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Mike Slack

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

Mike Slack focuses on the most challenging and demanding areas of civil litigation, including aviation law and products liability cases against major corporations. A licensed pilot and former NASA aerospace engineer, Mike combines his technical knowledge and skills with his extensive litigation and trial experience for the benefit of his clients.

Practice Areas

Airplane & Helicopter Crashes Catastrophic Personal Injury Truck & Car Accidents

Mike Slack

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

Mike Slack focuses on the most challenging and demanding areas of civil litigation, including aviation law and products liability cases against major corporations. A licensed pilot and former NASA aerospace engineer, Mike combines his technical knowledge and skills with his extensive litigation and trial experience for the benefit of his clients.

Practice Areas

Airplane & Helicopter Crashes Catastrophic Personal Injury Truck & Car Accidents

Professional Background

Education

Publications

Community

Notable Cases

Mike's legal experience includes more than 35 years of litigating and trying lawsuits arising from catastrophic injuries and deaths due to the neglect of others or unsafe products. For most of his legal career, he has concentrated his practice on a diverse array of cases arising from crashes of aircraft and helicopters. In addition to providing the highest-quality legal services, Mike believes that it is his firm's responsibility not just to serve as our clients' legal advocate, but also to provide a comprehensive support system for our clients who have experienced a tragedy in their lives.

Going back to his roots as an engineer with NASA, Mike is a problem solver. In every case, he looks for ways to correct deficient behavior and prevent similar accidents from happening again. He has received national media attention as an advocate for stronger federal oversight to improve aviation safety, especially in the realm of air ambulance helicopter operations.

Mike successfully obtained settlements and verdicts in numerous products liability cases against aircraft and component manufacturers. In one products liability case against a helicopter manufacturer, he was able to negotiate a voluntary recall program, which afforded owners of a particular model of helicopter an opportunity to obtain a redesigned, more crashworthy fuel system to reduce the likelihood of post-crash fires.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Mike was a senior aerospace engineer at NASA, where he worked on the Apollo-Soyuz and Space Shuttle programs and received special recognition from NASA for his contributions. In 2002, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics named Mike an Associate Fellow, a unique honor for an attorney. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. In 2014, he received the Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Award from the university's Department of Aerospace Engineering in the Dwight Look College of Engineering.

Mike is certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Advocate and by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law.

  • B.S. and M.S., Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University
  • J.D., The University of Texas at Austin
  • "Autonomous Vehicles — What Does the Future Hold?" (State Bar of Texas [SBOT], 2017 Advanced Personal Injury Law Course)
  • "A Game of Drones" (Trial, December 2015)
  • "Emerging Technology: Legal Issues Involving Drones and Autonomous Vehicles" (SBOT, 2016 Advanced Personal Injury Law Course)
  • "Managing the Complex Case" (SBOT, 2016 Advanced Trial Strategies Seminar Panel Presentation)
  • "Dealing With Drone Mischief" (Law360, October 13, 2015)
  • "Developing Strategies to Combat State and Federal Preemption Defenses" (SBOT, 2015 Advanced Personal Injury Law Course)
  • "Countdown to Success: Preparing the Plaintiff’s Case for Trial" (2015 SMU Air Law Symposium)
  • "Aviation Safety in the New Millennium" (Austin Metropolitan Breakfast Club, February 2014)
  • "Three Things Lawyers Can Learn From Teachers" (Texas Lawyer, August 11, 2014)
  • "Presenting Complex Facts to a Jury" (SBOT, 2014 Advanced Trial Strategies)
  • "The Art of Simplicity: Direct & Cross Examination in Complex Cases" (American Association for Justice [AAJ], 2014 Winter Convention)
  • "The Legislature’s Impact on the Trial Bar" (Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, 2014)
  • "Translating Technical Concepts for Today’s Jury" (AAJ, 2014 Annual Convention)
  • "It’s Complicated: Tips on Making Complex Cases Simple" (SBOT, 2014 Annual Meeting)
  • "The Art of Simplicity: Litigating Complex Cases" (SBOT, 2013 Advanced Civil Trial Course 2013; 2014 Embry Riddle Aviation Law and Insurance Symposium)
  • "Emerging Technologies and Challenges in Aviation Safety" (American Bar Association [ABA], October 2013)
  • "Plaintiff and Damages Expert — The Complex Path to a Fair and Reasonable Damages Award" (National Institute on Aviation Litigation Conference, ABA, June 2012)
  • "Legends of the Fall" (Texas Trial Lawyers Association [TTLA], September 2012)
  • "Transactions Gone Bad: Litigation Between Buyers and Sellers of Aircraft" (National Business Aviation Association, November 2012)
  • "Overview of Preemption in Aviation Product Liability Cases" (SBOT, 2008)
  • "Deposing and Cross-Examining the Design Engineer" (TTLA, 2008)
  • American Board of Trial Advocates
  • Texas Trial Lawyers Association
    • Past President (1997)
    • Board of Directors
  • American Association for Justice
    • Past Chair, Aviation Law Section
    • Board of Governors
  • Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association
  • American Astronautical Society
  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)
  • International Society of Air Safety Investigators
  • Department of Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University, Advisory Council
  • AIAA National Technical Committee, Legal Aspects of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Judicial Compensation Commission, State of Texas (2008–2017)
  • Texas Pattern Jury Committee Volume I (2008–2017)
  • Texas Pattern Jury Oversight Committee (2018)
  • Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Corporate Council Member (2017)

