Practice Areas

Product Liability
Insurance Defense
Insurance Coverage
Bad Faith Litigation
Cargo Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Construction Litigation
Consumer Litigation

Practice Emphasis

Mr. McGary has more than 20 years of experience in handling complex litigation in a variety of settings, including product liability, insurance, medical malpractice and general business disputes.  For the last decade Mr. McGary has focused his practice on representing insurers and manufacturers in fire-related products liability litigation.  Mr. McGary currently serves as national counsel for several major manufacturers of consumer electronics products in their nationwide product liability program.  He also serves as local counsel for other manufacturers of electronic products.

In addition to his product liability practice, Mr. McGary has extensive experience representing insurance companies and their insureds in a wide variety of litigation involving both property and casualty claims.

Representative Matters

Mr. McGary has successfully represented clients in a wide range of complex matters, including cases involving:

• Product liability claims involving fires, shock and other electrical phenomena

• Arson claims

• Insurance Coverage disputes

• Construction litigation

• Premises Liability claims

• Consumer Product Safety Commission disputes

• Cargo/Transportation claims

• Wrongful foreclosure

• Lender Liability

• Medical Malpractice

Professional and Community Involvement

• Member, State Bar of Texas

Insurance Section

Litigation Section

• Member, Dallas Bar Association

• Member, International Association of Arson Investigators

• Member, National Fire Protection Association

• Member, Defense Research Institute

Publications and Speeches

• Property Loss Research Bureau - 1993 & 1994 Property Loss Managers Conference, - Examinations Under Oath.

• RSX Risk Management 1996 Insurance Conference - The Struggle with Emotional Distress & Mental Anguish: Are Emotional Distress and Mental Anguish "Bodily Injuries?

• Consumer Electronics Association 2007 Annual Winter Technology & Standards Forum: Defending Product Liability Claims - A Systematic Approach.

• Consumer Electronics Association, 2007 Industry Forum, Dispelling the Myth: Successfully Defending Product Liability Claims.

• Consumer Electronics Association, 2007 Industry Forum, Dispelling the Myth: A Strategic Grasp of Conducting a Fire Investigation.

Honors and Awards

• Texas Tech Law Review

• Texas Bank Lawyer

• Political Science National Honor Society

• Economics National Honor Society

Education and Professional Background

• Admitted, Texas

• United States District Court for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts in the State of Texas

• United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

• Admitted pro hac vice in Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Utah

• J.D., (cum laude), Texas Tech University School of Law, 1985

• B.A., Political Science, University of Texas at Arlington, 1982

Reported Cases

Mr. McGary’s successful experience in handling lawsuits and their appeal through the various appellate courts is reflected in the following reported cases:

• Tarter v. Metropolitan Sav. & Loan Assoc., 744 S.W.2d 926 (Tex. 1988), a lender liability claim involving the application and use of offensive collateral estoppel.

• MBank Abilene v. LeMaire, No. C14-86-00834-CV (March 25, 1989), a lender liability suit wherein the Court of Appeals for the Fourteenth District of Texas affirmed the trial court's award of over 33 Million Dollars to Mr. McGary's clients.

• Nagel v. Kentucky Cent. Ins. Co., 894 S.W.2d 19 (Tex. App. – Austin 1994, no writ) a coverage dispute denying Insureds the right to recover from insurers for pre-notice defense costs under quantum meruit when each policy contained an express provision prohibiting the insureds from incurring such expenses, except at their own cost.

• George Grubbs Enterprises, Inc. v. Bien, 881 S.W.2d 843 (Tx. App. – Fort Worth, 1994), reversed on other grounds, delineating the elements of a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

• First Oak Brook Corporation Syndicate, Inc. v. Southeastern Texas Financial Corp., No. 95-2027 (United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, December 8, 1995), affirming the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of Mr. McGary clients construing an exclusion in an ISO Commercial Insurance Policy which previously had never been construed.

• Moritz v. General Electric Company, No. 04-0871, (Texas Supreme Court slip opinion, June 13, 2008), reversing the appellate court and reinstating the trial court summary judgment in favor of Mr. McGary’s clients.  The court reaffirmed its prior holdings that a Landlord does not owe a duty to an independent contractor to warn of open and obvious dangers on the property.