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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)

Tortious Interference ×
2026 Tex. Bus. 48 Jurisdiction & Remand July 21, 2026

Personal Jurisdiction Over Corporate Agents Requires Allegations of Personal Tortious Acts, Not Imputed Corporate Conduct

In CWK Management v. Maggi, the Texas Business Court granted a nonresident shareholder's special appearance, holding that specific personal jurisdiction does not exist where plaintiffs allege only that the defendant "concocted" or "orchestrated" a transaction through an LLC, without alleging personal tortious acts in Texas or seeking to pierce the corporate veil. The court rejected imputation of the LLC's contacts to the individual defendant, emphasizing that conclusory group pleading cannot satisfy the plaintiff's jurisdictional burden.

Mem. Op. Personal Jurisdiction Special Appearance Veil Piercing Specific Jurisdiction Corporate Agency Opinion PDF ↓