Chad Baruch is a high-profile Dallas appellate lawyer, board-certified in civil appellate law. He has been recognized as a leader in the legal profession in Texas, serving 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.
Recognition and Awards
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.
Chad was named to the 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America and honored for his appellate practice and bet-the-company litigation. He was also placed on Texas Super Lawyers Top 100 list.
Chad’s work has garnered him numerous awards over recent years:
- The 2019 Jim Bowmer Professionalism Award
- The 2017 Patrick Wiseman Award
- The 2016 Dan Rugeley Price Memorial award
- The 2015 Gene Cavin Award
In 2017, Chad was one of two nominated candidates for President of the State Bar of Texas. He won the 2018 Patrick Wiseman Memorial Award, presented annually to an attorney who has made superior career contributions to the defense of constitutional rights and civil liberties in Texas.
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Expertise and Legal Acumen
As the Texas Lawbook recently wrote, Chad is hired by "big corporate America" for "bet-the-company" appeals. 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. Throughout almost his entire legal career, Chad also worked as a government teacher and basketball coach.
Nothing defines an appellate lawyer more than writing ability. 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.
He is a recognized constitutional scholar and also serves as a contributor to Black's Law Dictionary and has lectured across the country on Marbury v. Madison.
Chad has served as lead counsel on appeals in various courts, including:
- Houston, Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Tyler, Amarillo, El Paso, Waco, Eastland, Texarkana, and Corpus Christi-Edinburg Courts of Appeals
- Texas Supreme Court
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
- Mississippi Supreme Court
- Wisconsin Court of Appeals
- United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits
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.
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The "Hip Hop Brief"
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.
In 2015, Chad wrote perhaps the most acclaimed legal brief in American history while representing what the New York Times called a "glittering array of hip hop stars." The "Hip Hop Brief" received national media attention, including feature stories in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Spin.
The case involved a Mississippi high school student, Taylor Bell, disciplined for posting a song that accused two coaches of sexual misconduct involving several female students. Baruch collaborated with hip-hop artists and academics to explain the cultural and political significance of hip-hop in the case.
Education and Early Career
A former college and high school head basketball coach, Chad was a Finalist for State Coach of the Year from the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches in 2006. 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.
Notable Cases
Chad Baruch has handled his share of high-profile cases, among them one pitting former Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins against an oil scion and another involving an East Texas murderer made famous by a Richard Linklater movie.
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