James Phillips

James Phillips is an experienced trial and appellate attorney. He focuses on complex business litigation, professional liability, construction and environmental claims, title insurance litigation, and personal injury cases. James has successfully defended clients in multimillion-dollar lawsuits, including product liability, insurance, and engineering design disputes, often achieving favorable verdicts and appellate outcomes. Before entering law school, he worked as a structural engineer for Bell Helicopter and The Boeing Company.  He holds both a J.D. and a B.S.M.E. from Southern Methodist University.

Community & Professional

• Phi Delta Phi
• Mr. Phillips participates annually in fundraising activities in the Dallas area for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
• Dallas Bar Association
• Member of DRI

Real Estate & Title Insurance Litigation

• Obtained summary judgment for escrow agency against claims for quiet title, negligence, gross negligence, and unjust enrichment brought against it by a third-party plaintiff who was not a party to the transaction escrow agency closed. Escrow agent owed third-party plaintiff no legal duty in tort as a stranger to the transaction closed, could not have clouded third-party plaintiff's title where escrow agency asserted no interest in subject property, and could not have been unjustly enriched at third-party plaintiff's expense in a transaction to which third-party plaintiff contributed no money to fees charged by escrow agency.
• Obtained partial summary judgment for defendant escrow agency on claims asserted by plaintiff real estate developer for statutory fraud under Ch. 27, Texas Business & Commerce Code. Trial court agreed that title insurance transactions the subject of the plaintiff's claims against escrow agency were not transactions in real estate, but were merely incidental to plaintiff's purchase transaction, and therefore not actionable under the Texas real estate fraud statute.
• Obtained traditional and no-evidence summary judgments for defendant title insurance underwriter on claims of breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary duty, Texas Insurance Code violations, and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act violations, where underwriter did not issue a policy on closing of plaintiff's purchase transaction. Plaintiff purchased property which was the subject of a fraudulent deed recorded by seller in county real property records, but a post-closing review of real property records disclosed a fraud affidavit recorded after closing by true property owner. Successfully briefed appeal of summary judgments filed by plaintiff, and trial court judgments were affirmed on grounds that title commitment issued on behalf of underwriter contained a condition precedent that the proposed insured would dispose of any post-closing title issues discovered before policy issued to the satisfaction of underwriter, which plaintiff failed to do regarding fraud affidavit. Houndstooth Capital Real Estate, LLC v. WFG National Title Insurance Co. et al., 2023 WL 2247748 (Tex. App.—Austin February 28, 2023, no pet.).
• Obtained no-evidence summary judgment for residential property owner/developer company on grounds that company was a good-faith purchaser for value without knowledge of the interest asserted by second developer through a "memorandum of contract" recorded in county real property records. Second developer's recorded memorandum of contract did not identify grantor in company's chain of title and therefore gave no constructive notice to company, and second developer had no evidence to negate the good-faith purchaser status of the property owner/developer company.
• Obtained summary judgment for defendant residential property owners against claims brought by alleged remainder interest owners under a life estate once held by their mother. Mother had transferred the subject real estate out of a pour-over trust as Trustee, as authorized under express terms of trust, and thus extinguished the life estate, including the remainder interest asserted by plaintiffs.
• Successfully briefed adverse judgment from Dallas County, Texas trial court resulting in foreclosure on behalf of residential property owners and obtained remand to trial court for further proceedings. Murray v. The Cadle Co., 257 S.W.3d 291 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2008, pet denied).

Insurance Litigation

• Defended London Insurance Broker in Grayson County, Texas lawsuit against claims of negligence, fraud and statutory violations relating to broker's role in procuring Lloyd's of London insurance policy for marina. Plaintiff marina's pre-suit demand exceeded $20 million. The case was tried to a jury verdict and a take-nothing judgment was entered in favor of broker. Successfully briefed the case on appeal on behalf of broker which resulted in trial court's judgment being affirmed. Insurance Alliance v. Lake Texoma Highport, LLC and Bowood Partners, Limited., 452 S.W. 3d 57 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2014, pet. denied).

