Foley Gardere announced that Orrin Harrison III has joined the firm’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice as of counsel in the Dallas office. He joins from Dallas-based Gruber Hail Johansen Shank.
Harrison has over 40 years of experience in complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution, largely involving accounting, antitrust, board counseling, corporate investigation, director-and-officer defense, mergers and acquisitions, and securities. He primarily represents clients in the energy and financial services sectors. In his career, Harrison has served as chief outside litigation counsel to three national companies – two energy companies and one financial services company – and has been involved in more than 150 complex mediations.
“Orrin’s extensive litigation and trial experience adds significant depth to our growing practice both in Texas and nationally,” said Michael Gay, chair of Foley’s Litigation Department and Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice Group. “As corporations continue to relocate their headquarters into Texas’ largest metropolitan areas, and as commercial issues on the national level continue to evolve, Orrin will be instrumental in helping to navigate these issues for our clients.”
Harrison is an experienced trial lawyer in both state and federal courts. He has appeared pro hac vice in the trial courts of Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming and has argued appeals before the Supreme Courts of Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Utah and Wyoming, as well as in the 5th and 11th U.S. Courts of Appeals.
In the local legal community, Harrison is a board member of Dallas-based MapleMark Bank and Maple Financial Holdings, Inc., and a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Dallas Bar Foundation, Southwestern Legal Foundation and Texas Bar Association. He is also a member and former president of both the Dallas Bar Association and Dallas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and well as a member of the American Bar Association, International Society of Barristers and Texas Access to Justice.
“Orrin has built an exemplary commercial-litigation practice and brings complementary expertise in the energy and financial services sectors,” said Michael Newman, office managing partner of Foley Gardere’s Dallas office. “That paired with his prominent standing and exemplary reputation in the Dallas legal community makes him a strong fit for our expanding office. We look forward to having him join our team.”
In addition, Chelsea Hilliard has joined Foley’s Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice as an associate in the firm’s Dallas office from Gruber Hail. Her practice focuses on commercial, securities and other types of litigation.