The Velvet Hammer: Undue Influence Based On Deceit,
Fraud, and Relationship Poisoning and a Financial
Institution’s Duty To Report Financial Exploitation
DAVID F. JOHNSON
Winstead PC
300 Throckmorton, Suite 1700
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
817-420-8223
DAVID FOWLER JOHNSON
DFJOHNSON@WINSTEAD.COM
Managing Shareholder of Winstead PC’s Fort Worth Office
300 Throckmorton, Suite 1700
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
(817) 420-8223
David maintains an active trial and appellate practice for the financial services industry. David is the
primary author of the Texas Fiduciary Litigator blog (txfiduciarylitigator.co m), which reports on legal cases and
issues impacting the fiduciary field in Texas. David’s financial institution experience includes (but is not limited to):
account litigation, breach of contract, foreclosure litigation, lender liability, receivership and injunction remedies
upon def ault, non-recourse and ot her real estate lending, class action, RICO actions, usury, various tort causes of
action, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and preference and other related claims raised by receivers.
David has specialized in estate and trust disputes including: trust modification/clarification, trustee
resignation/removal, breach of fiduciary duty and related claims, accountings, will contests, mental competency
issues, and undue influence. David’s recent trial experience includes:
Represented a trustee in federal class action suit where trust beneficiaries challenged whether it
was the authorized trustee of over 220 trusts;
Represented trustees regarding claims of mismanagement of assets;
Represented a tru stee who filed suit to modify three trusts to remove a charitable beneficiary that
had substantially changed operations;
Represented a trustee regarding dispute over the failure to make distributions;
Represented a trustee/bank regarding a negligence claim arising from i nvestments f rom an IRA
account;
Represented individuals in will contests arising from claims of undue influence and mental
incompetence;
Represented estate representatives against claims raised by a beneficiary for breach of fiduciary
duty;
Represented beneficiaries against estate representatives for breach of fiduciary duty and other
related claims; and
Represented estate representatives, trustees, and beneficiaries regarding accountings and related
claims.
David is one of twenty attorneys in the state (of the 84,000 licensed) that has the triple Board Certification
in Civil Trial Law, Civil Appellate, and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Additionally, David was a member of the Civil Trial Law Commission of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
This commission writes and grades the exam for new applicants for civil trial law certification. David is a graduate
of Baylor University School of Law, Magna Cum Laude, and Baylor University, B.B.A. in Accounting.
David has published over twenty (20) law review articles on various litigation topics. David’s articles have
been cited as authority by: federal courts, the Texas Supreme Court (three times), the Texas courts of appeals (El
Paso, Waco, Texarkana, Tyler, Beaumont, and Houston), McDonald and Carlson in their Texas Civil Practice
treatise, William V. Dorsaneo in the Texas Litigation Guide, Baylor Law Review, South Texas Law Review, and the
Tennessee Law Review. David has presented and/or prepared written materials for over one hundred and fifty (150)
continuing legal education courses.
