Emily A. Fitzgerald is a member of Winstead's Business Litigation Practice Group in Dallas. She handles appellate matters and complex commercial disputes, and she is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Emily represents businesses in trial courts, arbitrations, and appeals, with experience before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Texas, and various state and federal courts of appeals. She works alongside trial teams on dispositive motions, motions in limine, jury charges, error preservation, and post-trial matters, and she has argued before the Supreme Court of Texas and the Dallas and Fort Worth Courts of Appeals. Her clients have included companies in telecommunications, healthcare, energy, oil and gas, real estate, and banking.

Following her graduation from the University of Texas School of Law, Emily served as a law clerk for the Honorable Jeffrey S. Boyd of the Supreme Court of Texas and the Honorable Lavenski R. Smith, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. 

Representative Experience

Trials & Arbitrations

• Served as appellate specialist on the trial team for a cellular company that obtained a full defense verdict on claims exceeding $250 million in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Represented a health care company in multiple AAA arbitrations arising from business-to-business disputes over Medicare Advantage contracts, with more than $100 million in controversy.
• Defended a telecommunications company in multiple JAMS arbitrations involving fraud, contract, and franchise claims.
• Defended a nutrition company in a multiweek jury trial with more than $30 million in controversy, conducting cross-examinations, presenting closing argument, and handling directed verdict motions, the charge conference, and post-trial motions.
• Defended a client against breach of contract claims exceeding $100 million in a two-week ICC arbitration, preparing witnesses, examining the client's industry expert, cross-examining the claimant's technical witness, and handling all briefing.
• Served as appellate specialist for a railroad during a two-week jury trial that resulted in a multimillion-dollar verdict for the railroad on all contract and tort claims, and represented the railroad on appeal through settlement.
• Successfully defended a client against multimillion-dollar breach of contract claims in an AAA arbitration, handling witness preparation and examination and leading all briefing and discovery.

Appeals

• Argued before the Supreme Court of Texas and obtained a unanimous decision holding that the client was not subject to personal jurisdiction in Texas, resulting in dismissal of the action.
• Argued before the Dallas Court of Appeals and obtained reversal of a summary judgment, with instructions to compel arbitration.
• Argued before the Dallas Court of Appeals and obtained partial reversal of a final judgment in a homeowners' association dispute.
• Argued before the Fort Worth Court of Appeals and obtained reversal of a final judgment that was entered without due process. 
• Obtained victory for an electricity provider on an issue of first impression that required the Supreme Court of Texas to interpret statutes creating tax exemptions for pollution-control equipment. 
• Obtained reversal of a trial court's declaration that an easement was void.
• Preserved victory for mineral interest owner in a deed-interpretation dispute.
• Represented the prevailing party in opposing certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court after the Court requested a response to the petition.
• Represented amici curiae before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
• Authored amicus briefing on behalf of a statewide oil and gas association in support of the prevailing party before the Supreme Court of Texas.