Rodney H. Lawson

• Litigation, Disputes, Appeals

• Defended numerous medical malpractice cases (including both medical surgical facilities and psychiatric facilities) involving catastrophic injuries and death.
• Defended numerous products liability cases involving a variety of medical equipment and medical devices.
• Represented both hospitals and physician in numerous physician credentialing and corrective actions.
• Represented physicians before the Texas Medical Board connection with licensing and disciplinary actions.
• Authored several articles on physician credentialing and corrective actions. See the Peer Review Credentialing and Self-Evaluation Privilege and Immunities – Has the Pendulum Swung Too Far? Sedona Conf. T. (2002).
• Prevailed in the Texas Supreme Court in connection with his representation of a lessor in a title dispute involving a disputed mineral interest. Wessely Energy Corp. v. Jennings, 736 S.W. 2d 624 (Tex.1987).
• Successfully tried in federal court in the Tyler Division of the Eastern District of Texas a mineral title dispute lawsuit in which he represented the lessee. Young v. Amoco Production Co., 610 F. Supp. 1479 (E.D. Tex. 1985).
• Successfully defended a major oil company that was sued by several individuals who were seriously injured in an explosion of an oil storage tank.
• Successfully defended a lessee’s mineral leasehold interest in a jury trial in Wise County, Texas, which involved claims that the lease had terminated due to an alleged cessation of production.
• Successfully tried a lawsuit before a jury in federal court in Brownsville, Texas, against claims by a major bank holding company that a farm implement manufacturer’s liens on millions of dollars of farm equipment were subordinate to those of the bank’s.
• Successfully represented a Kilgore, Texas manufacturer in a products liability lawsuit seeking recovery for extensive economic damages resulting from substandard wooden pallets.
• Successfully defended a major restaurant chain in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas arising from allegations of food contamination and food borne illness.
• Tried a case before a Kaufman County jury representing a defendant company sued over an accidental shooting, resulting in a favorable outcome for the client.

Health Law/Medical Malpractice

For many years Rodney was previously head of the firm’s Health Law Practice Group. For more than 35 years, much of his law practice has focused on health law, primarily involving the representation of hospitals. He has successfully defended hospitals in numerous medical malpractice cases involving catastrophic injuries, including but not limited to matters concerning emergency room care, obstetrics, anesthesiology, radiology, neurology, and surgeries of all types. Rodney’s experience in this area also includes representation of free standing psychiatric hospitals in medical negligence cases of all sorts, including patient suicides.  He also has extensive experience representing hospitals in credentialing and peer review matters, both in the context of litigation and more often in the administrative hearing setting. Rodney has written and lectured extensively on the related subjects of physician credentialing, physician peer review, and the complex world of peer review/hospital committee privileges. Rodney also regularly advises hospitals and their committees on non-litigation matters. By way of example, he is very experienced in counseling hospitals on end of life legal issues.  Rodney also has significant experience handling commercial litigation involving health care. This includes medical office lease disputes and legal issues concerning third-party vendors of all types, including information technology, construction, and medical equipment.

Over the last decade or more, Rodney’s practice has expanded into other areas of health care, including fraud and abuse (Stark, Anti-Kickback, and the False Claims Act), regulatory compliance, patient privacy and electronic medical records security (HIPAA, HITECH, and the Texas Medical Records Privacy Act), and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In addition to his litigation experience defending against claims asserted under the False Claims Act, Rodney has also advised numerous investors, businesses, and providers in connection with a variety of health care transactions and ventures, including medical laboratories, dialysis centers, medical service agreements, physician contracts, and physician practice groups.  Rodney has advised clients on matters involving not only Texas law, but also the laws of numerous other states. Rodney has also represented physicians in disciplinary and licensing actions before the Texas Medical Board.

Products Liability/Toxic Torts/Personal Injury Defense

Rodney is currently the head of the Firm’s Personal Injury Defense Practice Group.  For more than 35 years, Rodney has defended products liability cases, including but not limited to toxic tort matters. His practice has included the trial of automotive, farm machinery, and asbestos lawsuits, and the successful defense of medical device manufacturers. Just one example would be a successful jury trial result in federal court in Brownsville concerning the defense of a major automobile manufacturer in a case involving catastrophic injuries. Rodney has also represented national restaurant chains in the defense of personal injury claims alleging food contamination and food-borne illnesses.  As discussed in greater detail below, Rodney has extensive oil and gas litigation experience. In the personal injury context, he successfully obtained a summary dismissal of a lawsuit against a major oil company after extensive litigation arising from serious personal injuries sustained as the result of an explosion at an oil storage facility. Rodney has recently tried before a Texas jury a personal injury case involving an accidental shooting, achieving a successful result.

