D. Ferguson McNiel, III
Texas Tower
845 Texas Avenue
Suite 4700
Houston, Texas 77002
What I enjoy the most about litigation is that you are constantly learning about new issues that arise with each and every lawsuit. You gain confidence from each case and they make you better suited to handle the next case. Ferguson McNiel is an accomplished litigator with forty years’ experience representing clients in commercial, construction, toxic tort and energy cases, including many that resulted in jury trials and arbitrations.
Ferguson’s clients include Fortune 150 corporations and other major companies in a variety of industries, such as consumer products, oil & gas, chemical, pipeline, and professional services. He has also handled a wide variety of architects and engineers in construction-related claims, and significant experience representing general negligence, contract and statutory claims.
Ferguson is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor awarded to the top one percent of lawyers in each state. In addition, he is a member of the International Society of Barristers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the International Association of Defense Counsel. He is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law.
Ferguson has been recognized by multiple publications, including Chambers USA, Legal 500, The Best Lawyers in America, and Texas Super Lawyers. He currently serves as a Head of V&E’s Construction practice team.
Experience Highlights
(Tex. App. – 14th – Houston) — Obtained affirmance of summary judgment on liability on behalf of a commercial real estate company, obtaining the complete dismissal of all claims for breach of contract and nuisance asserted by a neighboring property owner in connection with our client’s development and expansion of a regional distribution center
Representing a pipeline company in an UNCITRAL arbitration arising out of the construction of a new gas processing plant in Canada
Representing a client in an AAA arbitration arising out of respondent’s engineering work in connection with the development of an underground storage facility in Brazil
Representing a company in a pending class action in Canada involving property damage
(S.D. Tex.); (S.D. Fla.); (5th Cir.) — Represented an aviation company in a suit brought by its former maintenance service provider in a breach of contract case; briefed, argued, and won defense of writ of mandamus to the 5th Circuit; in a bench trial, we successfully defeated plaintiffs’ claims and prevailed on a counterclaim, winning a million dollars (net) on the counterclaim
Represented a Fortune 100 multinational consumer products company as its national trial counsel in vinyl chloride litigation in state and federal courts in a number of different states
Represented a major chemical company in agricultural product toxic tort cases involving approximately 25,000 non-U.S. workers who filed suit in various Texas state and federal courts; currently representing same company in similar cases filed by non-U.S. workers in Louisiana and Hawaii federal courts, and in the courts of the Philippines, Nicaragua and Panama; involved in similar cases dismissed from U.S. courts and then refiled in Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, The Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and St. Lucia, all of which were resolved by settlement
(Del. Ch.) — Tried case on behalf of a racing company and an individual in an attempted dissolution of the corporation; the court found in favor of client
Represented a foreign manufacturer of wind turbines used in the generation of electricity
Represented a comprehensive provider of waste and environmental services in an attempt by various landowners to limit the use of a landfill
Representing a major engineering firm against claims of negligence and misrepresentation pertaining to the evaluation of a chemical plant project in the state court of Texas
Represented a major EPC contractor in claims arising from the renovation of two Gulf Coast refineries
Represented the owner of a major arts facility in claims against the contractor
Represented a major engineering firm in professional malpractice litigation in Louisiana concerning the design and construction of a chemical plant
Represented a client of the firm’s energy regulatory section, in an advisory capacity, in a dispute arising during construction of a pipeline and in post-construction litigation
Represented a leading pharmaceutical company as Texas counsel in diet drug litigation filed by plaintiffs opting out of a related class action
Represented a major chemical company against claims filed in Texas by nationwide plaintiffs against multiple defendants for property damage resulting from defects in polybutylene plumbing systems; in four separate jury trials and one arbitration, only a small portion of the overall liability to plaintiffs was assessed against our client
Currently serving as trial counsel in the state of Texas for a major oil company in its asbestos litigation, representing a product manufacturer in asbestos cases throughout the state of Texas
Represented a major chemical company in 8,000 claims arising from alleged chemical emissions from a plant; the case was tried to a jury with a defense verdict for our client
Represented a major oil company involving claims of breach of contract, fraud, and misappropriation of trade secrets pertaining to leases in a South American country
Represented plaintiffs in two suits involving a West Texas wind farm project; in one suit, our client was the general contractor of the project seeking amounts owed under the wind tower construction contract; in the second suit, our client was a non-U.S. supplier of equipment suing a distributor for breach of contract and incidental damages arising from the defendant’s failure to deliver equipment that the supplier then obtained at higher cost from alternative source
Credentials
- University of Arkansas, J.D., 1980 (Phi Delta Phi; Arkansas Law Review)
- The University of Texas School of Law, 1978-1979 (Summer programs)
- University of Arkansas, B.S.B.A. with honors, 1977 (Beta Gamma Sigma; 3-year letterman in baseball)
- Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial (Texas), 2003–2020
- Chambers USA, Litigation: General Commercial (Houston), 2021 and 2022
- Legal 500 U.S., Environment Litigation, 2008−2009; Real Estate: Construction (Including Construction Litigation), 2010−2022
- Lawdragon, 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2023
- Recognized as a “Top Lawyer” in Construction Law, Corporate Counsel (ALM), 2011
- The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), (Houston): Commercial Litigation, 2005−2023; Construction Law, 2008−2011 and 2021; Litigation–Construction, 2013−2023
- Selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list, Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), 2003−2020 and 2022
- Fellow: Texas Bar Foundation; Houston Bar Foundation
- Member: Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, International Society of Barristers; American Board of Trial Advocates; International Association of Defense Counsel; American Bar Association; Texas Association of Defense Counsel; Defense Research Institute; Houston Bar Association
- Texas
- United States Supreme Court
- Fifth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal
- U.S. District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Western, and Northern Districts of Texas
- Rankings & AwardsOctober 4, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsAugust 18, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 16, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsJune 1, 2022
- Rankings & AwardsMarch 29, 2022
- “Extension of Time Clauses and Managing the Independent Delay Expert,” V&E CLE Program, April 4, 2013 (co-presenter)
- “International Construction: Key Issues and Developments,” V&E CLE Program, October 4, 2011 (co-presenter)
- Inside The Minds: Managing Construction Litigation — Leading Lawyers on Organizing Documentation, Developing a Case Strategy, and Overcoming Common Challenges, Thomson Reuters/Aspatore, 2009, “Preparing for Construction Litigation” (co-author)
- “The Surface Destruction Test as Applied in Reed v. Wylie and Its Possible Effect on Arkansas Law,” 33 Ark. L. Rev. 422, 1979
- Lecturer on litigation seminars on civil litigation, evidentiary issues, architect and engineer liability, and insurance law