Chester J. Makowski

Chester J. Makowski is a partner in the Houston office who concentrates his practice in the areas of insurance coverage and appellate law.  In 1984 he received his B.A. (magna cum laude) from the University of St. Thomas, and in 1991 he received his J.D. (magna cum laude) from the University of Houston Law Center where he was a member of the Order of the Barons and Order of the Coif.  After completing his law school education, Mr. Makowski served as briefing attorney during the 1991-92 judicial term to the Honorable Thomas R. Phillips, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court.

Mr. Makowski has over fifty published opinions in fields ranging from intellectual property, Waco International, Inc. v. KHK Scaffolding Houston, Inc., 278 F.3d 523 (5th Cir. 2002), a case of first impression regarding the Lanham Act’s wrongful seizure provision, to admiralty, Fedmet Corp. v. M/V Buyalyk, 194 F.3d 674 (5th Cir. 1999), interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act, to In re Bay Area Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, 982 S.W.2d 371 (Tex. 1998), involving the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment’s protection of membership lists.

Bar and Court Admissions

• Texas, 1991
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Education

• University of Houston (J.D., magna cum laude, 1991), Order of The Coif; Order of The Barons
• University of St. Thomas (B.A., magna cum laude, 1984);
• Briefing Attorney to Chief Justice Thomas R. Phillips of the Supreme Court of Texas, 1991-1992

Noteworthy

• Mr. Makowski speaks Polish and Spanish.

Memberships

• State Bar of Texas