Jason L. Davis, P.E.

Associate
713-752-8679
jdavis@craincaton.com

vCard

Experience

Jason represents a full range of clients in real estate, corporate, construction, and oil and gas transactions.  Jason also represents owners and contractors with their contract or construction issues, including disputes that often involve arbitration. 

Jason’s background as a practicing civil Professional Engineer with Walter P. Moore & Associates before becoming a lawyer allow him to provide practical, real world solutions to real estate and construction projects.  While with Walter P. Moore & Associates for approximately five years, Jason performed the following tasks: (i) site selection and assessment studies; (ii) civil site redevelopment and improvements design, including site storm water detention and drainage design, flood plain compensatory storage design, and private and public utility infrastructure design; and (iii) strategic project management involving easement abandonment and acquisitions together with securing all realms of municipal and county permits and approvals.  

Further, Jason’s experience and knowledge of the City of Houston’s various departments are key in securing timely variance approvals, obtaining wastewater capacity reservation letters, plat approvals, and joint referral accommodations for his clients.  Jason strives to secure his client’s real estate desires and needs by focusing on all of the moving parts involved in a real estate transaction or construction project.

Representative Legal Experience

• Luxury Housing – Represents clients with the acquisition, construction, and sale of high-end luxury homes and resorts in Hawaii, Utah, Colorado, California, and Arizona.  Performs and drafts unique lending strategies for the various transactions.  Essential in the review of title matters and negotiating the terms and exceptions of the title policy.  

• General Commercial Real Estate – Performs all aspects associated with a real estate acquisition, sale or lease.  Review of title commitments, land surveys, title exception documents, and all other documents pertaining to real estate.  Extensive experience with negotiating with title insurance companies and preparing title objection letters.  Drafting of purchase and sale agreements, leases, easements, restrictive covenants, assignments, transfers, bills of sale, boundary line agreements, and many other documents related to the purchase, transfer, or development of real estate. 

• Homeowners and Office Condominium Associations – Represents clients forming office condominiums and clients involved with homeowner association matters.  Prepares documents associated with the creation and establishment of various associations, including amendments for future acquisitions. 

• Lending – Represents borrowers or investors with the negotiation and review of their construction and purchase loan documents. 

• Construction Contracts – Represents architects, engineers, and developers with their construction contracts.  Special experience with preparing indemnity provisions and preparing amendments to the various AIA contracts. 

• Corporate – Represent clients in the formation and organization of their business ventures.  Prepare organizational, merger, and amending documents for various business entities.  

• Construction Litigation/Arbitration – Represents owners or contractors concerning detailed construction disputes or breach of contract claims. 

• Oil and Gas – Represents clients with their acquisition or sale of mineral interests.  Review of mineral reservation documents and oil and gas leases to assess the title to the mineral estate.  Prepare mineral deeds, surface estate deeds, and surface waiver provisions. 

Representative Engineering Experience:

• Minute Maid Park (The Ball Park) - Played a key role in the property negotiations between the City of Houston, private developers, and adjacent landowners with securing easement and roadway abandonment and acquisitions.

1000 Main Office Tower (44 story multiuse building) - A new multistory Commercial Office Building in Downtown Houston.  Served as the civil project engineer over this project and performed all the civil engineering design and management for this project, including the negotiation of the Vault Right Agreements for the proposed building mat and columns to encroach the right-of-way.

• Pedestrian Underground Tunnels across Main, Fannin, and McKinney - Design of 4 new underground pedestrian tunnels to improve the access and mobility of the existing tunnel system in Downtown Houston.  Negotiated the Vault Right Agreements between the City of Houston, land developers, and adjacent property owners, together with securing approvals from the private utility agencies and METRO. 

• Texas Ice Stadium - Houston, Texas – A 12.84 acre master plan project to support a 1,000 seat ice skating rink arena and to accommodate for the future development of the surrounding acreage.  Served as the project engineer and performed all the civil design for this project.  Secured plat recordation and all municipal building permits.  Design of over a mile of public water line and sanitary force main within the public right-of-way.  Obtained Harris County Flood Control District approval for storm water detention drainage system and secured approvals from the Texas Department of Transportation.  Successfully negotiated easement acquisitions from adjacent property owners and the City of Houston.

• Assisted Living Facilities, Texas – Civil site design and site assessment studies of over 15 separate facilities on approximately 3.0-12.0 acre tracts in various municipalities throughout Texas.  Projects included site adaptation along with complete civil site design.  The projects were located in the following cities: El Paso, Odessa, Lubbock, Beaumont, Midland, Houston, Webster, Spring, Pearland, and Friendswood.

Professional Experience

• Crain, Caton & James P.C., Houston, Texas
• Associate, August 2002 – Present
• Walter P. Moore & Associates, Inc., Houston, Texas,
• Civil Engineer/Project Manager, December 1994 – July 1999

Associations/Affiliations

American Bar Association

• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Houston Bar Association – Real Estate Section
• Houston Bar Association – Construction Law Section
• Galveston County Grant – Volunteered my services and engineering expertise to Galveston County in the preparation and execution of a Texas Coastal Management Program Grant in 1997.  Galveston County awarded a $50,000 grant for their proposed Aerial Mapping Project.
• Legal Line – Volunteer my services to the Houston Bar Association participating in answering telephone calls to render free legal advice.

Press Releases/Honors

Lindsey Haid Memorial Award in recognition of individual leadership, an appreciation for life and promising legal ability, May 19, 2002

• Robert R. Duvall Award for Best article on Family Law
• State and Regional winner of the 1994 National Concrete Canoe Competition
• Phi Delta Phi International Legal Fraternity, Assistant Province President of Texas, 2005 

Bar & Court Admissions

Texas Rising Star, Super Lawyer - Real Estate (2006, 2007 & 2008)

Top Professionals on the Fast Tract, H Texas Magazine (2006)

Publications/Speeches:

Speaker/Author: Real Estate Title Issues For Land Surveyors, presented to licensed land surveyors for their Professional Development Hours, Houston, Texas, October 2005. 

Speaker/Author: Ethical Issues in Construction Law for Professional Engineers, presented to professional engineers for their Professional Development Hours, Houston, Texas, June 15, 2007

Law Journals

Assistant Articles Editor, South Texas Law Review