Rene Sigman
Of Counsel Attorney
Rene Sigman is a devoted mother of three born and raised in Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University and attended law school at South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas. At South Texas, she joined the nationally recognized South Texas advocacy program and graduated from law school, receiving the Dean’s Most Outstanding Advocate Award.
Rene became the first attorney in her family and one of the first woman attorneys in Texas to practice First Party Insurance law on the policyholder/plaintiff side. Over her career, she has represented all types of policyholders, including school districts, municipalities, and residential and commercial businesses, on their insurance claims. Additionally, Ms. Sigman is one of the first & few attorneys that has ever tried a first-party hurricane lawsuit in Texas.
She has spent most of her legal carrier representing policyholders who have been underpaid or denied by their insurance carriers on their insurance claims. Her peers revere her as one of the pioneers in first-party practice in Texas.
She is recognized as one of the best policyholder insurance lawyers in Texas and beyond. She has been consecutively named to the Texas Super Lawyer’s lists since 2011, an achievement gained through her dedication to her clients. She was also named to the Top Woman Attorneys list in Texas in 2019. In addition, she is recognized by her peers for outstanding results in consumer protection and insurance.
In addition to the law, Rene’s other passion is working with Texas Children’s Hospital and NMDP/Be The Match to make a difference in pediatric cancers and bone marrow transplants. Rene’s son, Blake Chandler, is a cancer survivor and a bone marrow recipient. In 2015, Blake was diagnosed with ALCL (Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma) at nine years old and received six rounds of traditional chemotherapy to save his life. Unfortunately, after completing all six rounds of chemotherapy and being declared “cancer-free,” Blake relapsed in early March 2016 back to stage 4 ALCL.
There was a perfect match across the world for Rene’s son. Blake found his match in Isreal through the Be The March registry and had a bone marrow transplant in August 2016 at Texas Children’s Hospital. Today, her son is alive and well.
Her journey with her son through cancer and transplant shaped her desire to help others in similar situations. Since then, she has made it her mission to help others who find themselves on similar journeys with cancer and transplant. In addition, she is an advocate for access to life-saving drugs and procedures so that all pediatric cancer patients can have a chance at a life free of cancer.
Your legacy is every life you touch. I live that motto daily, from helping those that have been wronged by their insurance companies get justice inside and outside of the courtroom to those that battle for access to life-saving drugs and procedures. My greatest joy comes from ensuring people overcome obstacles and get the help they need.
Areas of Practice
Ms. Sigman is considered a pioneer in first-party practice on the policyholder side. She has handled cases against insurance carriers over the last 20 years. Her knowledge and understanding of the Texas Insurance Code and laws about insurance disputes have been instrumental in prevailing as the policyholder’s advocate.
Licensed to Practice
- State of Texas
- State of Colorado
- State of New York
- Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western federal district courts of Texas
- United States Federal Claims Court
Professional Experience
- Of Counsel
William Hart Boundas Easterby LLC
Jan 2022 – Present
Houston, Texas - Regional Litigation Manager & Attorney
Merlin Law Group, P.A.
Jul 2017 – Jan 2021
Houston, Texas - Attorney & Head of Litigation
The Mostyn Law Firm
Dec 2001 – Jul 2017
Houston, Texas - Plaintiffs’ Co-Liaison Counsel on behalf of Plaintiffs for the consolidated Hurricane Ike Litigation in Harris County, Texas; In Re: Hurricane Ike Residential Property Claim Litigation, 2009-23570.
- Plaintiffs’ MDL Liaison Counsel on behalf of Plaintiffs for Geovara Multi-District Hurricane Ike Litigation in Harris County, Texas; In Re MDL 13 (Hurricane): Geovara Specialty Insurance Company v. Master File, 2012-38535, Geovara MDL Order (Aug. 03, 2012).
- Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee Counsel on behalf of Plaintiffs for In Re State Farm Lloyds MDL 13, 2012-38530.
- Plaintiffs’ Co-Liaison Counsel for In Re: Ike Litigation for Hurricane Ike in Galveston County, Texas; In Re: Ike Litigation Residential and Commercial Property Claims, 09-CV-0147.
Education
- South Texas College of Law Houston
J.D., Law
1999 – 2002– 2002 Recipient of the South Texas College of Law “Dean’s Outstanding Advocate Award”
– 2001 Recipient of the “Best Advocate” award & Semi-finalist in the National White-Collar Criminal Mock Trial Championship held at Georgetown University.
– 2001 Regional Semi-finalist at the National Trial Competition
– 2001 Quarter-finalist at the William & Mary Moot Court Competition in Williamsburg, Virginia.
– 2001 Recipient of the “Best Team” & “Best Appellate Brief” awards at the Texas Young Lawyers Association State Moot Court Championship competition.
– Director of Public Relations for South Texas College of Law Board of Advocates
- Texas A&M University
BBA, Business Management
1995 – 1999
Collegiate Swimmer for Texas A&M University
Awards & Achievements
- Super Lawyers, Top Woman Attorneys in Texas, & Texas Rising Star List (2011 to present). Only 2.5% of attorneys in Texas are selected to the Texas Rising Star list.
- Super Lawyers “Excellence in Practice” Award (2016 to present). Only 5% of attorneys in Texas are selected as Super Lawyers.
- Top Woman Attorneys in Texas (2018 to present) seen in Texas Monthly Magazine.
- Recognized in the Wall Street Journal, Texas Lawyer, Texas Monthly, Texas Bar Journal, Houston Bar Bulletin, & Bloomberg News.
- Ms. Sigman was also the Lead Attorney who took the two-day deposition of the top wind expert for Texas Windstorm Association concerning Bolivar Island Hurricane Ike claims that resulted in TWIA paying hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve those claims and the replacement of top Texas Windstorm officers.
- In 2014, Rene assisted as an attorney on cases involving Hurricane Sandy. Her efforts changed the projection of the Sandy cases for years to come and facilitated the settlement of the entire Sandy docket for multiple Plaintiff law firms. In addition, her work on behalf of the policyholder for Hurricane Sandy ultimately led to investigations by government agencies into the alleged Fraud and the altering of engineering reports by the insurance industry experts and affiliates.
Memberships & Affiliations
- Frequent legal commentator on Channel 2 KPRC News. Most recently, Winter storm Uri claims and Hurricane Harvey.
- Board Member for “Be The Match” Foundation and Family Advisor to Texas Children’s Hospital.
- Served as an Adjunct Professor of Trial Advocacy at South Texas College for several years.
- Selected to the Institute for Advancement of the American Legal System’s “Natural Disasters Initial Discovery Protocol Committee and 2020 Pandemic Discovery Protocol Committee”. Ms. Sigman is the only plaintiff attorney from Texas appointed twice to an IAALS national committee. Only three judges and six attorneys nationwide sit on the Pandemic committee.
- Speaker at numerous seminars/CLE events regarding insurance and first-party “bad faith” claims, (including topics such as Hurricane Ike, discovery, depositions, choosing a jury, and floods).