Greg Ziegler is a trial lawyer with over 20 years of experience aggressively representing businesses and professionals in complex litigation throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. He has successfully handled multi-party lawsuits and arbitrations involving construction law, architects and engineers liability, employment law, business and commercial law, products liability, medical malpractice and health facility/nursing homes, premises liability, and commercial and real estate transactions.
Greg’s clients include some of the largest and most well-respected firms and insurers in the nation. Greg heads up a 15-member team that
implements a proactive and efficient approach designed to achieve swift, economical and favorable resolution of disputes with an emphasis on close and candid communication with clients, timely providing clear and concise written reports, and offering creative and innovative solutions to our clients' legal challenges.
Representative Experience
Architects and Engineers Liability
Phone | 214.651.3325 Fax | 214.747.0942 gziegler@macdonalddevin.com
Areas of Practice
Architects and Engineers Commercial/Transactional ConstructionEmployment and Labor Health Law
Nursing Home and Long Term Care Premises Liability Products Liability Professional Liability Transportation Macdonald Devin P.C. 3800 Renaissance Tower 1201 Elm Street Dallas, Texas 75270 214.744.3300 macdonalddevin.com
Greg Ziegler has been chosen as lead counsel on some of the most high-profile and major cases in Texas, including:
• Obtained dismissal upheld on appeal for an international architectural engineering firm in lawsuit for multiple millions of dollars arising from a dispute involving a minority sub-consultant who was not selected to be part of a large transportation project
• Allen High School Eagle Stadium damage – representing construction materials testing firm, 2015
• Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility Collapse - Won successful settlement for structural engineering firm in Dallas Cowboys Practice Facility Collapse cases pending in Dallas County, 2012; defending structural engineer in suit brought by Texas Board of Professional Engineers, 2014
• Texas A&M University Kyle Field workplace death – representing program manager, 2014
• Ocean Tower Padre Island High Rise Implosion - Won dismissal for structural engineering firm in Ocean Tower 31-story luxury high rise on the South Padre Island beachfront, 2011
• Minute Maid Houston Astros Park Pipe Repairs - Secured favorable resolution of claims against mechanical engineering client in multi-million dollar lawsuit by Houston Astros regarding Minute Maid Park.
• Memorial Hermann Hospital Corporate Headquarters Tower – won favorable settlement in multi-million dollar water infiltration lawsuit on behalf of prominent architectural firm for a minor fraction of overall global, multi-party settlement, 2013
• Port of Freeport - Won successful settlement for major geotechnical engineering firm in $30 million wharf failure lawsuit, 2013
• Lackland Air Force Base - Won trial for architectural engineering firm against U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in $7 million lawsuit in Federal Court, Washington, DC 2012
• Marriott Hotel - Won jury trial for architect in $6 million hotel foundation case, 2014
• Won favorable result for structural engineer in foundation design case; jury trial resulted in no finding of liability against engineer but $22 million verdict against contractor, 2014
• Won trial for architectural engineering firm against public transit authority, 2013
• Won successful results for architect in million-dollar arbitration against office suite condominium association and developer, 2012
• Won appeal for a residential subdivision developer for which the Corpus Christi Court of Appeals held that Plaintiffs' Certificate failed to establish the claims against Defendants had merit, and that dismissal of all claims was appropriate
• Won case of first impression in Texas construction law by securing dismissal for an engineering firm under the recently-enacted Certificate of Merit Statute, March, 2004, affirmed on appeal,
Palladian Building Co. v. Nortex Foundation Designs, Inc., 165 S.W.3d 430 (Tex. App.-- Fort
Worth 2005, no pet.)
Health Professional Liability/Nursing Home Liability
• Won a defense verdict in a jury trial which resulted in a take-nothing verdict in a lawsuit in which standard of care was at issue for a nursing home resident who had Stage IV pressure ulcers
• Successful Jury trial in Dallas County defending nursing home sued for wrongful death and won very favorable settlement for nursing home prior to jury deliberations, 2014
• Won jury trial in malpractice suit against assisted living facility
• Won appeal for nursing home, award of attorney's fees on remand in a lawsuit in which the plaintiff sued a nursing home, alleging wrongful death arising from the health care provided to plaintiff's grandmother
• Won favorable ruling from the Texas Supreme Court for nursing home client in wrongful death case. Omaha Healthcare Center, LLC v. Johnson, ___ S.W.3d ___, No. 08-0231 (Tex. July 1, 2011).
