
John Black
Founder & Partner

- 2211 Norfolk StreetSuite 800Houston, Texas 77098
- 713-655-1405
Biography
John Scott Black focuses his practice on first party insurance claims, complex commercial litigation, mass tort litigation for plaintiffs, and catastrophic personal injury litigation. He handles commercial matters in a broad array of areas, including securities fraud, contract claims, fiduciary duty matters, real estate transactions, patent matters, and institutional investor claims.
John has tried cases to jury verdict as first chair in both state and federal court for both plaintiffs and defendants, and is licensed to practice law in Texas, Kentucky, Colorado and Nebraska. John has also taken the lead role in successfully arbitrating complex cases, and arguing matters to Texas courts of appeal.
Prior to joining his longtime friend, Rick Daly, to establish Daly & Black, P.C, John was a legal intern to Justice James A. Baker of the Supreme Court of Texas in 1998. John worked at Gibbs & Bruns LLP, one of the nation’s commercial litigation boutiques from 1999 to 2009; he was named partner in 2005. In 2009, John left Gibbs & Bruns L.L.P. to form Reynolds, Frizzell, Black, Doyle, Allen & Oldham, L.L.P. He is fluent in both English and Spanish with much of his family still residing in Mexico.
In his first year of helping launch Reynolds, Frizzell, Black, Doyle, Allen & Oldham, LLP, John Scott Black and his partner Jean C. Frizzell secured the 12th largest verdict in Texas for 2010 (also listed 1st in corporate verdicts) and the top Texas civil practice verdict for 2010. Since that time, he has tried dozens of cases to verdict, including cases in Texas and Colorado.
John Scott Black helped form Daly & Black, P.C. in August 2014.
Clients describe John Black, who recently became a founding partner of Daly & Black, PC as a “very smart trial lawyer and a good strategic litigator.” Discussing a recent trial, one client reported: “When he closed, you could tell the other side was going to get smoked.”
In 2021 John Black secured the largest verdict in the nation in an insurance case, when a Beaumont jury returned a verdict of nearly $120 million in a life insurance dispute. That verdict was also among the largest verdicts in the country for any case, and was among the reasons Daly & Black was named Elite Trial Lawyers Law Firm of the Year: Insurance.
John enjoys spending time with his two daughters, Sophia and Ava, and training for Ironman triathlons. Over the years, through the sport of triathlon, he has helped raise over $100,000 for various noteworthy causes.

Licensed
- Texas
- Kentucky
- Nebraska
- Colorado
Education
- University of Texas, J.D., 1999
- Endowed Presidential Scholar; Order of the Barristers; ATLA National Trial Champion, 1999; Texas State Invitational Trial Tournament & Best Oral Advocate, 1999; Niemann Cup Recipient, 1999 (best graduating advocate at University of Texas Law School);
- University of Texas, M.P.A., LBJ School of Public Affairs, 1999
- University of Texas, B.A., 1995
- Student Government President, 1994-95 (first Hispanic student body president) University of Texas Friar Society, Abbot, 1997
Recognition
- Named a Professional Member of the American Policyholder Association as a professional advocate for insurance consumer rights.
- ‘Top Attorney in Texas’ as published in Texas Monthly, Thompson Reuters Service, 2014-2019.
- Listed in the “Top 100 U.S. Verdicts (2015) Texas” for Estate of Chalk v. Benson.
- 2014 Chambers “Up-and-Coming” USA Lawyer (identified from thousands of client interviews as one of 400 lawyers selected nationwide) Chambers Guide, “Leaders in Their Field” Lawyer, 2014.
- Named a “Top Lawyer for the People” in Business Litigation by H Texas magazine, 2009, 2011.
- Named one of the ‘Best Lawyers in America’ by Woodward White, Inc. in 2012, 2013, 2014.
- Named one of “Houston’s Top Lawyers” by H Texas magazine, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013.
- Named one of Houston’s “Top Forty Under Forty” Lawyers by H Texas magazine, 2004.
- Named a “Named as a ‘Texas Rising Star’ by Texas Super Lawyers, of Thompson Reuters, Inc.” 2005-2012.
- Named a “Named as a ‘Texas Super Lawyer’ by Texas Super Lawyers, of Thompson Reuters, Inc.” by Texas Super Lawyers, 2013, 2014,2015,2016, 2017 and 2018.
- Named one of Texas’ “Top 40 Under 40” by National Trial Lawyers Association, 2011-2012.
- 2022 University of Texas – Recreational Sports Hall of Honor Inductee