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Dallas, Texas  ·  Complex Commercial Litigation

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Portrait of Hon. Bill Whitehill

Hon. Bill Whitehill

Judge · Seat 1B

Texas Business Court · First Business Court Division (Dallas)

Biography

Bill Whitehill is an inaugural Judge of the Texas Business Court First Division, Dallas. He came to the Court from Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg PLLC, where he was a member and led the firm’s Appellate Section. Before joining the Business Court, Bill served as a Justice on the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, where he authored over 600 substantive opinions. Bill was an associate and partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell, LLP, now known as Foley & Lardner, LLP for thirty-three years. At Gardere, he handled commercial, antitrust, securities, intellectual property, and fiduciary trials and appeals. He is a sustaining life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation. He is a homeless kitchen volunteer for Cornerstone Baptist Church and is a former co-teacher and mentor at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy. Bill received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor with honors from the SMU Dedman School of Law and an Order of the Coif member.

Source: txcourts.gov

Opinions by Judge Whitehill (1)

Aggregate Transaction Value ×
2025 Tex. Bus. 16 Jurisdiction & Remand May 13, 2025

Business Court Clarifies 'Qualified Transaction' Jurisdictional Test: Assignment of Promissory Notes Meets $10 Million Threshold When Contracted-For Interest Included

In *Atlas IDF v. NexPoint Real Estate Partners*, the Business Court's First Division held that an action to collect on assigned promissory notes arises out of a qualified transaction under Government Code § 25A.001(14) where the assignment itself constitutes the transaction and the notes' aggregate principal plus contracted-for interest exceeds $10 million. Judge Whitehill's opinion establishes that "consideration" includes anticipated interest as part of demand notes' bargain and that the "amount in controversy" calculation includes contracted-for interest, not merely principal.

Subject-Matter Jurisdiction Section 25A.004 Amount in Controversy Qualified Transaction Promissory Notes Opinion PDF ↓