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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.
Opinions by Judge Whitehill (2)
Fiduciary Shield Doctrine Protects Out-of-State Officer from Personal Jurisdiction in Real Estate Joint Venture Dispute
The Business Court granted a California resident's special appearance and dismissed third-party claims without prejudice, holding that respondents failed to plead or prove sufficient Texas contacts to support personal jurisdiction over the officer who allegedly acted solely in his corporate capacity. The court applied the fiduciary shield doctrine despite allegations of fraud and misrepresentation in connection with a failed joint venture to acquire Princeton, Texas real property.
Personal Jurisdiction Requires Purposeful Forum Contacts Attributable to the Specific Defendant, Not Group Pleading
In Primexx Energy Opportunity Fund v. Primexx Energy Corporation, the Business Court granted special appearances by Angelo Acconcia and Blackstone Inc., holding that plaintiffs failed to establish that claims arose from Acconcia's purposeful contacts with Texas and that his forum contacts were attributable to a different entity, not Blackstone Inc. The court rejected group pleading and required individualized jurisdictional analysis for each defendant, dismissing claims against both defendants for lack of specific personal jurisdiction.