Alan is board certified in civil appellate law and focuses on pre-trial/trial strategy and support and error preservation, as well as appellate briefing and argument on significant civil cases. In addition to his appellate docket, Alan is actively involved in trial practice, and served as one of the lead litigation and appellate counsel for Halliburton in civil claims and investigations arising from the Deepwater Horizon blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the largest environmental litigation matters in U.S. history. He also handles other appellate and litigation matters involving business disputes, environmental issues, insurance coverage, banking and real estate, and bankruptcy.

Alan has made the promotion of DEI a critical part of his practice. He serves as a member of the National Leadership Council and leader of the Houston Leadership Committee for Lambda Legal, the most active legal organization fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ communities in the United States. He has led efforts to bring to Texas the Name Change Project, a program of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund that provides pro bono legal representation to individuals seeking name and gender marker changes.

Alan is the immediate past global chair of PRISM, Reed Smith’s LGBTQ+ business inclusion group, which he led from 2018 to 2023. Under Alan leadership’s, PRISM more than doubled its membership. Alan refined the group’s focus to more intentionally connect LGBTQ+ lawyers and professional staff, to create a strong and sustainable pipeline of LGBTQ+ talent, to enhance employment policies and benefits directly impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and to work with other marginalized communities to create intersectional programming.

Alan has been selected multiple times to the The Best Lawyers in America© list; is a seven-time recipient of Thomson Reuters' Top 100 Lawyers in Houston honors; was named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Texas in 2016, 2017 and 2018; has been selected more than 15 years to the Texas Super Lawyers list; has been recognized nine times among H Texas Magazine's Top Lawyers in Houston; and isAV-rated "Preeminent" by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest ranking for ethics and legal ability. He has twice been named to INvolve’s “Outstanding Top 100 LGBT+ Executives Role Model Lists,” which highlight role models for others to follow when it comes to being out and proud at work, driving positive change in the office, and supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues.

Alan received a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1989 and a B.B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Houston in 1986.