David T. Lopez was an active, award-winning litigator for more than 45 years, and he has been an arbitrator and mediator since 1995, primarily in labor and employment matters, but also in commercial, energy and personal injury cases. Recipient in 2007 of the Texas Bar Foundation Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, Lopez tried more than 400 cases in state and federal courts, and appeared in state and federal district and supreme courts on other substantive matters, including public and higher education, civil rights, partnership formation and dissolution, trade secrets, fraud, and individual and business torts.

Lopez has served as chair and wing arbitrator and has heard and decided class action and multi-million dollar claims. He has been an adjunct professor and lecturer at three Texas universities and has presented employment and dispute resolution training in Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. He was a charter member of the International Employment Committee of the ABA Labor and Employment Section and participated in conferences in Argentina, Spain, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong. He was an invited trade union guest of the Israeli government for a tour of that country.

Before becoming a panelist for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and its international affiliate, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), Lopez was an arbitration and mediation panelist for JAMS, and he is presently a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and is accredited by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR).

He has pubished and presented extensively in professional seminars and publications and has held committee chair and leadership positions in local, national and international bar associations. He served as chair of the Houston Bar Association ADR Section and at present he serves on the Publications Board of the American Bar Association ADR Section, which receives, reviews and approves the publication of books on dispute resolution.