Andrew B. Bender

Andrew has experience in a wide variety of matters, ranging from insurance and healthcare disputes to civil rights and product liability actions. His practice revolves around civil litigation, with a focus on the preparation of briefing and the presentation of oral argument on appeal, as well as motion practice and jury charges at trial. At the appellate level, Andrew has represented clients in the United States Supreme Court; the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; the Supreme Court of Texas; and the First, Second, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals of Texas. He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law and has been selected as a Texas Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in appellate law for 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Andrew has achieved success for his clients at the trial level as well. For example, he helped one prominent Texas law firm secure the highest premises-liability verdict in Texas in 2018.

During law school, Andrew was a varsity oral advocate and brief writer for South Texas College of Law’s nationally acclaimed advocacy program, where he helped claim the program’s 108th and 110th national advocacy championships. He interned for Chief Justice Sherry Radack and Justice Jane Bland of the First Court of Appeals of Texas, and was selected to the Order of Barristers and the National Order of Scribes. In his final year of law school, Andrew was awarded the Scribes Brief-Writing Award for authoring the best moot court brief in the nation. Remarkably, he also authored the second best brief, becoming the only person in the writing competition’s history to win both first and second place. Andrew continues to be involved with South Texas College of Law as an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy, working with students each semester to prepare them for competition in national tournaments.

Education

University of Florida, B.S., December 2008

South Texas College of Law, J.D., May 2012

Representative Matters

Higgs v. Costa Crociere S.P.A. Co., 969 F.3d 1295 (11th Cir. 2020) (affirming seven-figure judgment for passenger against cruise ship operator and holding, in a matter of first impression, that the appropriate measure of medical expense damages is the amount determined to be reasonable by the jury based on all relevant evidence)

Tippett v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Indiana, 2020 WL 827143 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Feb. 20, 2020, no pet.) (holding the trial court erred in granting summary judgment for insurance company based on appraisal, because the appraisal panel had no authority to make liability findings concerning whether hail damage would cause a loss of the intended water-shedding functionality of aluminum shakes on the roof)

Fisher v. Eagle Rock Custom Homes, Inc., 2020 WL 205975 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Jan. 14, 2020, no pet.) (holding that trial court erred in exercising personal jurisdiction over defendant in his individual capacity and dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction)

Lambert v. State Farm Lloyds, 2019 WL 5792812 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Nov. 7, 2019, pet. filed) (reversing summary judgment granted in favor of insurance company and holding that payment of an appraisal award does not bar an insured’s claim under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act as a matter of law)
Seim v. AllState Texas Lloyds, 551 S.W.3d 161 (Tex. 2018) (holding that a ruling by the trial court on an objection to evidence may not be implied from its ruling on a summary judgment)
Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas v. True Level Masonic Lodge, 2018 WL 1597646 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 3, 2018, pet. denied) (reversing and vacating trial court’s judgment awarding possession of property to members expelled from a masonic lodge because the case could not be resolved without determining which party had title to the property)
True Level Masonic Lodge v. Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas, 2018 WL 1597460 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Apr. 3, 2018, pet. denied) (affirming trial court’s judgment declaring that masonic grand lodge was entitled to continued possession of its property and use of its subordinate lodge’s name)
Vast Construction, LLC v. CTC Contractors, LLC, 526 S.W.3d 709 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2017, no pet.) (holding general contractor could not recover $230,000 in attorneys’ fees because award lacked a valid statutory basis)
McKnight v. Moss, 2017 WL 2462315 (Tex. App.—Tyler June 7, 2017, no pet.) (reversing trial court’s judgment and remanding for new trial after finding purchaser of property at tax foreclosure sale failed to conclusively prove that original property owner did not substantially comply with statutory right to redemption)
Thibodeaux v. Wellmate, 190 F. Supp. 3d 566 (E.D. La. 2016) (denying summary-judgment motion in product liability action brought under the Louisiana Products Liability Act by a Chevron employee who sustained injuries from a pressurized water tank while working on an offshore platform)
Haver v. Coats, 491 S.W.3d 877 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2016, no pet.) (affirming denial of constables’ motion for summary judgment, which tried to summarily dispose of a suit filed by the parents of a 23-year-old man who died after two constables stepped on his face and kicked him in the ribs while he was lying handcuffed and unresponsive on the ground)
Bond Restoration, Inc. v. Ready Cable, Inc., 462 S.W.3d 597 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2015, pet. denied) (reversing trial court’s judgment in favor of material supplier and rendering judgment in favor of prime contractor after determining that the damages sought by plaintiff and awarded by trial court exceeded the statutorily prescribed remedy)