Banking & Commercial Litigation

• Assisted local bank in obtaining temporary injunction against customer, enjoining customer's suit in Oklahoma against bank. Prepared appellate briefing on behalf of bank which resulted in trial court's injunction being affirmed on interlocutory appeal. Rouse v. Texas Capital Bank, N.A., 394 S.W.3d 1 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2011, no pet.)

Construction, Engineering & Professional Liability

• Defended civil engineering firm against claims of negligence and breach of contract by municipality relating to design of wastewater treatment plants. The case was tried to a jury verdict and a take-nothing judgment entered in favor of client engineering company.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of foundation engineer in professional negligence case pending in Rockwall County, Texas.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of foundation engineer in professional negligence case pending in Kaufman County, Texas.
• Obtained summary judgment in favor of foundation engineer in professional negligence case pending in Dallas County, Texas.

Products Liability

• Resolved case involving representation of plaintiff homeowners in negligence and products liability lawsuit for alleged property damage arising from installation of spray polyurethane foam ("SPF") insulation in the attic of their high-end custom home. After installation, plaintiffs alleged the air in living areas of the home exhibited high levels of compound used as the primary flame retardant in the SPF insulation product. Suit was filed against manufacturer of SPF product for negligence and products liability based on alleged product design defect and alleged failure to warn of propensity of flame retardant to off-gas from product after installation. Suit was also filed against installer of SPF insulation for alleged misrepresentation of the brand of product being installed. Lorie and James Johnson v. ABR Greenday, LLC d/b/a Smart Seal Foam Insulation, Polyurethane Systems (USA), LLC, f/k/a Demilec (USA), LLC, and Demilec (USA), Inc.; Cause No. C201400080; 413th Judicial District Court of Johnson County, Texas.
• Represented plaintiff homeowner in case asserting claims of negligence and products liability for alleged property damage arising from installation of spray polyurethane foam ("SPF") insulation in homeowner’s custom home in Mount Shasta, California, and negotiated successful settlement for homeowner.

Workplace Personal Injury Defense

• Successfully defended claims for negligence and products liability asserted by plaintiff elevator operator on hotel renovation project against construction elevator company who rented elevator to general contractor and scaffold company which built elevator landing platform. Plaintiff claimed he fell five feet from scaffold to ground and suffered serious injuries.  Developed facts in case showed no problems inherent with elevator or scaffold, but rather that non-qualified subcontractors named as co-defendants in case had routinely removed scaffold guardrails to allow forklift to access landing platform and incorrectly reinstalled guardrails, causing the accident.  Case settled at mediation with an eight-figure payment by co-defendants and no contribution from elevator company or scaffold company.
• Successfully defended defendant scaffold construction company at trial against personal injury claims asserted by plaintiff who fell from scaffold during turnaround activities at petrochemical and plastics manufacturing plant.
• Negotiated successful settlement for defendant shipyard against claims asserted by plaintiff who fell while assisting in construction of hanging scaffold on underside of oil rig deck which was undergoing refurbishment at shipyard.
• Defended industrial coating and painting subcontractor in case asserting that employee driving his personal farm tractor on route to workplace caused tractor trailer to jackknife and crash into car driven by plaintiffs. Obtained summary judgment for employer on grounds that employee was outside the course and scope of employment at the time of the accident.
• Defended pipe manufacturer in wrongful death claim in Orange County, Texas, for gross negligence arising from industrial accident. Obtained summary judgment on behalf of client. Successfully briefed and argued case in court of appeals resulting in trial court's judgment being affirmed. Sanchez v. S&T International, Inc., 2000 WL 1062322 (Tex. App.—Texarkana August 4, 2000, pet. denied).

Prior Engineering Experience

• Performed damage tolerance and fatigue analysis on various commercial aircraft components as a structural engineer for the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. Developed inspection criteria and intervals in support of Boeing's aging fleet program, designed to enhance safety of flight in older aircraft.
• Performed fatigue analysis on helicopter components as a structural engineer for Bell Helicopter Textron in Ft. Worth, Texas. Determined retirement lives for various aircraft components, conducted analysis on fatigue test results for various components and materials, and supported flight test operations.