Rusty Hardin Named Recipient of Texas Bar Foundation’s 2024 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award

Rusty Hardin & Associates is pleased to announce that Rusty Hardin has been named the recipient of the 2024 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation.

The award recognizes an active trial lawyer who has demonstrated high ethical and moral standards and exceptional professional conduct to enhance the image of the trial lawyer.

Established in June 2002, the Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award was established in honor and memory of Ronald Secrest, a gifted trial lawyer and a founding partner of Beck Redden LLP.

Rusty Hardin began his career as an assistant district attorney for Harris County and served as chief of one of the felony divisions for eight years. He established Rusty Hardin & Associates in 1996, and the firm now has 15 lawyers and focuses primarily on civil matters while also engaging in a substantial white-collar criminal defense practice.

Mr. Hardin has tried 190 jury trials to date, and his clients have included Arthur Andersen, Dow Jones, the J. Howard Marshall II estate against claims made by Anna Nicole Smith, ExxonMobil, Rice University, Las Vegas Sands, Arkema, and a lengthy roster of professional athletes that includes Wade Boggs, Warren Moon, Scottie Pippen, Calvin Murphy, Adrian Peterson, Roger Clemens, James Harden, and Deshaun Watson. In 2023, Mr. Hardin was chosen by the Texas House of Representatives to lead the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before the Texas Senate.

Mr. Hardin is one of only four attorneys in the U.S. and the only attorney in Texas honored as a 2018 Global Elite Thought Leader in litigation by Who’s Who Legal. He is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL), the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL), the Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

London-based Chambers and Partners Publishing has recognized Mr. Hardin as a top U.S. trial lawyer and a Texas Band 1 lawyer in commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense, and Best Lawyers recognized him in commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense and named him 2019 Lawyer of the Year in Houston for white-collar criminal defense.

The litigation section of the State Bar of Texas named Mr. Hardin a Texas Legal Legend, and he was recognized as a Trial Ace by Law360, a Lion of the Texas Bar by Texas Lawbook, and a Litigation Star in Texas by Benchmark Litigation. He was recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America by The National Law Journal and one of The 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter-Century by Texas Lawyer.

A native of North Carolina, Mr. Hardin received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University.

Mr. Hardin will be presented the Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award at the Texas Bar Foundation annual dinner June 21, 2024, at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

Founded in 1965 by attorneys determined to assist the public and improve the profession, the Texas Bar Foundation is the largest charitably funded bar foundation in the country.

Election to the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a member of the State Bar of Texas, representing one-third of 1% of Texas attorneys. Selection is based on an outstanding record in the legal profession as well as proven commitment to support the community at large.

For more information about the Texas Bar Foundation and the upcoming award ceremony, click here.