the University of Kansas, B.A. in English with honors in 1978, and received an M.B.A. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1983, where I was chosen by the faculty for membership in the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma. I graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1986, magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, and was an associate editor of the Michigan Law Review.

I am a member of the Texas Bar, and am admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern, and Eastern Districts of Texas and the Western District of Michigan.

I am a member of the Texas and Houston Bar Associations, and a Fellow of the Texas and Houston Bar Foundations. I have served on the boards of several charitable and community organizations.