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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 (3)
Business Court Clarifies Removal Procedure, Internal Affairs Jurisdiction, and Amount-in-Controversy Scope in Real Estate Development Dispute
In Chaudhry v. Stillwater Capital Investments, Division 1 held that defendants need not file separate removal notices to benefit from removal, that fraud-in-the-inducement claims regarding LLC company agreements fall within the court's subject matter jurisdiction over internal affairs and governing documents, and that the amount-in-controversy requirement applies case-wide including counterclaims. The court also rejected non-statutory grounds for declining to exercise subject matter jurisdiction.
Business Court Lacks Authority Over Pre-September 1, 2024 Cases: Whitehill Grants Remand in Synergy Global
In Synergy Global Outsourcing, LLC v. Hinduja Global Solutions, Inc., the Business Court of Texas granted a motion to remand a 2019-filed contract dispute, holding that H.B. 19, § 8's plain text restricts the court's authority to "civil actions commenced on or after September 1, 2024," precluding removal of cases filed in district court before that date. The October 31, 2024 opinion resolves a threshold statutory construction question about the temporal scope of the court's removal jurisdiction under Government Code § 25A.006.
Business Court Remands Pre-Effective-Date Case Removed After September 1, 2024
In Energy Transfer LP v. Culberson Midstream, Judge Whitehill granted a motion to remand a case that was originally filed in district court before September 1, 2024, but subsequently removed to the Business Court. The decision establishes that the Business Court lacks jurisdiction over cases filed before its statutory effective date, even when removal is attempted after that date.