Mike McKool Honored as 2012 "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Dallas Bar Association

DALLAS, Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mike McKool, Co-Founder and Chairman of McKool Smith, recently accepted the 2012 "Trial Lawyer of the Year" award from the Dallas Bar Association (DBA) during a reception held in Horseshoe Bay, Texas.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121002/NY85146 )

Mr. McKool received the award during the DBA's annual Bench Bar Conference on Sept. 27, 2012. The prestigious award is presented annually to a DBA member who best exemplifies the principles of the legal profession and who has achieved extraordinary success in the courtroom.

"I am honored to be named 'Trial Lawyer of the Year' by my colleagues in the Dallas Bar Association," said Mr. McKool. "I'm proud to be recognized among this distinguished group of attorneys."

During the award ceremony, Mr. McKool was introduced by fellow attorney and longtime client Frank C. Vecella, Associate General Counsel-Litigation for Ericsson Inc., and Tom Graves, a Principal at McKool Smith. The award presentation included a video tribute to Mr. McKool and his career, featuring interviews with attorneys and former judges who have worked with him over the years.

"Mike McKool is an excellent trial lawyer," said Paul K. Stafford, President of the Dallas Bar Association. "[He is] an example of all that is good in our profession – inquisitive by nature, committed to excellence, effective, and ethical in and out of the courtroom."

Mr. McKool's rigorous case preparation and superlative courtroom skills have earned him a reputation as one of the country's most esteemed trial lawyers. Over the course of his 38-year legal career, he has tried more than 120 jury trials and secured billions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients. Since founding McKool Smith in 1991, his leadership and courtroom achievements have helped the firm grow from an 11-attorney litigation boutique in Dallas to a national litigation powerhouse with 175 trial lawyers. He is consistently recognized as one of the top litigators in the country by leading legal publications, including The Legal 500, Lawdragon, and Chambers USA, where he is ranked as a leading national trial lawyer and "Band 1" in commercial litigation and intellectual property litigation. He is also ranked as a "Band 1" patent litigator in the United States by Chambers Global.  Mr. McKool is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the Advisory Council of the Federal Circuit, and serves on the Advisory Board for the "Patent Case Management Judicial Guide" used by federal district judges.

With more than 175 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC, McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America's leading trial firms. The firm has won more National Law Journal and VerdictSearch "Top 100 Verdicts" over the last five years than any other law firm. McKool Smith represents leading clients across a broad range of practice areas, including complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and white collar defense.

For additional information, please contact Diane Iselin at 212-402-9486 or [email protected].

SOURCE McKool Smith