About

I’m Dell Charles “D. C.” Toedt III, an attorney and arbitrator; I maintain a limited private practice in Houston, rep­re­sent­ing technology-focused companies. I’m licensed to practice law in Texas and California, and am registered to practice in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

I’m a part-time law professor, teaching contract drafting as a blend of business law and upper-division writing skills.

As a side project, I write and maintain the Common Draft online desk­book of contract clauses and templates, with ex­ten­sive an­not­a­tions and commentary; I use those materials in my client work and law-school courses.

In response to a colleague’s suggestion, I’ve posted a detailed re­sponse to a published questionnaire about my arbitration style and pref­er­en­ces.

I was formerly a partner and member of the management com­mit­tee at Arnold, White & Durkee, a 150-lawyer intellectual-property bou­tique litigation firm, one of the largest such firms in the United States.

I left AW&D to become vice president and general coun­sel of Bind­View Corporation, a publicly-traded, 500-employee software com­pany, with offices in six countries. As outside counsel, I’d helped the found­er to start the company. I served there until the company’s suc­cess­ful “exit” when we were acquired by Symantec Corporation, the world leader in our field.

I was the lead author and editor of the first edition of The Law and Business of Computer Software, a one-volume treatise now published by Thomson Reuters.

I’ve been active in bar-association work throughout my career; I also work pro bono with certain nonprofit organizations.

In between college and law school, I did my ROTC scholarship pay­back time as a U.S. Navy nuclear engineering officer (the Rickover program) and surface warfare officer, including three years of sea duty, with two overseas deployments, aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE.

My undergraduate degree (in math, with high honors) and law deg­ree (law review) are both from the University of Texas at Austin.

Incidentally, my last name is pronounced “Tate” (it’s German), just as former U.S. House Speaker John Boehner’s name is pronounced “Bayner.” I go by “D.C.,” which my family has called me since birth because of my Roman numeral, so as to avoid confusion with my dad and my grandfather.

Any views I might express here are my own and not necessarily those of my clients, my former employer, my former law firm, etc., etc. Please see also the Cautions page.

Contact: dc@toedt.com | Twitter: @DCToedt

For more details about my experience and education, please see my LinkedIn profile.

[If you came here via www.toedt.com, it’s possible that you’re looking for Maretta Toedt or Richard Toedt or Elizabeth Toedt]