OUR LAWYERS

Gary L. Evans

Mr. Evans is a native of Columbus, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeroscience from Ohio State University, and a Masters in Business Administration, with distinction, from Illinois Benedictine College. Mr. Evans received his Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law where he achieved the Order of the Lytae, Dean’s List, and was a member of the South Texas Law Review. Mr. Evans received the FAA’s rare and prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award during July, 2022, signifying over 50 years of flying as a pilot without incident since he first soloed on July 14, 1972.

Mr. Evans is an Airline Transport Pilot with over 13,600 hours of flight experience, including over 9,500 flight hours in multi-engine corporate jets, a Certified Flight Instructor, Single and Multi-Engine Instrument, Ground Instructor Advanced Instruments, and recipient of the National Business Aviation Association’s million mile, 4,500, 5,500, 6,500, 7,500, 8,500, 10,000, 11,000, and 12,000 hour business flying safety awards. His flight training includes the American Airlines Flight Academy, United Airlines Cockpit Resource Management School, and Flight Safety International. He is type rated in the Cessna Citation 500/650, Lear Jet, and Boeing 737, and currently operates an award winning Piper Aerostar 700P, recipient of the Aerostar Owner’s Association prestigious “Queen of the Fleet” award for 2008 and 2015, and formerly owned and operated an Aero Commander 500S “Shrike”, an aircraft type Mr. Evans flew early in his career as a professional pilot.

Mr. Evans is the author of Texas Landowners Strike Water Surface Estate Remediation and Legislatively Enhanced Liability in the Oil Patch – A Proposal for Optimum Protection of Groundwater Resources from Oil and Gas Exploration and Production in Texas, 37 S. Tex. L. Rev. 477 (1996), for which he received the Cecil N. Cook Memorial Award for Best Article on Oil & Gas Law for 1995. He also authored and presented Trial By Fire Versus Trial By Jury: Land Mines on the Administrative Path to Aviation Truth and Justice at the 37^th Annual Southern Methodist University School of Law Air Law Symposium during 2002, and has spoken on multiple occasions as a presenter at Lawyer Pilots Bar Association meetings. Mr. Evans is a member of the State Bar Association of Texas, is admitted to practice before the United States Northern, Southern, and Eastern District Courts in Texas, and previously served as a registered lobbyist.

Mr. Evans is a Past President of the Houston Aviation Advisory Council and Vice President – Legal Task Force for the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society, served as President of the Lawyer Pilots Bar Association 2012-2013, is a member of the International Air & Transportation Safety Bar Association, is an Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association Legal Services Plan Panel Attorney, and is past President of the Hooks Airport Business and Property Owners’ Association.  Mr. Evans has served as a guest author for the Texas Flyer Magazine, he received the Hobby Airport Person of the Year Award for 1999 presented by the Pearland/Hobby Area Chamber of Commerce, and has authored aviation articles appearing in The Texas Lawyer, and The Lawyer Pilots Bar Association Journal.

Mr. Evans’ practice includes aviation law, defense and commercial trial law, aviation and other transactional work, and administrative proceedings involving the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Gary is married, and he and his wife Penny have four children and four grandchildren, the youngest of which is named “Piper”.

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George Andrew “Drew” Coats

Mr. Coats resides in The Woodlands, Texas with his wife and has two children. Mr. Coats was born in Abilene, Texas. Mr. Coats earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law.  Mr. Coats served as assistant note and comment editor for the South Texas Law Review. Mr. Coats served as a briefing attorney on the Texas Court of Appeals for the Sixth Judicial District.  He also served as a judicial intern to Justice Raul Gonzalez on the Supreme Court of Texas and to the late Judge John R. Brown on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Mr. Coats is licensed to practice law in Texas and admitted to practice in multiple federal court jurisdictions and has been admitted to practice pro hac vice in other states.  Mr. Coats completed mediation training in 2010 with mediation pioneer Professor Kimberlee Kovach, the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and the State Bar of Texas ADR Section. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, former officer of the State Bar Aviation Law Section, a member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the Aviation Insurance Association, the NTSB Bar Association and the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association.

Mr. Coats is the author of Saving the General Aviation Industry;  Putting Tort Reform to the Test, 60 J. AIR LAW & COMMERCE 533 (1994-1995), and Foreign Plaintiffs Have an Absolute Right to Have Their Causes of Action Heard in Texas Courts; Dow Chemical v. Alfaro, 32 S. TEX. L. REV. 289 (1991).  Mr. Coats authored and presented Defending the Self-Insured Aviation Clientat the 38^thAnnual Southern Methodist University School of Law Air Law Symposium.  Mr. Coats presented A Practitioners Guide to FAA Enforcement Actionsat the 2006 State Bar of Texas convention.  Mr. Coats also authored and presented the paper on aviation law during the transportation law seminar at the annual Texas Association of Defense Counsel meeting in 1999.

Mr. Coats is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, the Seaplane Pilots Association, and is an Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association member and Legal Services Plan Panel Attorney.  Mr. Coats is a recipient of the National Business Aviation Association’s Silk Scarf Award. Mr. Coats is a merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts of America for the aviation and law merit badges, among others. Mr. Coats served as aviation legal editor for the American Pilot Magazine and has authored articles for Texas Flyer Magazine. Mr. Coats founded and is past President and Chairman of the Houston Aeronautical Heritage Society, and is a past President of the Houston Aviation Alliance.  He is an instrument-rated private pilot in single engine land and single engine sea aircraft, and in multi-engine land aircraft, and has over 2,500 flight hours. Mr. Coats is an aircraft owner and operator. Mr. Coats serves as a volunteer pilot for Angel Flight Southeast, Challenge Air for Kids & Friends, and Pilots for Patients.

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