• Won defense verdict for nursing home in wrongful death case where Plaintiffs sought damages up to $1 million.
• Won unanimous defense verdict for orthopedic physician assistant in malpractice suit arising from hip replacement surgery, Dallas, Texas
• Defense verdict for national health care provider for negligent suit brought by family of nursing home resident who fell out of bed, 2014.
• Won reversal of employment law jury verdict in whistleblower lawsuit against employer and successful settlement of the claim for fraction of the verdict, 2012
• Won summary judgment for employer in multi-plaintiff race discrimination case. Three nursing home staff members whose employment was terminated for violation of anti-abuse policy sued their former employer in federal court for race discrimination, defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
• Won favorable resolution of sexual harassment and retaliation claims brought by EEOC; aggressive investigation and discovery for employer resulted in settlement for fraction of initial half-million dollar settlement demand.
• Won summary judgment for architectural engineering firm in race discrimination case in federal court in Beaumont, Texas 2012
Business and Commercial Litigation
• Serves as consulting counsel for a national professional liability insurance carrier in an alleged $10 billion oil refinery case
• Won summary judgment for architectural engineering firm in $5 million lawsuit alleging breach of contract in Federal Court in Houston, 2012
• Won declaratory judgment and injunction for regional medical imaging firm in trade secret and tortious interference dispute with national competitor in Dallas.
• Won injunction for business client in multi-million dollar partnership dispute in Dallas.
• Won enforcement of several non-compete agreements and prevention of former employees from unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets, Dallas and Tarrant Counties
Products Liability
• Won summary judgment for wheelchair manufacturer in products liability/nursing home negligence case involving the death of a nursing home resident
Real Estate Litigation
• Six Flags Mall Lawsuit. Won dismissal of million-dollar lawsuit against real estate broker.
Professional Affiliations
Dallas Bar AssociationCollin County Bar Association Tarrant County Bar Association State Bar of Texas
Texas Association of Defense Counsel Oklahoma Bar Association
Defense Research Institute
Honors and Recognition
University of Oklahoma College of Law Practice Court Award, 1993
Southern Methodist University Football Lester Jordan Award High GPA, 1990
Southern Methodist University Football Alumni Association Award of Recognition for Personal Integrity and Courage, 1990
Varsity football, University of Michigan, 1986 - 1987; SMU, 1988 – 1990
Selected Publications and Presentations
Speaker at Texas Society of Professional Engineers 79th Annual Conference. Presented on the topic of Risk Management with approaches to minimize risk and manage legal claims efficiently and economically, June 2015
Presented Illegal Immigrant Claims at the Business Litigation and Insurance Law Conference, September 2011
Presented Third Party Practice in Construction Defect Litigation at Business Litigation and Insurance Law Conference, September 2010
Designation of Responsible Third Parties and Impact on Statutes of Repose and Limitations,
presented at Business and Insurance Litigation Update, October 2009
Speaker at Macdonald Devin Construction Conference, Dallas Texas on The Economic Loss Rule as a
Design Professional's Defense to Owner/Contractor Claims, September 21, 2007
Speaker, Defending the Design Professional - Architect and Engineer E&O Claims, Macdonald Devin Construction Conference, Dallas, Texas, September 29, 2006
Several published state court appellate opinions from the Dallas, Fort Worth and Amarillo Courts of Appeals
How to Protect Your Hotel and Avoid Pitfalls with Conference and Event Contracts, Hotel Association
of Greater Dallas Event Contractors Seminar, 2004
What are They Suing About Now? What Health Care Providers and Their Lawyers Should Expect Post Tort Reform, PESI Health Care Liability Seminar, 2004
Herding Cats – Evaluation of the Nursing Home Claim from the Defense Perspective, PESI National
Nursing Home Negligence Seminar, 2004
Distinguishing Smoking Guns from Red Herrings – Dissecting the Nursing Home Claim: Techniques for Risk Managers and Defense Counsel to Handle Claims and Suits, PESI Texas Nursing Home Negligence
Seminar, 2003
Defense Counsel’s Wish List – Preventative Steps for Nursing Homes to Reduce or Avoid Claims, Suits, and Big Verdicts and Settlements, PESI Texas Nursing Home Negligence Seminar, 2002
Education/Professional Background
University of Oklahoma, Juris Doctor, 1994 Texas Tech School of Law, 1993-94Southern Methodist University, Bachelor of Arts, 1991 University of Michigan, 1986-87
Admitted to Practice
Texas, 1994Oklahoma, 2004
U.S. District Courts: Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of Texas U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit