Derek Davis is a trial attorney and shareholder in both the Dallas and San Francisco offices of Cooper & Scully, P.C. and is licensed to practice law in both California and Texas. He devotes his multi-jurisdictional practice to representing clients in a variety of areas, including health care law, managed care and health plan liability, provider-payer disputes, pharmaceutical liability, insurance and bad faith, ERISA/employee benefits, commercial litigation, and regulatory and administrative representation. Derek represents a broad array of clients on matters, including appointments as National Coordinating Counsel to Fortune 100 sized companies, mid-sized companies involved in business and personal injury disputes, and individuals in need of regulatory representation before professional licensing boards.
Derek is registered to practice pharmacy and maintains certification as a pharmacy preceptor by the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. His unique perspective as both pharmacist and attorney provides an insider's view of health care operations and pharmacy practice. His consulting and trial practice includes cases venued in Texas and California as lead counsel, and he is frequently called upon to appear in cases in many other states, having formally entered appearances before dozens of federal and state courts and regulatory agencies across the country.
In addition to practicing law, Derek serves as faculty for two different pharmacy schools. He actively manages a pharmacy law and health care law rotation for University of Texas College of Pharmacy doctoral students, and he also teaches Pharmacy Law to 3rd year pharmacy students at the University of North Texas School of Pharmacy. He has published a countless number of law and health care related articles and frequently serves as teaching faculty in continuing legal education courses and client-focused presentations.
California, 2006
Texas, 1995
Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals
U.S. District Court Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court Northern District of California
U.S. District Court Central District of California
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
U.S. District Court Western District of Texas
Registered Pharmacist - Texas State Board of Pharmacy
Certified Pharmacist Preceptor - Texas State Board of Pharmacy
J.D., Texas Tech University School of Law, 1995
B.S., University of Texas at Austin, 1992
AV-Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
Texas Super Lawyers® Rising Stars® list, Thomson Reuters Legal (2005)
American Society for Pharmacy Law Fellow
Who's Who: Among American Law Students
Dallas Bar Association
Dallas County Pharmacy Association
Practitioner Faculty, University of Texas College of Pharmacy
State Bar of California
State Bar of Texas
Texas Pharmacy Association
Ehlmann v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Texas, 20 F. Supp 2d 1008 (N.D. Tex. 1998) – Dismissed class action ERISA claims against a health plan for physician incentive compensation scheme claims.
Silva v. Kaiser Permanente, 59 F. Supp. 2d 597 (N.D. Tex 1999) – Applied federal preemption under ERISA of state law claims against a health plan.
Cristantielli v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, 113 F. Supp. 2d 1055 (N.D. Tex 2000) – Denied plaintiff’s motion to remand by applying federal question jurisdiction to state law claims under federal preemption theories.
Choice Health Care v. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, 615 F. 3d 364 (5th Cir. 2010) – Upheld the trial court’s dismissal of claims for want of personal jurisdiction where a plaintiff health care provider pursued claims against a foreign health plan that had relatively few members residing in the forum state and did not otherwise conduct or direct business activity to the forum state.
Hightower v. Baylor Univ. Med. Ctr., 348 S.W. 3d 512 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2011, pet. denied) – Upheld the expert reports in a post-tort reform motion to dismiss wrongful death claims concerning a transplant patient who contracted rabies following a kidney transplant.
Borreani v. Kaiser Foundation Hosps., 875 F. Supp 2d (E.D. Cal. 2012) – The court found that complete federal preemption did not apply to the fraud and benefit related state law claims asserted in a wrongful death claim relating to the administration of a hospital and health plan formulary.
Granados v. Walmart Stores, Inc., No. 15-10837, ___ F. 3d ___ (5th Cir. 2016) – Upheld trial court’s dismissal of premises liability claims against a retail chain store for lack of evidence to create a fact issue on the time-notice rule that the premises owner had actual or constructive notice of an unreasonably dangerous condition.
Pharmacy National Coordinating Counsel – Represent the company nationally in significant potential exposure pharmacy claims to assure consistent and strategically sound defense and discovery positions and when necessary, represent the company directly in court.
National Managed Care Coordinating Counsel – Review all provider-related claims filed against the company outside California to identify potential managed care and systems-related claims, represent and defend the company as needed to assure consistent and strategically sound defense and discovery positions.
In Re: Kidney Transplant Litigation (Northern California) – Represented and defended one of the country’s largest kidney transplant centers in a class action claim and approximately 150 federal, state and arbitration matters involving alleged injuries caused by the operation and closing of the center.
In Re: ASD Cases (Southern California) – Represented and defended a large health plan against claimants in class action and individual matters.
Apple v. Samsung (Northern California) – Represented one of the original 12 inventors and patent holder of the iPhone in litigation between the two companies involving alleged patent infringement on the original design patent of the iPhone.
In Re: Pharmaceutical Litigation – Frequently represent health care providers involved as parties or witnesses in patient claims involving pharmaceutical companies and products.
Adult Brain Injury Defense Verdict (Texas) – Successfully represented an academic medical center in a medical malpractice claim against an academic medical center for allegedly failing to properly treat pneumonia and prevent traumatic brain injury in an adult.
Defense Arbitration Award (Southern California) – Successfully represented a physician in a medical malpractice action alleging failure to detect vitamin deficiency and prevent traumatic brain injury in an adult.
Defense Verdict Alleged Drug Related Injury (Texas) – Successfully represented a physician and her practice in a medical malpractice action alleging failure to properly pharmaceutically treat varicose veins resulting in permanent impairment.
Defense Arbitration Award Pharmacy Negligence (Southern California) – Successfully represented a pharmacy in a negligence action for allegedly improperly filling a prescription for a narcotic medication resulting in permanent impairment.
Defense Arbitration Award in a Managed Care System Claim (Northern California) – Successfully represented a physician, hospital and pharmacy in a wrongful death and managed care liability case alleging improper diagnosis and treatment of asthma, and inappropriate prescription filling procedures and drug utilization review related to rescue inhalers.
Defense Arbitration Award Network Business Contract Dispute (Northern California) – Represented a large national health care network in a business contract dispute involving a $2.2 million damages claim.
Pretrial Dismissal of Network Credentialing Claims Upheld on Appeal (Texas) – Summary Judgment in favor of the credentialing organization in a negligent de-credentialing, breach of contract and peer review action against a physician.
Network Contracting – Developed Worker’s Compensation network contracts for a national network provider to address a need for additional low-cost outpatient surgical center options.