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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)

Forum Selection ×
2025 Tex. Bus. 5 Jurisdiction & Remand February 10, 2025

Filing an Answer in One Texas Court Constitutes Consent to Personal Jurisdiction Statewide for the Same Dispute

In Primexx Energy Opportunity Fund, LP v. Primexx Energy Corporation, the Texas Business Court denied special appearances by nine Blackstone-affiliated defendants, holding that filing an answer without a special appearance in an earlier Dallas County suit involving the same dispute constituted consent to personal jurisdiction in Texas for a subsequently filed Business Court action. The ruling establishes that consent to litigate a dispute extends to the state as a whole, not merely to a particular court within the state.

Mem. Op. Personal Jurisdiction Special Appearance General Appearance Consent to Jurisdiction Private Equity Opinion PDF ↓