Craig D. Cherry

—Shareholder

Craig has a nationwide trial practice that involves complex civil litigation with an emphasis in litigation areas such as business/commercial, catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death, product liability, commercial trucking, and construction litigation.

Craig is Board Certified in Civil Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.  He is also Board Certified in both Civil Trial Law and Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

He has represented both individuals and businesses as lead trial counsel in courts throughout the country and has successfully tried to verdict numerous cases in both state and federal court. Craig is regularly asked to handle cases with complex and novel factual and legal issues. The following are recent examples of the success Craig has achieved on behalf of his clients:

• He served as lead counsel for the plaintiff and her parents in a trial against one of the largest trucking companies in the nation.  The trucking company argued that its’ global positioning satellite (GPS) data demonstrated that none of its’ trucks could have been involved in a wreck that injured the plaintiff and killed her sister. Craig and his co-counsel demonstrated that the company’s GPS data was inaccurate and unreliable. The jury agreed and returned a verdict in favor of Craig’s clients. The case later settled for a confidential sum.
• He served as co-lead counsel for a Louisiana company that brought breach of contract and fraud claims against one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world. The case involved a complicated supply chain of unique materials from Florida that were used at a refinery in Texas. After two days of evidence before a three-member arbitration panel, the case settled favorably for Craig’s client for a confidential sum.
• He served as lead counsel and successfully defended one of the largest aerial lift manufacturers in the world in a multi-million dollar commercial case involving allegations of breach of contract and tortious interference with contract.
• He served as co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the first case in the United States where a jury returned a verdict that a motor coach bus was unsafe because it did not have seat belts or safety glass to protect passengers.  The verdict in that case was also listed by the National Law Journal as one of the Top 100 verdicts of the year in 2005.

In recognition of his advocacy skills and the results achieved for his clients, Craig has been selected by his colleagues as a Texas Rising Star, a Thomson Reuters service, printed in Texas Monthly magazine,  in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Craig was also named the Outstanding Young Lawyer 2005 by the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association.

Craig earned his B.B.A. from Baylor University and his J.D. from Baylor University School of Law, cum laude. During law school, Craig was selected to be a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America National Mock Trial Team, the Texas Invitational Mock Trial Team, Order of Barristers and the Harvey M. Richey Moot Court Society. He was also a member of the Baylor Law Review and served as Managing Editor, Assistant Managing Editor and Executive Editor during his tenure. During law school, Craig co-authored “The Classification of General and Special Damages for Pleading Purposes in Texas”, 51 Baylor L. Rev. 629 (1999).

Education

• Baylor University (B.B.A., 1998)
• Baylor University School of Law  (J.D., cum laude, 1999)

Board Certifications

• Board Certified — Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
• Board Certified — Personal Injury Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
• Board Certified — Civil Trial Advocacy, National Board of Trial Advocacy

Admissions/Affiliations

• State Bar of Texas
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

Professional & Community Activities

• State Bar of Texas, Member
• Litigation Section State Bar of Texas, Member
• Editorial Board for The Advocate, quarterly journal publication of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas, Member
• Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
• Bar Association of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Member
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Member
• American Association for Justice, Member
• Abner V. McCall American Inn of Court, Member
• Waco-McLennan County Bar Association (Board of Directors 2010-2011)
• Waco-McLennan County Young Lawyer’s Association (Board of Directors 2003-2006; Treasurer, 2006-2007; Secretary, 2007-2008; Vice President 2008-2009; President 2009-2010)
• Adjunct Professor of Law at Baylor University School of Law, teaching courses in both Consumer Protection and Remedies
• The Texas Lyceum, Director
• American Heart Association (Waco Chapter), Director
• MISD Education Foundation, Director
• MISD MAST Committee, Member
• LEAD (Leadership, Education, and Development) Mentor for area high school students through a program established by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce and the Waco Independent School District
• Member, Administrative Board and Finance Committee, First United Methodist Church

Publications, Honors & Awards

• Named Texas Rising Star in Texas Monthly magazine (Texas Super Lawyers – Rising Star Edition) in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
• Selected as a “Top 40 under 40″ Texas lawyer by The National Trial Lawyers Association.
• Named Outstanding Young Lawyer by the Waco-McLennan County Bar Association (2005).
• Contributing Editor to the General Practice Digest, Consumer Law Section, of the State Bar of Texas
• Editorial Board of The Advocate, the quarterly journal publication of the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas.
• Co-author, “The Classification of General and Special Damages for Pleading Purposes in Texas”, 51 Baylor L. Rev. 629 (1999).
• Litigation Update, Waco-McLennan County Bar Association (2010)
• Personal Injury Update, Waco-McLennan County Bar Association (2009)
• Co-author, Texas Trial Law Advocate (www.texastriallawadvocate.com)

Contact Craig D. Cherry