Dan is a Director at Coats Rose with more than twenty-six years of experience in the practice of law. After receiving his degree from Georgetown University School of Law, he joined the firm of Butler & Binion. In 1985, he joined the firm of Cook, Davis & McFall, and became that firm’s first new partner in 1986. In 1990, Dan formed Davis & Shank, and subsequently joined the Coats Rose team in 2000.

During his career, Dan has successfully tried numerous cases involving a broad range of substantive areas of the law. He has prosecuted and defended cases involving substantial recoveries and significant exposures, and he has participated in a number of appellate matters on behalf of his clients. Dan has been named as a “Texas Super Lawyer” in the area of business litigation, been recognized in the Houston, Texas litigation section of Chambers USA, and is Board Certified for Civil Trial by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Dan has also served the Houston Bar and community, acting as the Chairman of the American Diabetes Association, Houston Chapter, participating on other charity boards, chairing three HBA committees, volunteering as a member of one of the Texas Bar Association’s grievance committees, and contributed as a director of the junior bar.

Dan is married to Nancy Hiller Shank and has two children, John and Meredith. He is an avid swimmer and golfer.

• Gibson v. Burkhart, 650 S.W.2d 185 (Tex. Civ. App. – Corpus Christi 1983, writ ref’d n.r.e.)
• Donovan v. Cunningham, 716 F.2d 1455 (5th Cir. 1983)
• Ramesh v. Johnson, 681 S.W.2d 256 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 1984, writ ref’d n.r.e.)
• Intercoastal Warehouse Corp. v. Clear Lake National Bank, 795 S.W.2d 294 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th Dist.] 1990, writ dism’d w.o.j.)
• Pankhurst v. Weitinger & Tucker, 850 S.W.2d 726 (Tex. App. – Corpus Christi 1993, writ denied)
• Allied Bank-.West, N.A. v. Stein, 996 F.2d 111 (5th Cir. 1993)
• Glauser v. State Farm Life Ins. Co., No. 01-93-00015-CV, available at 1994 WL 470355 (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 31, 1994)
• Northbrook Indemnity Ins. Co. v. Water District Management Co., Inc., 892 F. Supp. 170 (S.D. Tex. 1995)
• National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. CBI Industries, Inc., 907 S.W.2d 517 (Tex. 1995)
• Phan Son Van v. Pena, 990 S.W.2d 751 (Tex. 1999)
• Guaranty National Ins. Co. v. Vic Mfg. Co., 143 F.3d 192 (5th Cir. 1998)
• Berg v. AMF, Inc., 29 S.W.3d 212 (Tex. App. – Houston [1st Dist.], no pet.)
• Conroe Creosoting Company v. Montgomery County, Texas, 249 F.3d 337 (5th Cir. 2001).
• Gibson v. Dynegy Midstream Services, L.P., 2004 WL 1176553 (Tex. App. – Fort Worth 2004)
• Lester v. City of College Station, 103 Fed. Appx. 814 2004 WL 1551, 618 (5th Cir. Tex. 2004) (per curiam) affirmed
• GOM Shelf, LLC v. Sun Operating Limited Partnership, 2008 WL 901482 (S.D.Tex.).

Representative Projects

Obtained a $2.3 million jury verdict on behalf of First Interstate Bank of Texas (Allied Bank-West, N.A.) against Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, which was subsequently upheld on appeal and settled for $5.6 million including prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees. Allied Bank-West, N.A. v. Stein, 996 F.2d 111 (5th Cir. 1993)

Successfully represented the former president of Bay Area Bank & Trust and obtained a jury verdict rejecting a $5.2 million actual damages and $10.4 million punitive damages claim brought for breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act

Defended a Houston law firm and obtained a summary judgment dismissing a $36 million lawsuit involving allegations of fraud, defamation, misrepresentation, and due process violations related to the law firm’s investigation of theft charges within the Houston Independent School District

Obtained a summary judgment for a Houston law firm dismissing a $160 million legal malpractice claim arising from a lawsuit involving a $14 million note and guaranty

Won an arbitration award of approximately $3.6 million on behalf of a major oil field service firm from a Fortune 500 Company for breaches of warranties in the Purchase and Sale Agreement involving the acquisition of the international operations of a division of the Fortune 500 Company

