Dale Wainwright is a Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig and Co-Chair of the firm’s National Appeals & Legal Issues Group. He brings a useful and informative perspective to the topic of the engagement of appellate courts with emerging legal issues having addressed them in private practice and as a trial and appellate jurist.
Dale was the first African American elected to the Supreme Court of Texas, without being appointed first, successfully navigating contested primary, primary-runoff, and general election contests in 2002. He served on the Court until 2012 and participated in resolving more than 10,000 appeals before returning to private practice. Prior to the appellate bench, he served by appointment of Governor George W. Bush as presiding judge of the 334th Civil District Court in Houston, Texas.
In private practice, Dale has handled as appellate counsel matters of great consequence. They include successfully handling multibillion-dollar personal injury and commercial verdicts in Texas, other states, and federal circuit courts, and obtaining important precedents in healthcare and products liability appeals. Informed and disciplined appellate and trial strategies facilitate favorable judgments and leverage favorable settlements. Greenberg Traurig’s Texas Appellate Practice Group has thwarted more than $16 billion in damages sought against clients over the last seven years.
He serves on the Board of Directors of the Litigation Center of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, formerly served as Chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, and is recognized by Chambers USA, Legal 500, and The Best Lawyers in America.
He earned his undergraduate degree from Howard University in economics (summa cum laude), his law degree from the University of Chicago School of Law, and he studied abroad at the London School of Economics & Political Science.