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 Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog, which reports on legal cases and issues impacting the fiduciary field in Texas.
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.
More Legal and Business Bylines From David Fowler Johnson
- Court Affirmed Order Admitting Will To Probate Over Undue Influence Allegation And Over An Alleged Subsequent Holographic Codicil To An Earlier Will - (Posted On Tuesday, July 16, 2024)
- Court Affirms Summary Judgment For An Executrix’s Estate Based On Limitations - (Posted On Tuesday, July 16, 2024)
- Court Affirmed the Trial Court’s Refusal to Probate a Will Due to the Statute of Limitations - (Posted On Wednesday, July 10, 2024)
- Court Construed Holographic Will to Devise Certain Property to a Granddaughter - (Posted On Wednesday, June 05, 2024)
- Court Affirms Modification of Trust That Relied on Extrinsic Evidence and Contradicted Express Trust Terms - (Posted On Sunday, May 26, 2024)
- Court Held That Estate Beneficiary Was Not Entitled to Jury Trial on Ratification of Attorney’s Fees Agreement - (Posted On Sunday, May 26, 2024)
- Federal Court Dismisses Trust Dispute Due to There Not Being a Justiciable Controversy - (Posted On Tuesday, March 19, 2024)
- Court Held That Deed For Common Area To Homeowners’ Association Did Not Create A Trust For The Members - (Posted On Wednesday, March 06, 2024)
- Court Affirmed Award of Damages Against Trustee Due to Breach of Duty to Disclose, Held that Trust was Terminated and Disclaimer was Effective, and Affirmed Award of Attorney’s Fees Against Trustee and Refusal to Allow Trustee to Reimburse Herself - (Posted On Monday, February 26, 2024)
- Court Held That A Trust Terminated Upon The Primary Beneficiary’s Death And That The Trustee Did Not Have Authority To Accept New Assets As A Part Of Its “Winding Up” Authority - (Posted On Sunday, February 11, 2024)
The National Law Review names David Fowler Johnson of Winstead PC a Go-To Thought Leader in the field of estates and trusts. Mr. Johnson authored the 2022 article “Texas Passes A New Law To Punish Elder Financial Abuse,” detailing at-length the Texas Legislature’s new criminalization of financial abuse of the elderly, which saw significant increases in 2021 and 2022. The article reached a considerable audience this year, and demonstrates the very high quality of Mr. Johnson’s thought leadership.
David Fowler Johnson is a National Law Review Go-To Thought Leader for his analysis of fiduciary law including trust administration, breach of fiduciary duties in estate administration, shareholder derivative suits, directors and officers liability, duties of co-trustees, receivership, and related topics. Mr. Johnson’s knowledge of the Texas Supreme Court and various Texas intermediate appellate courts as well as with the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts lends his thought leadership an authentic quality based on years of trial experience.