Business Court

About the Court

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... Read more

Judge Melissa (Davis) Andrews

Division 3A

Melissa Andrews is a judge on the Texas Business Court, where she serves in the Third Division in Austin, Texas. Judge Andrews is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Before coming to the bench, she focused her legal practice on appellate briefing and oral argument, strategic dispositive motions, expert challenges, preservation of error, and... Read more

Judge Patrick Sweeten

Division 3B

Judge Marialyn Barnard

Division 4A

Judge Marialyn Barnard was appointed by Governor Abbott as a Judge of the Fourth Business Court Division effective September 1, 2024. She has worked in business, private practice, and government. Her previous eleven years of judicial experience includes Judge of the 73rd Judicial District Court in Bexar County and Justice on the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals. She also served... Read more

Judge Stacy Rogers Sharp

Division 4B

Stacy Rogers Sharp sits in the Texas Business Court’s Fourth Division, which covers 22 counties in South Texas extending from the border south of Laredo to coastal Aransas County. Judge Sharp’s background in commercial litigation derives from her private practice as an appellate lawyer and trial-litigation consultant in civil suits that included contractual breaches, unfair competition, banking disputes, corporate-governance and fiduciary... Read more

Judge Jerry Bullard

Division 8A

Judge Brian Stagner

Division 8B

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... Read more

Judge Sofia Adrogué

Division 11A

Governor Greg Abbott appointed Sofia Adrogué to be one of the inaugural judges of the Eleventh Business Court Division, effective September 1, 2024. The Eleventh Business Court Division is composed of the counties of Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Matagorda, & Wharton. A native of Argentina, Sofia is a former Senior Trial Partner with Diamond McCarthy LLP, a 10-year+ Texas... Read more

Judge Grant Dorfman

Division 11B and Administrative Presiding Judge

Governor Abbott appointed Grant Dorfman to the new Eleventh Business Court Division in Houston effective September 1, 2024, and his colleagues elected him to serve as the Administrative Presiding Judge for the initial two-year term of the Court. Judge Dorfman previously presided over the 129th and 334th Civil District Courts in Harris County. In addition to his judicial service, Judge... Read more