Ben is a Director in the Construction/Surety and Litigation Sections of Coats Rose. In more than 16 years of practice, his experience includes litigating numerous complex construction and environmental matters, and serving as in-house counsel for an international A/E firm, working on issues concerning the practice of architecture, engineering, and project construction in all 50 states, Mexico and South America. In addition to construction law matters, Ben handles administrative matters related to the construction and design industry, and environmental and commercial litigation.
Ben was named a Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly Magazine in 2006 and has received an “AV” rating by Martindale Hubble. In 2008 he was elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Association.
Ben has successfully tried numerous construction and environmental cases, before juries, judges, administrative panels and arbitrators. In May of 2007, he served as lead counsel on behalf of an east Texas road contractor, in a claim hearing against the Texas Department of Transportation, at the State Office of Administrative hearings. In September of 2005, Ben served as lead counsel for an engineering firm in a three week design defect case in Galveston County, Texas, where plaintiff's demand to the jury was $6.2 million. While other defendants were found liable, his client received a defense verdict on all of the claims against it.
Ben has also served as lead counsel in obtaining a defense verdict and award of damages on a counterclaim on behalf of Texas A&M University, spending more than a month at trial in a $3 million construction delay/impact claim. His first chair trial experience includes construction defect litigation, delay impact claims litigation, environmental litigation, and professional liability litigation.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A., Intl. Studies & Economics, 1986)
The University of Oklahoma College of Law (J.D., 1991)
The Supreme Court, Texas (2000)
The Supreme Court, Oklahoma (1991)
10th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals
The U.S. District Court, Eastern, Western and Southern Districts of Texas
The U.S. District Court, Eastern, Northern and Western Districts of Oklahoma
State Bar of Texas
Oklahoma Bar Association
Austin Bar Association
American Inns of Court
American Red Cross, Board Member of Central Texas Chapter, (2004 - present)
American Red Cross, Executive Committee Member of Central Texas Chapter, (2006 - present)
- Kizer v. Meyer, Lytton, Alen & Whitaker, Inc. d/b/a MLAW Consultants and Engineers, 228 SW3d 384, (Tex. App.—Austin May 25, 2007, no. pet.).
- May v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 84 F.3d 1342 (10th Cir. 1996).
- May v. Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, PA, 918 P.2d 40 (Okla. 1996).
- Sun Co. v. Browning-Ferris, Inc., 919 F. Supp. 1553 (N.D. Okla. 1996).
- An Introduction to Building Information Modeling, The Construction Lawyer, Volume 27, Number 4, 2007.
- Defending Subrogation Claims in Design and Construction Cases, The Construction Lawyer, Volume 25, Number 3, 2005.
- Fighting the Unseen Enemy: The Sick Building and Building Related Injury Defense, Texas Construction Law Newsletter, Fall 2001.
|