Widely recognized as one of the top appellate lawyers in Texas, David Coale’s diverse experience ranges from sophisticated constitutional issues in the United States Supreme Court to defense of a payphone operator before a Tarrant County Justice of the Peace. He is among the few lawyers to have handled a matter in all fourteen of the Texas intermediate courts of appeal, and is the only known Texas appellate lawyer who has been fictionalized in a romance-novel series as the lawyer for an outlaw motorcycle gang.


EDUCATION
University of Texas School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1993
Chief Articles Editor, Texas Law Review
Order of the Coif
Harvard University, B.A., cum laude, 1990
National Policy Debate Champion, 1990
JUDICIAL CLERKSHIP
Law Clerk, Hon. Patrick Higginbotham, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit


HONORS & AWARDS
Recognized as “Best Lawyers” (Appellate and Commercial Litigation) by D Magazine in 2008-2011, 2014-2024
Named as one of “500 Leading Litigators in America,” by Lawdragon, 2022, 2024
Named “Leading Appellate Attorney of the Year in Texas” by Acquisition International, 2022
Honored as a “Leader in His Field” by Chambers & Partners USA Guide to Leading Lawyers – Appellate Litigation (Texas) Lawyers,
2022
Named “Lawyer of the Year” in DFW appellate law by Best Lawyers, 2021
Awarded “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation, 2021-2024
Received the “Legal Innovator” award by Texas Lawyer, 2020
Senior Fellow, Litigation Council of America, 2020-2024
Named “Best Lawyers in America” (Appellate and Commercial Litigation) by Best Lawyers, 2012-2024
Selected as “Texas Super Lawyer,” by Super Lawyers, 2003-2023 (Top 100 in DFW, 2014-2019, 2023 and Top 100 in Texas, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Recognized as “Best Lawyers” (Appellate and Commercial Litigation) by D Magazine in 2008-2011, 2014-2020, 2022
Received the “Texas Trailblazers” award by Texas Lawyer, 2019
Profiled as a "Defender," one of 15 leading defense lawyers, by the Dallas Business Journal, 2009