Vaughan Waters (av) is a 1977 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a 1981 graduate of Texas Tech University School of Law. From 1981 to 1986 he was an officer in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), serving in assignments to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, to Naval Legal Service Office San Diego, and as a staff judge advocate to Commander Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (where he was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal).
On completing his military service Vaughan joined the firm of Davis & Davis in Bryan, Texas, where he practiced in the areas of banking, collections, commercial litigation, eminent domain, and appellate law. In 1993 he joined the firm of Thornton, Biechlin, Segrato, Reynolds & Guerra, L.C. (then Thornton, Summers, Biechlin, Dunham & Brown), where his practice areas include personal injury, professional liability, insurance coverage, bad faith, deceptive trade practices, and homeowner/condominium association litigation.
In addition, since relocating to the firm’s main office in San Antonio in 2006, Vaughan has headed the firm’s appellate practice section. Board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Vaughan has been named toScene in SA Magazine’s “San Antonio’s Best Lawyers” in appellate law in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, and lectures on appellate practice topics at continuing legal education seminars. Vaughan has authored several legal articles, including “Adequate Compensation –The Trail From Buffalo Bayou”, 55 TEX. BAR J. 224, March 1992; “The 1991 Property Code Amendments–The Second Time Around”, 57 TEX. BAR J. 14, January 1994; “Serving Two Masters - Insurance Defense Counsel and The Tripartite Dilemma”, University of Texas School of Law 4th Annual Insurance Law Conference (1999); and “Lawyers Without Borders: The New MDL Practice in Texas”, CORPUS CHRISTI BAR ASSOCIATION CIVIL APPELLATE SEMINAR (2006). He is admitted to practice in Texas and California, as well as in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Vaughan is married to Carol Anne Waters and has one son, Jeremy. A long-distance runner in his spare time, Vaughan is a member of “Team RunOn!” in San Antonio and participates in numerous charity-sponsored races as a runner or a volunteer.