Heather Bailey New has joined Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP as a partner and member of its Litigation practice. New has more than 14 years of trial and appellate experience and joins from the Dallas office of Haynes and Boone, LLP.
“Heather is a seasoned appellate attorney with an impressive resume,” said James Skochdopole, managing partner of Bell Nunnally. “As a firm, our goal has always been to create and sustain a client-centric culture attractive to high-quality attorneys such as Heather.”
New handles all aspects of appeals on both the state and federal level. In addition to providing traditional assistance on appeal, New takes a proactive approach to reducing the costs of appeal by assisting trial counsel with error preservation and legal briefing at trial. She often handles briefings on dispositive motions, motions for class certifications, motions to qualify expert witnesses and post-trial motions, as well as jury change preparation, judgment formation and assistance with arbitration and mediation. Notably, she recently presented oral argument before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a case in which the United States joined as amicus curiae. New has previously argued before numerous Texas courts of appeals including the 5th District Court of Appeals (Dallas), the 3rd District Court of Appeals (Austin), and the 10th District Court of Appeals (Waco).
Counted among New’s successes, after filing opening appellate briefs in a matter, her clients’ opponent voluntarily agreed to settle a commercial dispute for nearly $200 million below what the court’s judgment had stipulated. She also assisted in obtaining a reversal of a lost profit award north of $30 million leveled against a major Texas energy company. In recognition of New’s prowess in the courtroom, she has been selected by her peers for inclusion on the “Rising Stars” list featured annually in Texas Monthly magazine four times.
Active in the legal community, New is a Dallas Association of Young Lawyers (DAYL) Life Founding Fellow and a DAYL Leadership Class facilitator. In addition, she is a former associate in the Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court and former co-chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Publication Committee.
New is a graduate of Baylor University School of Law (J.D., 1998) and Stephen F. Austin University (B.A., 1993).
