David McNeal
Senior of Counsel
David McNeal is a multi-talented, laser focused trial lawyer who employs military-like strategic precision planning with every case. His Congressional nomination to the United States Merchant Marine Academy and subsequent service to our country has prepared him to handle litigation at the highest level. David’s practice is heavily focused on transportation related injuries and deaths, including offshore/maritime injuries and automobile and 18-wheeler collisions. His Logistics and Intermodal Transportation major provides him with insights that most lawyers will never obtain. For law school, David attended Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana – world renowned for its Maritime Law Program – and received honors in Trial Advocacy – an accolade reserved for the top 10% of the class. His industry exposure gives him hands on experience in cases specifically involving plant explosions, workplace injuries, wrongful death, and premises liability.
Raised in a military family, David spent a decade of his life in the Philippines and Germany before moving to San Antonio, Texas at the age of twelve. After high school, he attended and played collegiate football at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY – one of the nation’s five federal service academies. During his tenure there, he was selected by his superiors as the 1st Battalion Commander, set Academy rushing and scoring records, and was named an NCAA 1st Team All-American Running Back. In 2019, David was inducted into the United States Merchant Marine Academy Athletic Hall of Fame.
Upon graduation from the Academy in 2004, David took his oath as an Officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves and earned a U.S. Coast Guard issued Merchant Mariners license. In addition to executing an interservice transfer from the U.S.
Naval Reserves to the U.S. Marine Corps in 2008, David has worked on the Staten Island Ferry in New York City as well as on Offshore Supply Vessels (OSV) and Ultra Deepwater Semi-Submersible drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. While working as a mariner, he was one of the shipboard officers responsible for inspecting safety equipment and maintaining certain safety standards mandated by numerous regulatory agencies. These experiences have provided him an intricate understanding of the very real dangers that exist within the offshore work environment, how they occur, and how the vessel owners’ actions or failures to act led to the occurrence. More importantly, he has lived the life of a mariner and offshore worker and understands firsthand the mental and physical stress that beset individuals in maritime environments, including the impact on the families they leave behind.
Having acquired a maritime-focused undergraduate education, David complemented his practical experience with a maritime-focused legal education. In addition to serving as Legal Officer for the 4th Marine Logistics Group and 4th Marine Division while earning his Juris Doctor, he was also a member of the Juvenile Law Clinic and earned a Certificate of Specialization in Maritime Law while at Tulane, whose Admiralty law program offers more Admiralty and Maritime courses than any other law school in the country.
David is a Plaintiff Vice Chair of the Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee within the Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) of the American Bar Association (ABA) and has been selected into the TIPS Leadership Academy for 2021-22. He is formerly an officer of the Board of Directors for the Houston Maritime Arbitrators’ Association, was named a Top 40 under 40 Attorney, and serves as General Counsel to the Harris County Board of Pilot Commissioners for Harris County Ports. David has achieved several top verdicts. In 2021, he received one of the Top 50 Verdicts in Texas. In 2023, he settled one of the Top 100 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in the United States and one of the Top 50 Personal Injury Settlement in Texas. In 2024, he settled one of the Top 50 Motor Vehicle Accident Settlements in Texas and one of the Top 100 Personal Injury Settlements in Texas. Also in 2024, David settled the Number 1 settlement in Harris County, Texas – a case which was also one of the Top 100 Premises Liability Settlements in the United States in a maritime injury Case. He has been a Super Lawyers Rising Star since 2023, and when he’s not in the office, you can find David spending time with family or coaching youth flag and full contact football.
Practice Areas
18-Wheeler Accidents
Bankruptcy
Business Law
Car Accidents
Commercial Litigation
Maritime Injury
Education
Tulane Law School
- J.D – 2011
- Honors: Trial Advocacy
- Honors: Maritime Law Certificate of Specialization
United States Merchant Marine Academy
- P.S – 2004
- Major – Logistics and Intermodal Transportation
Bar Admissions
State Bar of Texas, 2015
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
President: U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Houston Alumni Chapter
American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS)
- Plaintiff Vice Chair, Admiralty and Maritime Law Committee,
- Vice Chair, Business Law Committee
- Leadership Academy Graduate: 2022
Houston Trial Lawyers Association
Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Leadership Academy Graduate: 2022