Recovered approximately $1.8 million on behalf of individual investors who had invested in a series of transactions involving an entity that the SEC subsequently had taken over as a Ponzi scheme

Participated in the seminal case in Texas holding that an absolute pollution exclusion in an insurance policy was unambiguous in excluding coverage for an occurrence involving the escape of hydrofluoric acid at a refinery. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. CBI Industries, Inc., 907 S.W.2d 517 (Tex. 1995)

Successfully defended Texas homebuilders from construction and sales claims brought under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and the Residential Construction Liability Act

Successfully obtained a summary judgment holding no duty to defend under a sudden and accidental pollution exclusion wherein the Fifth Circuit held: (1) the clause contains a temporal component; (2) the underlying petition described gradual pollutions in the regular course of a dry cleaning business; (3) to the extent the underlying pleadings were incomplete, extrinsic evidence could be considered; (4) the microanalysis approach of the insured relating to each discrete spill was rejected; and (5) numerous pollution discharges over a number of years are not “sudden and accidental.” Guaranty National Ins. Co. v. Vic Mfg. Co., 143 F.3d 192 (5th Cir. 1998)

Successfully defended the City of College Station in unconstitutional takings and state created danger cases

Successfully transferred to Canada personal injury claims based on the doctrine of forum nonconveniens for a large Texas oil field service company

Successfully represented a major independent oil company in the resolution of a substantial dispute involving Working Interest Owners in the West Hastings Unit

Handled and disposed of over approximately 500 toxic tort claims in Texas

Regularly handled warranty, environmental, business tort and intellectual property disputes arising out of mergers and acquisitions involving many resources in the seven figure range.

Successfully represented both condemnors and condemnees in eminent domain litigation

Obtained $2.8 million on kidnap and ransom insurance policy concerning oil field service company plant takeover by disgruntled current and past employees in Venezuela

Successfully handled oil spill indemnity claims arising out of Hurricane Katrina.

Historical and Representative Clients

Allied Banks

AMF, Inc.

American Standard Companies, Inc.

Apache Corporation

City of College Station
Complete Production Services, Inc.

Dynegy, Inc.

Equifax, Inc.

First Interstate Bank of Texas

Franklin Bank

Genmar Holdings, Inc.

Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority

Minstar, Inc.

Perry Homes

Southern Pacific Transportation Company
Targa Resources, Ltd.

Trane Air Conditioning

Various Montgomery County, Texas Governmental Officials

National Oilwell Varco

Insurance Companies Worked With

ACE

Affiliated FM

AIG

Allstate

CIGNA

CNA Insurance Companies

Commercial Union Insurance Company

Coregis

DPIC

Fireman’s Fund

First State

Hartford

Highlands

Interstate Insurance Company

Kemper

Lexington Insurance

Liberty Mutual

Northbrook

Orion

St. Paul

Ranger Insurance Company

Royal

TLIE

Zurich

Publications, Articles and Speaking Engagements

• A Primer on Eminent Domain (Condemnation) Law and Procedure (February 2008)
• Counsel to Counsel - Brief Advice re Dispute Resolution
• Confusion and Ambiguity: Contortions of Contracts, Houston Bar Association Seminar (December 9, 2004).
• Damages and Burden Shifting in Trademark and Copyright Cases
• End Runs, Piggybacks and Independent Injury
• Seven Habits to Avoid Lender Liability 
• DRI BUSINESS SUIT, Seven Effective Habits of Highly Successful Litigators, November 2005. DRI BUSINESS SUIT, Seven Effective Habits to Avoid Lender Liability, December 2005.
• The Implied Duty of Best Efforts, FOR THE DEFENSE, October 2004.
• 2007 TADC Trail Academy-Faculty
• Injunctions, TADC Spring Seminar (1991).
• Editor, TADC Practice & Procedure Newsletter (1990-1998).
• DRI BUSINESS SUIT, Gulf States and Fifth Circuit Business Litigation Updates (1999 to present).
• Trial Tips in Insurance Cases, Texas Insurance Law Symposium, South Texas College of Law (January 28, 2005).