Dan Sheehan has been board certified in civil trial law since 1980 and has earned widespread respect from judges, lawyers, clients and adversaries. He brings to the table a formidable combination of legal skills.
Dan graduated first in his class from law school and was the editor-in-chief of his school’s law journal. After graduation, he received the distinguished honor of an appointment as briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas. Today, Dan combines that same intellectual capacity for the law with strong courtroom skills. The result? A lawyer with the rare tools to clearly and simply lay out the facts of an intricate case to a jury, with the background and ability to analyze and argue fine points of law.
Dan has been named a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Law and Politics Media and was featured in Texas Monthly in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. He also has been named one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” in 2006 and “500 Leading Plaintiff’s Lawyers in America” in 2007 by Lawdragon.
He has tried cases and handled appeals in state and federal courts, including the Texas Supreme Court and United States Supreme Court. Dan is recognized as one of the most experienced and imaginative civil trial lawyers in the region. He has the rare ability to blend his powerful courtroom presence with a perceptive grasp of the facts to give his clients his very best in the most complex of cases. Respect for Dan and his law firm brings growing numbers of clients to the firm.
Twice in 2006, Dan appeared as a panelist in Texas Lawyer’s prestigious Roundtable series. Of course, the topic was legal malpractice, analyzed and discussed by the leading legal malpractice lawyers in Texas.
Areas of Practice
- Legal Malpractice
- Civil Litigation
- Trial Practice
- Business Litigation
- Fiduciary Litigation
- Wrongful Death
- Appellate Law
Certified Legal Specialties
- Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1980
Bar Admissions
- Texas
- U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court Western District of Texas
- U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit
- U.S. Supreme Court
Education
- St. Mary’s University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas
- J.D. – 1974
- Honors: Valedictorian
- Honors: James P. Lytton Memorial Award
- Honors: John M. Harlan Honor Society
- Honors: Graduated 1st in class of 226
- Law Journal: St. Mary’s Law Journal, Editor-in-Chief, 1973 – 1974
- University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
- B.A. – 1971
Published Works
- Harmless Error, Appellate Procedure in Texas, State Bar of Texas, 2nd Edition, 1979
- Voir Dire: Knowledge is Power, (Co – Author with Adler), 61 Texas Bar Journal 630, 1998
- Allocation of Peremptory Challenges Among Multiple Parties in Texas, (Co – Author with Hollingsworth), 10 St. Mary’s L.J. 511, 1979
- Try, Try Again : A Proposal to Limit the Scope of New Trials in Texas, (Co – Author with Pope), St. Mary’s L.J. , 1975
Classes/Seminars
- Ethical Issues in Attorney Client Fee Agreements, Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, TX, August, 2010
- Client Agreements: The Who, What, Where, When, and Conflicts, Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, TX, October, 2008
- Legal Malpractice Roundtable Series, Texas Lawyer Dallas Bar Association, Dallas, TX, April, 2006
- Winning Legal Strategies for Doing Business in Texas, ReedLogic Executive Seminars, April, 2006
- Civil Appeals For Trial Lawyers, South Texas College of Law, Houston, TX, April, 2006
- Legal Malpractice Roundtable Series, Texas Lawyer at South Texas Law Center, Houston, TX, October, 2006
- Panel Member, Lawyer Discipline, Unauthorized Practice of Law, The Grievance System, Legal Malpractice and a View from the Bench on Ethical issues, Dallas Bar Association’s Business Litigation Section, September, 2004
- Taking and Defending Effective Depositions in Texas, Lorman Educational Services, Dallas, TX, January, 2004
- Advanced Civil Trial Course: Legal Malpractice Update and Civil Trial Ethics, State Bar of Texas CLE, August, 2003
- Preparing To Take the Deposition of an Adverse Party or Lay Witness, Lorman Educational Services, Dallas, TX, January, 2003
- Contingent Fees: Legal and Ethical Issues, Dallas Bar Association’s Business Litigation Section, May, 2002
- Legal Malpractice: Recent Cases Expanding Liability, Dallas Bar Association’s Friday Clinic, February, 2001
- Masters On Jury Selection; Program Coordinator/Moderator, American Board of Trial Advocates, Dallas Chapter and The Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Dallas, TX, August, 1999
Honors and Awards
- AV Rated by Martindale Hubble, 1985
- Texas Super Lawyer by Law & Politics, 2003 – 2011
- 500 Leading Lawyers in America by Lawdragon, 2006
- 500 Leading Plaintiff’s Lawyers in America by Lawdragon, 2007
- 3000 Leading Lawyers in America by Lawdragon, 2010
- Dallas Bar Association, Business Litigation Section, Chairman, 1999
- Dallas Bar Association, Business Litigation Section, Board of Directors, 1992 – 2000
Professional Associations and Memberships
- State Bar of Texas
- Dallas Bar Association, Business Litigation Section, 1975 – Present
- American Bar Association, 1975 – Present
- Texas Bar Foundation, Life Member
- Dallas Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- Citizens for a Qualified Judiciary
Past Employment Positions
- Justice Jack Pope, Supreme Court of Texas, Briefing Attorney, 1974 – 1975
- Wynne & Jaffe (Gardere & Wynne, LLP), Associate, 1975 – 1979
