David G. Tekell

David Tekell is a nationally recognized expert in the area of life insurance "vanishing premium" litigation. David Tekell has been suing and defending life insurance companies and agents in this area since the "vanishing premium" cases first began to surface in 1988. Rounding out the experience he gained in defending several of the largest life insurers in the world in these cases, David Tekell has successfully prosecuted a number of individual and class action cases arising out of the "vanishing premium" crisis.

In 1995, David Tekell was co-counsel for the plaintiff in the landmark case of Ferguson v. Crown Life Insurance Co. and William Casteel, which resulted in one of the largest jury verdicts ever awarded against a life insurer for deceptive sales practices. That experience led him to be appointed as Plaintiff's Liaison Counsel in the Multidistrict Litigation proceeding, In re Crown Life Insurance Company "Vanishing Premium" Sales Practices Litigation , MDL-1096, by Judge Sim Lake of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

In 1998, David Tekell teamed with Fred Misko as national class counsel in Ferguson v. Security Life of Denver Insurance Company. The Ferguson v. Security Life case has been one of the few "vanishing premium" cases certified as a national class action by a state district court. That certification was upheld by the Dallas Court of Appeals and allowed to stand by the Texas Supreme Court in 1999. The Ferguson v. Security Life case was eventually settled with benefits exceeding $40,000,000 being made available to the class.

In addition to his continuing life insurance sales practices docket, David Tekell is currently prosecuting a number of consumer fraud cases against long distance telephone companies accused of "slamming" long distance consumers. He has recently been appointed as lead class counsel on behalf of a statewide class of long distance telephone consumers in Saldivar v. Axces, Inc. , currently pending in state court in Cameron County, Texas.

David Tekell joined John Malesovas and David Martin to form Malesovas, Martin & Tekell, L.L.P. in October 1997 after a number of years as a partner in Waco's largest law firm. David Tekell is often called upon to act as local counsel for parties appearing in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Waco Division. He has extensive federal court experience dating back to his service as a full-time intern to United States District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. in 1986. His wife, Angela, currently retired from practice, served as Judge Smith's briefing attorney from 1989 to 1991. David Tekell has appeared in federal courts from California to New Jersey, and maintains an active docket in three of the four federal districts in Texas. He is also admitted in the United States District Court in Arizona, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.