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David Finkelstein

Magister Finkelstein is a Latin teacher for St. Thomas High School in Houston, Texas. He previously has taught at St. Andrew's Episcopal in Austin, Texas. In high school, he won third place in state for Junior Classical League. He is currently the coach of the JCL team based from St. Thomas High School. He recently led a JCL Novice Team from St. Thomas to win second place at the Caledonian Classic on November 2nd 2024. He was a member of the cover band Rox-Zee and his performances can be found on the YouTube channel David Finkelstein.

Overview:

David Finkelstein was born and raised in Houston, Texas and graduated from St. John's High School in 2007. Throughout his education, Mr. Finkelstein earned various school awards in foreign languages (Japanese, Latin, and Spanish), and was recognized at the state level for his prowess in Japanese (placing 2nd twice in the Japanese Speech Contest sponsored by the Japan-America Society) and Latin (placing 3rd twice in Advanced Latin Poetry Reading Comprehension through the Junior Classical League). While in high school, Mr. Finkelstein was also very active in Boy Scouts of America Troop 806, where he served as Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and after earning his Eagle Scout Award (Scouting's highest rank), Assistant Scoutmaster.

Mr. Finkelstein's undergraduate major was settled as soon as he set foot on WashU’s campus in the fall of 2007: his love of languages had been a large part of his life as early as kindergarten. Since then he’s studied Japanese, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, and Greek. Rivaling his love of languages is his love of classic rock, especially the anthems of the 1970s and 1980s, a love that is expressed through one of his many extracurricular hobbies: playing guitar. David is also an avid sports fan, especially fond of the Texas Longhorns and the Houston Texans football teams.

Mr. Finkelstein graduated from Washington University in 2010 (a semester ahead of schedule) earning a Bachelor's in Classics with honors, maintaining a 3.68 GPA and being named to the Dean's List for four semesters and in 2012 (also a semester ahead of schedule) earning a Master's in Teaching, maintaining a 3.89 GPA. As an undergraduate, Mr. Finkelstein was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, where he served as Hegemon (Educator) and was awarded the Roy and Katherine Otte Academic Excellence Scholarship; Eta Sigma Phi National Honorary Society for Classics; and the Order of Omega Greek Leadership Honorary Society. As part of his Master's program, Mr. Finkelstein also earned Missouri State Teacher Certification (K-12 Latin) and a Certificate of Merit in Instructional Technologies. During this time, he was also elected President of the Kappa Delta Pi Honorary Society for Education.

Mr. Finkelstein has worked as a summer camp counselor for middle school-aged campers at Camp Young Judaea, Texas (in Wimberley); as an academic and test prep (PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Test, ACT, and GRE) tutor for various companies and privately since 2009; as a classroom observer at Metro Academic & Classical High School (a magnet school named twice as both a Missouri Gold Star school and a national Blue Ribbon school) in St. Louis, Missouri and at St. Louis Priory School (an all-boys' Catholic school, ranked 1st among St. Louis-area schools, with students earning an average ACT score of 31) in Creve Coeur, Missouri; and as a student-teacher at Visitation Academy of St. Louis (Priory's sister school, an all-girls' Catholic school noted for its academic rigor) in St. Louis and at Ladue Horton Watkins High School (a public high school ranked 1st in the state in 2013, based on the Advanced Placement college prep program) in Ladue, Missouri. As a certified teacher, Mr. Finkelstein taught Latin I and II at Parkway North High School, a public school in St. Louis County for the 2012-2013 academic year, before deciding to move back to Texas. Mr. Finkelstein taught Latin for two years at Baylor College of Medicine Academy in Houston ISD before moving to Austin to teach in Eanes ISD.

His father, Mark Finkelstein, a founding shareholder of the firm, LMFAD Law, leads the Firm’s Bankruptcy, Creditors’ Rights and Commercial Litigation practice groups. Mr. Finkelstein has been recognized by peers as among “Houston’s Top Lawyers” in the areas of bankruptcy, creditors’ rights and commercial litigation. In 2012, based on client recommendations, Mr. Finkelstein was recognized as a BTI Consulting, Inc. “Client Service All-Star.” He has been selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list, including in 2022.

Mr. Finkelstein has nearly four decades of experience in high stakes business disputes, meeting the needs of clients in numerous industries and subject areas, including first chair trials and appeals in federal and state courts.

Clients value his ability to help minimize the adverse impact of bankruptcies filed by their customers, suppliers, tenants and borrowers, and his keen focus on resolving business problems for clients in a cost-conscious manner. Clients—many of them Fortune 100 companies—include companies involved in the chemical, petrochemical and derivative products supply and distribution chain; real estate and equipment leasing; real estate development, construction and property management; financial services (banking, insurance, mortgage banking, title insurance, and securities brokerage); healthcare; telecommunications and computer technology; and oil, gas and petrochemical production, refining, transportation, marketing and distribution.

Cases are commonly complex, document-intensive, commercial disputes between large corporate entities, and have involved disputes in the following subject areas, among others: creditors’ rights and bankruptcy, contract and commercial, landlord-tenant, energy generation and finance, mortgage servicing, title insurance, lender liability, intellectual property, environmental (e.g., storage tank), property damage, and oil-patch and construction.

In addition, Mr. Finkelstein represents clients in alternative dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation, and has served as an arbitrator and mediator.

Mr. Finkelstein’s practice has resulted in long associations with in-house corporate counsel managing active litigation dockets, and with business and commercial credit groups.

Mr. Finkelstein has a strong personal and professional dedication to helping clients’ resolve their legal disputes effectively, and efficiently, using his skills as a seasoned trial lawyer and mediator. By viewing each issue from not only the client’s point of view, but also the adverse party’s perspective, Mr. Finkelstein is able to reduce the scope of battles that must be waged, and fight and win those battles that cannot be avoided. With a 40-year track record, Mr. Finkelstein employs excellent critical analysis, strategic thinking, and is keenly attentive to his client’s litigation and commercial objectives.

Mr. Finkelstein is married to Deborah, is a father of three children and two stepchildren, and is blessed with six grandchildren.