[notable_cases]

  • "A disaster affecting the lives of many families led to our relationship with the Slack Davis Sanger team. While we never could be compensated fully for our loss, the team at Slack Davis Sanger removed much of the burden associated with dealing with the courts and corporate attorneys, allowing us to devote more of our attention to dealing with the very real burden of personal loss associated with losing loved ones to tragedy. They actively listened to what was important to us and crafted a legal strategy designed to meet our goals."

    Victor McLerran

    Client

  • "The team at Slack Davis Sanger was invaluable in helping me through a difficult time. After being in a serious car accident and fracturing my spine, I was overwhelmed by the number of calls I received from different insurance companies and the various medical bills that kept coming in the mail. Mike Slack walked me through the entire process and made it seem easy. He and his team were always available to answer my questions, no matter how trivial, and kept my best interests at heart. They made sure the case was closed in a timely manner and that I received the best settlement possible, which gave me peace of mind to focus on my recovery."

    Jennifer A.

    Client

  • "In the 15 years since starting The Exhibit Company, I have worked with more than 400 law firms nationwide. I have had the distinct pleasure to work with Slack Davis Sanger for 13 of those 15 years. I can honestly say that they are not only exceptional at what they do, but also have the utmost integrity and are a pleasure to work with. Their desire to stay on the cutting edge of technology and persuasive communication is uncommon in the legal industry, and it shows in their results. I never hesitate to recommend their services."

    Sherrie Wirth, M.B.A.

    President, The Exhibit Company

  • "I am still amazed at how, through this difficult legal process, Mike Slack and his team consistently maintained a diligent direction to resolve this case in our best interest. We experienced an extraordinary sense of grace and humanity as we struggled through this tragedy. These are truly extraordinary people with extraordinary ability."

    Victor McLerran

    Client

  • "Our firm has worked with the attorneys and staff at Slack Davis Sanger since the firm was formed in 1993. They have assisted our clients with personal injury matters and have served as our co-counsel in planning for our clients’ personal aircraft ownership and operations issues and needs. Our experience and our clients’ experience with Slack Davis Sanger has been outstanding. We recommend the firm highly and always look forward to working with the lawyers and staff there."

    Stephen Saunders

    Saunders, Norval, Nichols & Atkins, L.L.P.

  • "I am still amazed at how, through this difficult legal process, Mike Slack and his team consistently maintained a diligent direction to resolve this case in our best interest. We experienced an extraordinary sense of grace and humanity as we struggled through this tragedy. These are truly extraordinary people with extraordinary ability."

    Victor McLerran

    Client

  • "It was obvious to me, very early in the process, that my family was in need of an advocate that could match the legal resources of the airline involved. Through the recommendation of a family attorney in Austin, I was most fortunate to contact Mike Slack with Slack Davis Sanger LLP. I had not been on the phone with Mike for more than 10 minutes when I knew that this was the man and legal team that would represent my family."

    Victor McLerran

    Client

Honors & Awards

  • Board Certified, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Personal Injury Trial Law
  • Board Certified, National Board of Trial Advocacy, Civil Trial Law
  • National Board of Trial Advocacy, “Civil Trial Advocate”
  • Registered Professional Engineer (Aerospace), Texas
  • Licensed Pilot, Airplane Single Engine Land, Instrument Rating
  • The Best Lawyers in America by BL Rankings (since 1999)
  • Texas A&M University Department of Aerospace Engineering, Outstanding Aerospace Engineer Award, 2014
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV®-rated attorney
  • Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers (since 2003)
  • Bendix National Design Team Award, Recipient (Unmanned Venutian Lander, 1973)

Contact Mike