In In re Jones, parties filed a mandamus proceeding to challenge the trial court’s disqualification of their attorney. No. 12-19-00354-CV, 2019 Tex. App. LEXIS 11267 (Tex. App.—Tyler December 31, 2019, original opinion). An attorney sent an email to the beneficiary of the estate, stating that the attorney for estate was a bad lawyer and only looking out for his own interest and other related bad things. The beneficiary took the position that the estate’s attorney also represented him at the time that he received the email. The beneficiary filed a motion to disqualify the email-sending attorney because an attorney should not directly communicate with a party that is represented by counsel. The trial court agreed and disqualified the attorney.

The court of appeals disagreed with the trial court and granted mandamus relief to reverse the disqualification order because there was allegedly no evidence that the attorney knew that the beneficiary was represented by counsel when he sent the email. The court stated:

In representing a client, a lawyer shall not communicate or cause or encourage another to communicate about the subject of the representation with a person, organization or entity of government the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer regarding that subject, unless the lawyer has the consent of the other lawyer or is authorized by law to do so. Accordingly, Rule 4.02 forbids a lawyer from communicating with another person only when the lawyer knows that person has legal counsel in the matter. Relators dispute Respondent’s finding that Reiner knew Anderson represented Steven. It is undisputed that Anderson represented the Estate and that Cogburn, the executor, and Steven, Cogburn’s brother, are beneficiaries of the Estate. However, Steven’s status as a beneficiary does not automatically give rise to an attorney-client relationship with Anderson, the Estate’s attorney. Generally, an attorney hired by an executor to advise her in administering the estate represents the executor and not the beneficiaries. But, it is conceivable that the executor’s attorney could undertake to perform legal services as attorney for one or more beneficiaries. Steven’s testimony supports a conclusion that this scenario occurred with Anderson. Nevertheless, the pertinent question is whether the Estate met its burden of establishing that Reiner knew of that representation at the time he sent the email on September 11, 2019.

Id. The court then reviewed the evidence in the record and determined that: “At best, the record merely establishes the possibility that Reiner knew Steven was represented by Anderson. Such a possibility is insufficient to merit disqualification.” Id. The court concluded:

“As previously stated, disqualification is a severe remedy that should not be granted liberally. Based on the record before us, we cannot conclude that the Estate met its burden of showing, with specificity, that at the time Reiner sent the email to Steven, he knew Steven to be represented by Anderson regarding the litigation. Accordingly, Respondent abused his discretion by disqualifying Relators’ counsel.”

Id.

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Photo of David Fowler Johnson David Fowler Johnson

[email protected]
817.420.8223

David maintains an active trial and appellate practice and has consistently worked on financial institution litigation matters throughout his career. David is the primary author of the The Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary…

[email protected]
817.420.8223

David maintains an active trial and appellate practice and has consistently worked on financial institution litigation matters throughout his career. David is the primary author of the The Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary field in Texas. Read More

David’s financial institution experience includes (but is not limited to): breach of contract, foreclosure litigation, lender liability, receivership and injunction remedies upon default, non-recourse and other real estate lending, class action, RICO actions, usury, various tort causes of action, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and preference and other related claims raised by receivers.

David also has experience in estate and trust disputes including will contests, mental competency issues, undue influence, trust modification/clarification, breach of fiduciary duty and related claims, and accountings. David’s recent trial experience includes:

  • Representing a bank in federal class action suit where trust beneficiaries challenged whether the bank was the authorized trustee of over 220 trusts;
  • Representing a bank in state court regarding claims that it mismanaged oil and gas assets;
  • Representing a bank who filed suit in probate court to modify three trusts to remove a charitable beneficiary that had substantially changed operations;
  • Represented an individual executor of an estate against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty and an accounting; and
  • Represented an individual trustee against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary duty, mental competence of the settlor, and undue influence.

David is one of twenty attorneys in the state (of the 84,000 licensed) that has the triple Board Certification in Civil Trial Law, Civil Appellate and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Additionally, David is a member of the Civil Trial Law Commission of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This commission writes and grades the exam for new applicants for civil trial law certification.

David maintains an active appellate practice, which includes:

  • Appeals from final judgments after pre-trial orders such as summary judgments or after jury trials;
  • Interlocutory appeals dealing with temporary injunctions, arbitration, special appearances, sealing the record, and receiverships;
  • Original proceedings such as seeking and defending against mandamus relief; and
  • Seeking emergency relief staying trial court’s orders pending appeal or mandamus.

For example, David was the lead appellate lawyer in the Texas Supreme Court in In re Weekley Homes, LP, 295 S.W.3d 309 (Tex. 2009). The Court issued a ground-breaking opinion in favor of David’s client regarding the standards that a trial court should follow in ordering the production of computers in discovery.

David previously taught Appellate Advocacy at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law located in Fort Worth. David is licensed and has practiced in the U.S. Supreme Court; the Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Federal Circuits; the Federal District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas; the Texas Supreme Court and various Texas intermediate appellate courts. David also served as an adjunct professor at Baylor University Law School, where he taught products liability and portions of health law. He has authored many legal articles and spoken at numerous legal education courses on both trial and appellate issues. His articles have been cited as authority by the Texas Supreme Court (twice) and the Texas Courts of Appeals located in Waco, Texarkana, Beaumont, Tyler and Houston (Fourteenth District), and a federal district court in Pennsylvania. David’s articles also have been cited by McDonald and Carlson in their Texas Civil Practice treatise, William v. Dorsaneo in the Texas Litigation Guide, and various authors in the Baylor Law ReviewSt. Mary’s Law JournalSouth Texas Law Review and Tennessee Law Review.

Representative Experience

  • Civil Litigation and Appellate Law