About the Author
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David G. Tekell
(J.D., University of California—Hastings College of the Law, 1986; B.S.
Business Administration, University of Southern California, 1983.)
Mr. Tekell has over 20 years of experience as a practicing
trial lawyer handling consumer law cases on both sides of the docket. After
interning with Chief Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. of the United States
District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division during his
last semester of law school in 1986, Mr. Tekell worked with Waco’s largest
defense firm, trying cases in both federal and state courts. In 1987, Mr.
Tekell defended one of the first “vanishing premium” life insurance fraud
cases filed in Texas. In 1990, he began handling “vanishing premium” life
insurance fraud cases from the plaintiff’s side. In 1995, he represented the
plaintiffs in the landmark case of Ferguson v. Crown Life Insurance
Company, which resulted in one of the largest consumer law verdicts
ever issued in Travis County at the time. That case was subsequently
appealed and reported as Crown Life Ins. Co. v. Casteel, 22 S.W.3d
378 (Tex. 2000).
From 1996 to 2005, Mr. Tekell served as co-lead class counsel
in several national class actions against life insurance companies for
“vanishing premium” life insurance sales practices and lead class counsel
against other national companies for deceptive trade practices. He has been
a frequent author and speaker on life insurance sales practices and class
action litigation. Throughout his career, Mr. Tekell has maintained an
active docket of individual consumer law cases, trying many of them to jury
verdicts. He is board certified in Consumer and Commercial Law (2004) and in
Personal Injury Trial Law (2004) by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Currently, Mr. Tekell is managing partner of the law firm Tekell & Atkins,
L.L.P. with offices in Waco and Salado, Texas.
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