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Portrait of Hon. Brian Stagner

Hon. Brian Stagner

Judge · Seat 8B

Texas Business Court · Eighth Business Court Division (Fort Worth)

Biography

Judge Brian Stagner serves on the Texas Business Court for the Eighth Division, located in Fort Worth, Texas. Before his appointment to the bench, Judge Stagner practiced law for 27 years at Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, where he served as partner and co-chair of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. During this time, he handled complex business litigation in more than 40 states, representing clients on both sides of the docket. His practice included corporate governance disputes, unfair business practices, e-commerce, insurance coverage, taxation, consumer class actions, and intellectual property matters. Judge Stagner has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® annually since 2010. In addition to his judicial duties, Judge Stagner is an adjunct professor at Texas Christian University, where he teaches Business Law. He is a former Barrister of the American Inns of Court and is a sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, as well as a Fellow of the Tarrant County Bar Foundation. Judge Stagner earned his law degree, summa cum laude, from Texas Tech University School of Law, where he served on the Law Review and was named to the Order of the Coif. He also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management from Angelo State University. Judge Stagner and his wife, Amy, have been happily married for 30 years and are proud parents of two daughters, Claire and Katie.

Source: txcourts.gov

Opinions by Judge Stagner (1)

Property Identification ×
2026 Tex. Bus. 53 Summary Judgment July 29, 2026

Statute of Frauds Bars Enforcement of Land Contract Where Lot Selection Depended on Third Party's Unfettered Discretion

In Riverside Homebuilders v. FG Aledo Development, the Business Court's Eighth Division granted summary judgment on statute-of-frauds grounds, holding that a contract purporting to convey 181 residential lots failed because the specific lots could not be identified at signing—the buyer's selection right depended on a third-party builder first dividing the subdivision into two pools using wholly discretionary criteria. The Court concluded that where the universe from which a buyer may choose does not exist at contract formation, the property description is fatally deficient under Texas law.

Mem. Op. Summary Judgment Real Estate Statute of Frauds Property Description Future-Selection Contracts Opinion PDF ↓