Chad Baruch

Nothing defines an appellate lawyer more than writing ability. Chad Baruch wrote one of the most acclaimed appellate briefs in American history while representing what the New York Times called “a glittering array of hip hop stars.” The “Hip Hop Brief” went viral and received national media coverage including articles in New Yorker and Rolling Stone. One newspaper called it “the greatest amicus brief in Supreme Court history.”

Chad’s work focuses on high-stakes civil and family appeals, constitutional law, legal ethics, and representation of judges before the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. In recent years, he has successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court of Texas addressing conflict-of-interest rules governing attorneys in shareholder-derivative litigation, the applicability of provisions under the Texas Education Code to homeschool families, and the authority of Texas appellate courts to order supplemental briefing concerning unaddressed issues, among others.

Chad successfully represented the Dallas County District Attorney in the appeal of a contempt conviction against the elected District Attorney, and then served as Dallas County District Attorney Pro Tem. He represented the Dallas County Democratic Party in a ballot-contest lawsuit filed by the Republican Party, successfully defending the ballot eligibility of 128 Democratic candidates. Chad also represented the family of the victim in connection with the murder that led to the hit film Bernie.

Chad has served as lead counsel on appeals in the Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Tyler, Amarillo, El Paso, Waco, Eastland, Texarkana, and Corpus Christi-Edinburg Courts of Appeals, as well as the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Mississippi Supreme Court, Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits. He has presented oral argument in more than 100 appeals.

Chad is a recognized leader in the legal profession in Texas. He served as the 85th Chair of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors, and remains the only Jewish lawyer in Texas history to serve as chair or president of the State Bar. In addition, Chad served as Chair of the Texas Bar College and was one of two nominated candidates for President of the State Bar of Texas in 2017.

Over the past 15 years, Chad has made more than 400 continuing legal education presentations to lawyers across the country, most often in the areas of legal writing, appellate practice, and constitutional law. He has presented on legal writing multiple times at the prestigious National Summit of Appellate Judges Education Institute and was invited to speak on legal writing in judicial opinions at the Texas College for Judicial Studies. Chad has written numerous law review articles. Those articles have been cited as scholarly authority in at least three published appellate opinions and more than 75 law review articles.

Chad Baruch is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Chad’s work has garnered him numerous awards over recent years. He won the 2019 Jim Bowmer Professionalism Award, presented annually to one Texas lawyer who exemplifies professionalism in the practice of law; the 2017 Patrick Wiseman Award, presented annually to one Texas lawyer for lifetime contributions to constitutional law and civil liberties in Texas; the 2016 Dan Rugeley Price Memorial award, presented annually to one Texas lawyer for contributions to the profession and excellence in legal writing; and the 2015 Gene Cavin Award, presented annually to one Texas attorney for lifetime contributions to continuing legal education in Texas. In addition, Chad was the inaugural recipient of the State Bar of Texas Appellate Law Section’s Helen Cassidy Lifetime Achievement Award for continuing legal education.

Chad has been cited as a Texas Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters and as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas” by D Magazine each year since 2011. He was honored by Thompson Reuters as a “Top 100 in Texas” Super Lawyer in 3 of the past 5 years, and as the Best Lawyers in America’s Appellate Lawyer of the Year for North Texas in 2019. LawDragon named Chad one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”

Throughout almost his entire legal career, Chad also worked as a government teacher and basketball coach. In addition to teaching college and political science at the college and high school levels, Chad spent nearly 20 years as a head basketball coach at the University of Dallas, Paul Quinn College, Yavneh Academy of Dallas. In 2006, he was a finalist for Texas Coach of the Year as awarded by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches University.