First Admitted: 1990, Texas

Professional Webpage: https://www.hannaplaut.com/attorneys/david-l-plaut/

Bar/Professional Activity:

U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
State Bar of Texas, Insurance Section, Member
Defense Research Institute, Member
Texas
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Austin Bar Association, Member
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
American Bar Association, Member

Pro bono/Community Service:

Texas Appleseed Visionary Society

Honors/Awards:

Texas Super Lawyer, 2008 – 2012, 2016-2020, Super Lawyers Magazine

Educational Background:

Johns Hopkins University, BA, with honors, 1985

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

The Duty To Defend, Creative Pleadings of “Negligence”, and Coverage Issues, Insurance Bad Faith Seminar (October 16, 1998)
Statutory Update (including article 21.55), Insurance Law for Attorneys Representing Carriers, (University of Houston 2004)
Subrogation Waivers and Insurance policy Construction: the strange case of SM Energy, 13th Annual Advanced Insurance Law Course (June 9-10, 2016)
Ruttiger v. Texas mutual and the Viability of Aranda in the Workers’ Compensation “Bad Faith” Context: Defense Perspective, 14th Annual Insurance Law Institute (University of Texas 2009)
Insurability of Punitive Damages After Fairfield, 14th Annual Insurance Law Institute (University of Texas 2008)
Stowers Update: New Aspects of an Old Claim, Texas Insurance Law Symposium (South Texas College of Law 2006)
Trinity v. Cowan: Mental Anguish Is Not “Bodily Injury” and Intentional Torts are Not “Accidents,” 61 Texas Bar Journal 128 (February 1998)
Gandy Busts Up Sweetheart Deals For Good, 60 Texas Bar Journal 1112 (December 1997)
The Duty To Defend and State Farm v. Gandy,Insurance Bad Faith Claims Seminar (Oct. 17, 1997)
A Tale of Two Slabs: Sharp, Nicolau and Insurance Coverage for Residential foundation Claims,Texas Insurance Law: from Nuts and Bolts to Tips and Tricks (Sept. 11,1997)
Obtaining or Avoiding Summary Judgment in a Bad Faith Case: The “Bona Fide Dispute” Standard for Assessing an Insurer’s Handling of a Claim, 3rd Advanced Issues in Insurance “Bad Faith” Litigation (Oct 13, 1995)
Lyons v. Millers Casualty: The Last Word on the Standard for Assessing Bad Faith in Texas?, 57 Texas Bar Journal 832 (Sept. 1994)
A Guide to the Local Rules of Texas Federal Courts, 54 Texas Bar Journal (June 1991)
Texas Law Review, Articles Editor, University of Texas School of Law, 1989
Certification and the Quest for Certainty: A Primer on Certified Questions to the Texas Supreme Court, 25th Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals (June 4, 2015)
Beyond the eight corners: Use of Extrinsic Evidence to Determine the Duty to Defend, 5J Tex. Ins. L. 2 (Dec. 2004)
Bad Faith Litigation in Texas and Update of Recent Extra-Contractual Cases, Handling Insurance and Tort Claims (University of Houston 2003)
Whose Burden Is It Anyway? Article 21.58 and the Burden of Proving Covered and Non-Covered Causes in Property Insurance Cases, 2 J. Tex. Ins. Law (Nov./Dec. 2000)
Hot Topics In Homeowner’s Insurance: Including Balandran and Insurance Coverage for Residential Foundation Claims, Texas Insurance Law Symposium (July 30-31, 1998)

Industry Groups:

Appellate
Construction
Insurance
Litigation
Trucking

David L. Plaut