Overview
Mr. Jefferson is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with extensive experience in complex commercial, fiduciary litigation, professional malpractice, real estate, construction defect, insurance, employment and tort litigation and regularly tries cases as lead counsel in district, county and probate court as well as arbitration. Mr. Jefferson has tried to verdict cases in four different states. He also provides outside general counsel services to a variety of leading business entities and law firms. In the courtroom, he has handled some of the highest profile lawsuits in Texas. Mr. Jefferson has appeared on numerous national television broadcasts, including CNN, Dateline, Good Morning America and the Oprah Winfrey Show. His strengths involve fiduciary litigation, the law of lawyering, insurance law, and coverage issues involving technology, copyright, intellectual property, and the media, employment law, tort law and real estate and construction law. In 2008, Mr. Jefferson was elected into membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates, an organization that certifies only experienced first-chair jury trial attorneys into membership. In 2019, he was awarded the Joseph S. Horrigan Award for Fiduciary Litigation Excellence by the State Bar of Texas. Recently, Best Lawyers named him 2024 Lawyer of the Year in Houston, TX for Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants.
Honors & Awards
Elected Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates
Recepient: The Joseph S. Horrigan Award for Fiduciary Litigation Excellence by the State Bar of Texas, December 2019
Named to the Texas Super Lawyers list by Super Lawyers®, a Thomson Reuters business, as featured in Texas Monthly and Texas Super Lawyers magazines (2004-2023)
Best Lawyers in America Commercial Litigation, 2015 - 2024
Named as Best Lawyers® “Lawyer of the Year” in Houston, TX for Legal Malpractice Law - Defendants (2024)
Awarded AV Preeminent Peer Review Rating, Martindale-Hubbell
South Texas College of Law Distinguished Alumni Recipient, 2011
Named one of “Houston’s Top Lawyers” by H Texas Magazine, 2017-2020
Outstanding Lawyers of America
Adjunct Professor South Texas College of Law, 1987 – 2003
Cases
Clients
- XL Catlin Insurance Group
Professional Affiliations
Professional
State Bar of Texas (Insurance, Litigation, and Probate sections)
Houston Bar Association
American Bar Association
Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit
News & Insights
News
Practice Areas
- Fiduciary Litigation
- Lawyering for Lawyers
- Tort, Energy and Commercial Litigation
- Advertising Liability and Personal Injury
- Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Arbitration Trials
- Arson & Fraud Defense
- Bad Faith Litigation
- Bankruptcy Litigation
- Business Torts
- Class Actions and Mass Torts
- Class and Collective Actions
- Collections / Creditor's Rights
- Commercial General Liability
- Commercial Litigation
- Construction Coverage
- Construction Defect Litigation
- Corporate, Partnership, and Securities Litigation
- Counseling on Tilley Conflicts
- Defense of Errors and Omissions Claims
- Directors’ and Officers Liability
- E&O Coverage Problems
- Employment Contracts
- Employment Practices
- Ethics Opinions
- Executive Compensation
- Fee Disputes
- Financial Professionals Litigation
- First Amendment / Defamation Law
- Guardianship Law
- Injunction and Ancillary Relief Litigation
- Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith Litigation
- Intellectual Property / Copyright Law
- Jury Charge Preparation and Argument
- Labor and Employment
- Law Firm Employment Claims
- Media and Entertainment Law
- Non-Competition and Confidentiality Agreements
- Partnership Disputes
- Personal Injury Defense
- Personal Injury Litigation (Products and Premises Liability)
- Privacy and Confidentiality
- Probate / Will Contest Litigation
- Professional Liability
- Professional Liability (Accountants / Architects / Engineers)
- Professional Liability Claims
- Property and Casualty Insurance
- Real Estate Litigation
- Trade Secret Litigation
- Trial, Specialty and Construction Litigation
- Will and Trust Drafting / Estate Planning
Credentials
Education
South Texas College of Law, J.D. 1986
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- Order of Barristers
- Recipient, South Texas Outstanding Advocate Award
- National Finalist, ABA Moot Court National Championship, 1985
- Finalist, State Bar Moot Court Cup, 1986
- Regional Champion and top Individual Oralist, National Appellate Advocacy Competition, 1986
- Board of Advocates Director
Houston Baptist University, B.A. with honors, 1983
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- Captain, University Debate Squad
- Kappa Alpha Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior
- College of Humanities Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior
- Numerous Intercollegiate Awards for College Debate
Admissions
- Texas Supreme Court
- Texas Courts
- United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- United States District Court, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
