Stephen Venable has litigated a wide variety of complex commercial, insurance and construction disputes, at both the trial and appellate levels, in state and federal courts across Texas. Stephen has litigated cases in more than 50 counties throughout Texas, and has handled multiple appeals in Texas appellate courts, including oral argument before the Texas Supreme Court.
Stephen represents domestic and international insurers in matters arising from property insurance, general commercial liability and professional liability insurance in both first-party and third-party claims. He has a broad range of experience in resolving cases involving general contract and commercial disputes, fraud, construction, product liability, premises liability, personal injury, wrongful death and other civil litigation.
Stephen’s representative experience includes:
- Defended insurers in extra-contractual claims involving personal and commercial insurance litigation.
- Defended general contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers in construction accident and construction defect litigation.
- Defended owners and managers of shopping malls, apartment complexes, service stations and other commercial properties in general premises liability litigation.
- Defended product manufacturers, distributors and retailers in breach of warranty and product liability litigation.
- Defended lawyers, architects, engineers and healthcare professionals in general malpractice litigation.
Some recent highlights of Stephen’s practice include:
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a liability insurer in a bad faith action filed in Harris County, Texas by a former condo association’s director seeking reimbursement for his defense costs in multiple lawsuits under the condo association’s D & O policy, and handled the subsequent appeal affirming the summary judgment ruling all the way through oral argument before the Texas Supreme Court. See Great American Insurance Company v. Primo, 512 S.W.3d 890 (Tex. 2017).
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of commercial property insurer in a coverage dispute involving the interpretation of a policy’s theft sublimit filed in Dallas County, Texas; and handled the subsequent appeal, which was affirmed by the Dallas Court of Appeals. See SA-OMAX 2007, L.P. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 374 S.W.3d 594 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2012, no pet.).
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a roofing contractor in a subrogation action filed by a property insurer against several contractors for claims related to the construction of a hotel in San Antonio, Texas;
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a general contractor in a breach of contract action filed by a subcontractor for claims related to the construction of an apartment complex in Midland, Texas;
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of an international restaurant franchisor and one of its local franchisees in a premises liability action filed in Harris County, Texas;
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a commercial property insurer in a reformation action filed by a commercial property owner in Dallas County, Texas;
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a concrete contractor in a premises liability action filed by a worker who was injured on a jobsite near Corpus Christi, Texas;
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a local property owner in a property damage lawsuit filed by a neighboring property owner asserting claims for negligence and trespass;
- Obtained summary judgment and sanctions award for $25,000 on behalf of bar owner in a fraudulent premises liability suit filed in Travis County, Texas;