Oil & Gas/Land Use Litigation

Rodney grew up in Longview, Texas, in the middle of the East Texas oilfield. That experience has provided him with extensive practical knowledge of the industry. Rodney has successfully tried and argued on appeal numerous energy related matters involving such varied subject matters as title disputes over highly successful producing properties, breach of contract claims concerning a salt water disposal storage facility, and the aforementioned explosion at an oil storage facility. One case originating in Upshur County, Texas, was ultimately won in the Supreme Court of Texas, which case is cited not only for the land title law made by the Supreme Court but also because of the successful use of creative arguments relying upon federal and state constitutional law barring gender based discrimination. Wessely Energy Corp. v. Jennings, 736 S.W.2d 624 (Tex. 1987). Other successful results include McKinney v. Waggoner-Baldridge (in an unpublished opinion, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court judgment entered following a successful jury trial in Wise County involving a mineral title dispute); Young v. Amoco Production Company, 610 F. Supp. 1479 (E.D. Tex. 1985), aff’d 786 F.2d 1161 (5th Cir. 1986) (successful defense of mineral title in federal court in Tyler concerning producing property in East Texas); The Herd Corporation, et al  v. Triple J Investments, Inc. (in an unpublished opinion, the Houston Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment in favor of his client entered after a jury trial in Burleson County concerning the operation of a salt water disposal well). 

Rodney has successfully represented both rural and urban landowners in both traditional eminent domain proceedings as well as inverse condemnation matters. Rodney was also successful in marshalling neighborhood opposition to the attempted commercial rezoning of church property adjacent to several residential neighborhoods in Longview, Texas. The party seeking the rezoning was a very well-funded national retail store chain. Rodney represented the local landowners pro bono.

Franchise/Distributor Litigation

Rodney has successfully defended numerous lawsuits throughout Texas brought against franchisors and distributors in various industries. Representative clients include John Deere Company, Ford Motor Company, and Coors Brewing Company (now Molson Coors Brewing Company). By way of example, see Dennis Nauslar, et al. v. Coors Brewing Co., et al., 170 S.W.3d 242 (Tex. App. — Dallas 2005, no pet.) (affirmance by Dallas Court of Appeals of trial court’s summary dismissal of case brought under the Texas Beer Industry Fair Dealing Law).

Publisher Representation

Rodney has successfully defended publisher defendants in litigation ranging from an antitrust lawsuit brought under the Robinson‑Patman Act to more routine breach of contract claims.

East Texas

Over the years Rodney has successfully handled numerous cases filed in East Texas. Two examples are the aforementioned cases styled Wesley Energy Corp. v. Jennings and Young v. Amico Production Company. More recent East Texas matters include the previously discussed cases involving representation of a Kilgore manufacturer and a national restaurant chain as well as the successful opposition to the attempted commercial rezoning of church property adjoining several residential neighborhoods. Having grown up in Longview and practiced there briefly with another firm several years ago, Rodney is no stranger to this unique legal community.

Pro Bono Matters

Rodney has devoted substantial time to indigent representation. By way of example, he was part of a legal team from his firm that successfully established the innocence of a prisoner on death row convicted of a murder he did not commit.

Education

• The University of Texas at Austin School of Law, J.D., with honors, 1980; Order of the Coif
• Baylor University, B.A., summa cum laude, 1977; Phi Beta Kappa

Bar + Court Admissions

• Licensed in Texas
• Texas Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District, Texas
• U.S. District Court, Northern District, Texas
• U.S. District Court, Southern District, Texas
• U.S. District Court, Western District, Texas

• The Best Lawyers in America® (BL Rankings), Litigation - Health Care, 2025-2027
• Leading Litigators in America, Product Liability, Class Action, Lawdragon 500, 2023-2025
• Texas Super Lawyers, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2022-2025
• AV Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell 

• Board of Directors, Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas (now Mental Health America of Greater Dallas)
• Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
• Fellow, Dallas Bar Foundation
• Member, Texas Health Lawyers Association
• Member, Chancel Choir and serves on the Administrative Council at the First United Methodist Church of Longview, Texas

• Co-Author, "Doing Business With Health Care Providers," Carrington Coleman Capital Newsletter, Spring 2013
• Co-Author, "Nursing Peer Review," 2011
• Co-Author, "The Peer Review and Self-Evaluation Privileges and Immunities – Has The Pendulum Swung Too Far?," The Sedona Conference Journal, Vol. 3, 2002
• Co-Author, "Physician Credentialing Presents Unique Challenge," Texas Healthcare Metroplex, Vol. 2, Issue 7, 2000
• Co Author, "Medical Malpractice and Physician Credentialing For General Practitioners," 1998