Business Litigation; Labor and Employment; Insurance Litigation; Class Actions

With Figari & Davenport since its inception, Mr. Butler has over 20 years of experience litigating hundreds of cases in federal and state courts throughout Texas and the Southwest. Mr. Butler has particularly extensive experience in ERISA and life, health, and disability insurance litigation. Mr. Butler has tried over 50 cases, which have involved a wide array of claims for violations of state and federal securities laws, employment and consumer statutes, as well as breaches of various business contracts, leases, lending agreements, real estate contracts and the like.

Mr. Butler recognizes that his clients want to resolve conflicts quickly and cost effectively. He carefully reviews each case early on to provide the client with a thorough evaluation of the legal and factual issues that allows the client to make well-informed decisions as to how the case should be managed.

• In a 2003 case, Mr. Butler was instrumental in fending off the certification of a class seeking to declare unlawful the integration of Social Security benefits with disability benefits made available through an employee benefit plan. The financial impact of certification and an adverse decision on this issue would have significantly impacted the disability insurance and employee benefits areas.
• Mr. Butler obtained a substantial jury verdict under the Texas Securities Act in 1991 for a small business client who purchased a going concern from a large corporation. This case of first impression set the Texas Securities Act apart from its federal counterpart.
• Mr. Butler tried and defended through appeal to the Tenth Circuit a case that helped define the standards for bad faith in insurance claims handling under Oklahoma law.
• Mr. Butler briefed and argued a case before the Utah Supreme Court in which it determined that title insurers did not have abstractor liability as a result of issuing title insurance policies.

JD, Boston University, magna cum laude, 1984

• Associate Editor, American Journal of Law and Medicine, 1983-1984

BS, Idaho State University, with honors, 1981

Named a Texas Super Lawyer (Texas Monthly, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007)

• State Bar of Texas
• American Bar Association

Overview of Offers of Settlement – The Impact of House Bill 4, Texas State Bar Continuing Education Program, 2003

Effective Motion Practice, Lorman Education Services, Continuing Legal Education, 1993

Avoiding the Big Hit – Current Dangers in Litigation, presented to Dallas Claims Group, 1992