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Buchanan Emily

Emily Buchanan

Emily Buchanan is an associate in the firm’s Litigation and Insurance Recovery Practice Groups in the Dallas office of Haynes Boone. Her practice focuses primarily on representing commercial policyholders in insurance coverage disputes. Emily advises clients regarding insurance programs and risk management efforts, as well as representing insureds in disputed insurance claims through negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, and litigation. Her experience spans a wide range of business insurance, including various liability coverages, property and casualty coverage, and other specialized forms of coverage. 

Emily routinely works as a volunteer attorney with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program taking on pro bono matters, including intake clinics and preparing wills for pro bono clients. When she is not advising clients, Emily also serves as an adjunct professor at her alma mater, the University of Tennessee College of Law, where she teaches a course on insurance law. Prior to attending law school, Emily taught middle school social studies at a low socioeconomic school in Tyler, Texas.

Emily’s passion for helping others, coupled with a keen insight into complex insurance issues, allows her to provide clients with litigation strategies that maximize their insurance benefits in the most efficient way possible. 

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  • Successfully tried a two-week insurance coverage trial in Colorado federal court, securing a verdict in excess of $10 million for insured condominium developer under a builders’ risk insurance policy
  • Secured favorable settlement on behalf of an energy company under a property insurance policy
  • Secured a favorable settlement on behalf of a construction company regarding an insurance professional liability claim.
  • Secured a favorable settlement on behalf of a real estate development company regarding a builders’ risk insurance policy.
  • Obtained double-summary judgment on behalf of energy company against insurance company and contractor for breach of contract claims involving additional insured and indemnity obligations under a master service agreement.
  • Achieved dismissal of a professional liability insurer’s declaratory judgment action in the Northern District of Texas regarding the insurance company’s duty to defend an underlying malpractice lawsuit.
  • Successfully argued and defeated an insurance company’s appeal in the Fifth Circuit regarding an insurance company’s duty to defend an underlying malpractice lawsuit.
  • Defeated an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in Texas state court regarding alleged late notice of a claim under a commercial umbrella liability insurance policy.
  • Defeated an insurance company’s motion for summary judgment in the Western District of Texas regarding the insured’s breach of contract claim against the insurer and the “consent to settle” provision under a professional malpractice insurance policy.
  • Secured coverage for a client under a long-term care insurance policy that had previously denied coverage.
  • Represented a hotel developer in a dispute over coverage under a builders’ risk policy and secured a favorable settlement on behalf of the insured.
  • Represented an energy company in securing coverage as an additional insured under various contractors’ insurance policies for underlying litigation.
  • Dallas Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Higginbotham Inn of Court, Associate (2023-present)
  • Listed as a "Rising Star" in Legal 500 U.S., Legalese, 2023
  • Included in Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars directory, Thomson Reuters, 2022-2024
  • Included in Texas Super Lawyers Women's Edition Rising Stars directory, Thomson Reuters, 2023
  • Included in the "Ones to Watch" category of Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc., 2022-2023
  • Recognized as DVAP’s Finest - Volunteer of the Month in Dallas Bar Association's Headnotes, October 2021.
  • When A Denial Of Recovery-Based Insurance Claim Is Invalid,” author, Law360, September 16, 2021.
  • “Discovery and Evidence for Paralegals—Assisting with Formal Discovery,” presenter, HalfMoon Education, Inc., January 14, 2020.
  • Texas Environmental Law,” co-author, Volumes 45-46, Thomson Reuters, 2017 and 2018.
  • “Five Key Takeaways From the Recently-Passed Hail Bill,” author, Journal of Texas Insurance Law, Vol. 15, No. 3 Fall 2017.

Education

J.D., University of Tennessee, 2016, summa cum laude; Order of the Coif

B.A., Baylor University, 2010, cum laude

Admissions

Texas

Court Admissions

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Article/Mention
Emily Buchanan Featured in Texas Bar Blog’s Pro Bono Spotlight
October 28, 2021

Haynes and Boone, LLP Associate Emily Buchanan was profiled in the State Bar of Texas’ Texas Bar Blog during National Pro Bono Celebration Week discussing her pro bono work with the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and veterans hospitals. Below is an excerpt: The State Bar of Texas, the Texas Access to Justice Commission, the American Bar Association, and others proudly support National Pro Bon [...]