About David Weiner

David Weiner has 37 years of experience in civil and criminal appeals in state and federal appellate courts, as well as 17 years of experience in estate planning, probate, and guardianship. As an appellate lawyer, he has guided several hundred cases through all stages of the appellate process, including more than 60 cases in the Dallas-based Fifth District Court of Appeals. David was plaintiff's appellate counsel in City of Lancaster v. Chambers, 883 S.W.2d 650 (Tex. 1994), in which the Texas Supreme Court established the objective good faith standard for official immunity. Chambers has been cited by state and federal courts in more than 750 cases.

Board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1989, David is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and has been selected by Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters service) to the Texas Super Lawyers List for 2003-2005 and 2007-2016.

After beginning his career as a briefing attorney at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, David served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Texas. He has 36 years of experience in private practice as a sole practitioner, and with law firms, in San Antonio and Dallas.

David is a past chair of the Appellate Law section of the Dallas Bar Association, a Life Fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation, and, as of April 2017, a Senior Fellow in the Dallas Bar Foundation. He has received pro bono service awards from the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program on three different occasions. Away from the practice of law, David enjoys spending time with his wife of 31 years, Danielle, keeping up with their two adult children as they make their way through the world, crafting original humor to entertain his Facebook friends, and not being very good at golf (the secret is to not play very often). In the community, he has served as an ESL teacher at Literacy Achieves (formerly known as Vickery Meadow Learning Center) since 2012, and he volunteers regularly with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program at its East Dallas and Wills clinics. This spring (2017), he is taking a course in Spanish for Lawyers (intermediate to advanced) to enhance his communication skills, particularly in his estate planning and probate practice and in his pro bono undertakings.

Read more about representative cases in which David Weiner has served as appellate counsel of record.

Education

• St. Mary’s University School of Law (J.D. 1979)
  Senior Associate Editor, St. Mary’s Law Journal
  American Jurisprudence Award in Agency and Partnership
• Tulane University, New Orleans (B.A., philosophy and history, cum laude, 1975)

Certifications

• Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization

Recent Publications and Presentations

• Co-author/speaker: "Ten Commandments of Appellate Advocacy and When to Break Them" -- presented at Dallas Bar Association Appellate Law Section (May 19, 2016)
• "Awards of Appellate Attorney's Fees: The Law Evolves" -- 27 THE APPELLATE ADVOCATE 709 (Summer 2015)

• “Consider Fixed-Fee Agreements for Civil Appeals” – Texas Lawyer (July 23, 2012)

• “With Colorful Language, High Court Upholds Plaintiff’s Win” – Texas Lawyer (Apr. 19, 2010)