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Ethan Shaw: One of the Eighth-Largest Individual Plaintiff Jury Verdicts in the Country That Year

In 2009, Ethan Shaw and co-counsel Tom Rhodes won a case — Charles Tate v. Discovery Property & Casualty Company and JI Specialty Services Inc. — that Lawyers USA ranked among the year’s most significant litigation results nationally, and which produced the eighth-largest individual plaintiff jury verdict in the country that year. That’s an independently ranked, third-party-verified outcome, not a firm’s own characterization of its work.

Mixed-Representation Disclosure

Shaw Cowart LLP represents both plaintiffs and defendants across its litigation practice. The firm’s own materials describe representing “business partners” and businesses of all sizes in commercial disputes, while Ethan Shaw’s individual practice spans “representing plaintiffs in personal injury and other tort cases as well as defending corporate clients in civil lawsuits.” Awesome Attorneys discloses this explicitly, consistent with its standard practice for every Business & Corporate Litigation profile.

Origin and Background

Shaw Cowart LLP was founded by Ethan Shaw and John Cowart and has represented clients for more than 60 years combined firm history. Ethan L. Shaw earned his B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987 and his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1990. He is board certified in both Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, continuously since 1995 — 30 years of dual certification. He holds Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating and is licensed to practice in all Texas state courts, all federal district courts in Texas, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He has successfully settled and litigated hundreds of civil cases over his 30-plus years of practice.

Practice Concentration

The firm’s business litigation practice covers contractual disputes, business partnership and shareholder disputes, and commercial disputes generally, while Shaw’s individual practice areas span business and commercial litigation, patent infringement, insurance bad faith, product liability, misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and antitrust litigation — a genuinely broad commercial litigation portfolio beyond a single specialty. The firm explicitly positions itself around maintaining “direct access to your attorney” even for larger corporate clients, describing a small-firm-mentality approach despite its national litigation scope. For a broader comparison of Austin litigation firms, see our Business & Corporate Litigation directory.

Notable Work / Track Record

The firm’s most significant independently documented result is the 2009 Charles Tate v. Discovery Property & Casualty Company and JI Specialty Services Inc. verdict, ranked by Lawyers USA as one of the year’s most significant litigation results and reported as the eighth-largest individual plaintiff jury verdict in the country that year. Beyond that specific, independently ranked case, the firm’s other case outcomes are generally described in aggregate (“hundreds of civil cases”) rather than itemized with individual figures, and Awesome Attorneys is disclosing that as a limitation on further independent verification rather than substituting marketing language for it.

Client Voice

An independent review-summary analysis of the firm’s broader client base described the reviews as “overwhelmingly positive, praising the law firm’s responsiveness, expertise, and professionalism.” A Martindale-Hubbell peer review specific to Shaw, from an attorney who opposed him in trial, offered a terse but notable acknowledgment: “I had a trial against him” — a peer comment that, while minimal, reflects direct courtroom experience against him rather than secondhand reputation. Awesome Attorneys notes the peer review sample specific to Shaw individually is limited in detail, though the firm’s broader review base is documented as consistently positive by independent aggregation.

Beyond the Courtroom

Shaw received the Jefferson County Young Lawyer of the Year Award in 2001, reflecting early-career peer recognition well before his more recent national litigation ranking — a documented pattern of sustained professional regard across multiple career stages rather than a single credential.

Recognition for This Austin Business Litigation Attorney

Peer-reviewed and third-party credentials: dual board certification in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, continuously held since 1995; Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Preeminent rating; and an independently ranked, nationally significant litigation result (Lawyers USA, 2009). This combination of formal dual board certification and an independently verified, nationally ranked case outcome is among the more substantively documented credential profiles Awesome Attorneys has found among Austin business litigation attorneys.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Insurance bad-faith litigation — one of Shaw’s stated practice areas, and the subject matter of his most significant documented verdict — proceeds under both the Texas Insurance Code’s unfair claims settlement practices provisions and common-law bad-faith doctrine, which together can expose an insurer to damages beyond the policy limits, including attorney’s fees, when a claim is wrongfully denied or delayed. Trade secret misappropriation claims, another area of Shaw’s practice, can be brought under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 134A) or the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act, with the choice of framework affecting available remedies and where a case can be filed. None of this is legal advice; a specific insurance, trade secret, or commercial dispute should be evaluated by a licensed attorney based on the actual facts and policy or contract terms involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Shaw’s clearest, most specific differentiator is a rare combination of dual TBLS board certification (30 years, Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law) with an independently ranked, nationally significant jury verdict — the eighth-largest individual plaintiff verdict in the country in the year it was decided, per Lawyers USA’s independent ranking. The honest observation Awesome Attorneys makes is that the firm’s broader commercial litigation practice is documented more through aggregate description (“hundreds of civil cases”) than itemized individual results, which is worth noting alongside the specific, independently verified 2009 case. For a business facing a genuinely high-stakes commercial dispute — particularly involving insurance bad faith, trade secrets, or fraud — Shaw’s combination of dual board certification and a documented, independently ranked litigation result is a strong basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Shaw Cowart LLP’s official website (shawcowart.com), Ethan Shaw’s Super Lawyers and individual attorney bio profiles, the firm’s Martindale-Hubbell listing, and an independent review-aggregator summary via ReputableAttorneys.com. The 2009 verdict ranking is attributed to independent legal-press reporting (Lawyers USA) as referenced in Shaw’s Super Lawyers profile.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Ethan Shaw or Shaw Cowart LLP prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.