,
- Dallas
Partner Bill Pedersen, III, has had a varied career, having been a Court of Appeals Justice, Assistant Criminal District Attorney, and lawyer in private practice.
Bill was elected and served as a Justice of Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals from 2019-2024, ruling on appeals from trial courts in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. He authored approximately 400 opinions and was appointed by the Chief Justice of Texas to serve on a Special Court of Review. He also volunteered to serve as a trial judge, presiding over jury trials, contested evidentiary hearings, and routine case dispositions.
Bill began his career as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in Collin County, trying 60 jury trials to verdict, and served as the Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit of the Family Justice Division.
In 2003, he entered private practice, representing individuals, businesses, and corporate entities in civil, commercial, and criminal litigation. He has tried approximately 100 civil and criminal cases to a jury in state and federal courts throughout Texas as a lawyer and has presided over multiple jury trials as a visiting judge.
Bill has spoken to numerous organizations and meetings of Texas lawyers about Texas law and the practice of law. He has spoken to the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, the Collin County Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Advanced Family Law Conference, among others.
Principal Practice Areas
Contact Information
Address:
Dallas, Texas 75201
Partner Bill Pedersen, III, has had a varied career, having been a Court of Appeals Justice, Assistant Criminal District Attorney, and lawyer in private practice.
Bill was elected and served as a Justice of Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals from 2019-2024, ruling on appeals from trial courts in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. He authored approximately 400 opinions and was appointed by the Chief Justice of Texas to serve on a Special Court of Review. He also volunteered to serve as a trial judge, presiding over jury trials, contested evidentiary hearings, and routine case dispositions.
Bill began his career as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in Collin County, trying 60 jury trials to verdict, and served as the Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit of the Family Justice Division.
In 2003, he entered private practice, representing individuals, businesses, and corporate entities in civil, commercial, and criminal litigation. He has tried approximately 100 civil and criminal cases to a jury in state and federal courts throughout Texas as a lawyer and has presided over multiple jury trials as a visiting judge.
Bill has spoken to numerous organizations and meetings of Texas lawyers about Texas law and the practice of law. He has spoken to the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, the Collin County Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Advanced Family Law Conference, among others.
- State Bar of Texas, 2001
- U.S. Supreme Court 2025
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern 2004, Eastern 2005, Southern and Western Districts of Texas 2025
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado 2025
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2010
- Panelist – American Arbitration Association National Roster of Commercial Arbitrators
- Dallas Bar Association, Member
- Vice-Chair of Ethics, Criminal Justice Committee, and Golf Tournament Committees
- Collin County Bar Asociation
- Mac Taylor Inn of Court, Master of the Bench
- Founder, North Texas Criminal Law Inn of Court, Master of the Bench
Honors and Distinctions:
- Recognized “Top Young Lawyer in Texas,” Texas Monthly, 2010
- DBA Presidential Citation, 2018
- Baylor University School of Law, 2001, Waco, Texas, Juris Doctor
— Order of the Barristers
— Practice Court Student Assistant - Texas Tech University, 1998, Lubbock, Texas, Bachelor of Arts in History Minors in Spanish and Philosophy
— Dean’s List Fall 1996
- Co-author, University of North Texas College of Law’s Accessible Law Review, Spring 2024, “Why Don’t You Run for Office: What You Need to Know About the Law Governing Getting Elected” with Louis A. Bedford, IV
- Speaker and co-author, Advanced Family Law 2024, “Attorneys as Experts: Mixed Questions of Law & Fact,” with Paul Leopold
- Speaker, DBA Judiciary Committee panel discussion, October 2023, “War Stories, Emerging Trends, and Practice Pointers form the Bench”
- Speaker, DBA Ethics Committee presentation, October 2023, “Ethics in Appellate Advocacy,” with Anne Johnson and Chad Ruback
- Speaker, Family Law 101 2023, Judges panel, “Bad Objections and Attorney’s Failure to Get Their Evidence In: You Can’t Handle the Truth.”
- Speaker and co-author, Advanced Family Law 2022, The View from up here: Two Justices (One Family Law Specialist) Share Their Wisdom on Appellate Law Matters,” with Justice Dennise Garcia
- Speaker, Judges Panel, October 2021, Criminal Practice Seminar
- Speaker, 2017 Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, “Dealing with Difficult Clients,” with Robert Tobey and Nathan Johnson
- Speaker, DBA Ethics committee luncheon, “Dealing with Difficult Clients,” with Robert Tobey and Nathan Johnson
