Thad Spalding | Partner

Prior to joining the firm, Thad D. Spalding was a member of the appellate sections of San Antonio firms Ball & Weed, P.C., and Prichard, Hawkins, McFarland & Young, LLP. Thad and his family moved to Dallas in 2001 where Thad helped start Hermes Sargent Bates, LLP’s appellate section. In 2010, Thad joined The Law Offices of Marc H. Richman, where he continued to handle appeals and litigation support, along with a trial docket of complex personal injury, commercial, and family law cases.

Throughout his career, Thad has served as lead counsel on numerous appeals, has successfully argued cases before many of the intermediate courts of appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and has assisted trial counsel by briefing and arguing complex motions for summary judgment, jurisdictional objections, expert witness challenges, jury charges, and post-trial motions throughout Texas in both state and federal courts.

Thad has been Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1999, and, from 2002-2020, was an active member of the State Bar of Texas Committee on Pattern Jury Charges – General Negligence and Intentional Personal Torts. He was recognized by Thomson Reuters in Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star” in 2004 and then a “Super Lawyer” from 2004-2008 and again from 2014-2022, by ALM and Law.com in 2012 as a Texas “Top Rated Lawyer” in the Appellate category, and by D Magazine as a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” in the Appellate category from 2011-2014, 2016, 2018 and again in 2020. Thad is also rated AV Preeminent, the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards, by Martindale-Hubbell.

Thad is licensed to practice law in Texas, New Mexico, and Oregon.

  • To view a complete list of Thad’s significant victories, click here.

  • To view Thad’s recent headlines, click here.

  • DIY Clerk’s Records – How Could this Possibly Work?
    co-author(s): and Claire Moulton, DP&S Summer Intern
    Headnotes, Dallas Bar Association, Volume 49, October 2024
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    Effective Use of Appellate Counsel on Your Trial Team
    State Bar of Texas, Texas Bar College Summer School, Video Webcast, September 11, 2024

    Valdez v. State Farm-A Case Study: Proving and Recovering Attorney’s Fees in a UIM Case
    San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association, San Antonio, TX, June 20, 2024

    An Expert Angle on Exemplary Damages
    Texas Trial Lawyers Association, 2024 Midyear Conference and CLE Seminar, Austin, TX, June 13-14, 2024

    Moderator, Juries & Courtrooms in Today’s Legal Environment
    co-author(s): with Magistrate Judge Nicole Mitchell, Judge Jennifer Edgeworth, and Judge Brian Gary
    Dr. Kenneth Street Law Symposium, Austin College, February 23, 2023

    New Year? New Discovery Rules!
    State Bar of Texas CLE, Texas Supreme Court: History & Current Practice (April 14, 2021)

    New Year, New Rules: Review of Amended Discovery Rules
    San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association Zoom CLE (March 18, 2021)

    New Texas Discovery Rules-Are You Ready?
    Texas Paralegal Journal, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Winter 2021)
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    New Year, New Rules: Review of the Amended Discovery Rules
    Dallas Trial Lawyers Association, January 14, 2021
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    Panel Discussion – New Discovery Rules
    co-author(s): with Kirsten Castaneda and Andy Jones
    Dallas Young Lawyers Association, January 13, 2021

    Punitive Damages: A waste of time? Or a means to an end?
    Texas Trial Lawyers Association Midyear-Virtual Conference, May 14, 2020

    Let the Jury Charge be Your Guide
    TTLA Car Wrecks Seminar 2018

    Punitive Damages
    State Bar of Texas CLE, Advanced Personal Injury Law Course 2017
    Read Article

    Preservation of Error
    TTLA Trial Advocacy College of Texas (April 15, 2016)

    Let the Jury Charge be Your Guide
    TTLA Car Wrecks Seminar 2015

    The Review of New Trial Orders on Appeal
    Vol. 40, No. 5, Dallas Bar Association: Headnotes (May 2015)
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    Emerging Appellate Issues
    co-author(s): with Justices Ada Brown, David Evans, and Jim Moseley (Ret.)
    Dallas Bar Association’s Bench Bar Conference, Horseshoe Bay, Texas (October 23, 2014)

    Preparing, Presenting & Preserving Error in the Jury Charge
    TTLA Car Wrecks CLE (October 9, 2014)

    Exemplary Damages
    State Bar of Texas CLE, Advanced Personal Injury Law Course 2014, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston (July-August, 2014)
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    Default Judgments: Texas Supreme Court Decisions to Consider
    Vol. 39, No. 2 Dallas Bar Association: Headnotes (February 1, 2014)
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    Ring in 2014 with a New Subrogation World Order
    co-author(s): and Ben K. DuBose
    Vol. 38, No. 11 Dallas Bar Association: Headnotes (November 1, 2013)
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    What Every Young Lawyer Should Know About Legal Writing
    co-author(s): with Justice Mary Murphy and Talmage Boston
    Dallas Association of Young Lawyers (March 10, 2010)

    Jury Charge – New Developments in the Texas Pattern Jury Charges
    In-House CLE, Hermes Sargent Bates, LLP (January 14, 2009)

    Jury Selection – Commitment Questions, Rehabilitation and Allocation of Peremptory Strikes
    In-House CLE, Hermes Sargent Bates, LLP (October 23, 2008)

    Products Liability in Texas
    America First Insurance Company (June 30, 2007)

    The Benefits of Retaining Appellate Counsel Throughout Litigation
    South Plains Trial Lawyers Association (April 19, 2006)

    The Benefits of Retaining Appellate Counsel Throughout Litigation
    Denton Trial Lawyers Association (February 16, 2006)

    The Benefits of Retaining Appellate Counsel Throughout Litigation
    San Antonio Trial Lawyers Association (November 17, 2005)

    2003 Texas Legislative Update
    Hermes Sargent Bates, LLP (Fall 2003)

    Contribution and Responsible Third Party Practice:Before and After July 1, 2003
    In-House CLE, Hermes Sargent Bates, LLP (June 25, 2003)

    Handling the Jury Charge & Jury Charge Objections
    Appellate Section Luncheon Seminar, San Antonio Bar Association (May 1, 2001)

    Post-Trial Motions
    Appellate Law in the New Millennium Seminar, San Antonio Bar Association Appellate Practice Section and St. Mary’s Law Journal (March 1, 1999)
    Read Article

    Annual Survey of Tort and Insurance Law
    American Bar Association Tort and Insurance Law Journal (1996-1997)

 

Phone: (214) 946-8000
Fax: (214) 946-8433
✉ Email Thad
⇲ Download Resume

Mailing address:
P.O. Box 224626, Dallas, TX 75222

Physical address:
2223 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas, TX 75208