A Winding Path to Today’s Practice

BY DOUG O’CONNELL

After serving as a prosecutor in the Travis County Attorney’s Office, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and finally the U.S. Attorney’s Office, I had assumed I would have a fairly typical criminal defense practice. I was wrong.

Recalled to active duty after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, I stepped away from private practice and returned full-time to work with the U.S. Army. Unbeknownst to even myself at the time, I was also creating the framework and expertise for my current legal practice. I deployed to Iraq with the Army’s 10th Special Forces Group and to Afghanistan with the U.S. Special Operations Command. In addition, I served in Washington, D.C., New York, and other locations with Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), including roles with the FBI’s Manhattan-based Joint Terrorism Task Force, dealing with terrorism-related cases arising out of the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Prior to my military retirement, I also commanded a theater-level Special Operations unit in the Texas Army National Guard, which focused on enhancing the counterterrorism capacity of African countries facing threats from Boko Haram, Al-Qaida, ISIS, and other violent extremist groups. In this capacity, I deployed to multiple countries in Northwest Africa to help bolster their internal defense capabilities. During my military career, I earned two master’s degrees, one in Homeland Security from the Naval Postgraduate school and the other in National Security/Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College. The U.S. Government also granted me a top-secret clearance, which furthers access to information classified as “Sensitive Compartmentalized.” I currently use this clearance in representing defense contracting companies working on classified programs.

What I had once envisioned as a typical criminal defense practice has become a firm that advocates for its clients within the criminal and civil justice systems, but combines the framework of military expertise and strategic problem solving, with the understanding of what it takes to look at a problem beyond the traditional litigation lens.

In 2017, I retired from the Army as a Colonel with a combined 30 years of active duty, Army Reserve, and National Guard service. Through my reputation in the military and my tenacious defense of military personnel, I have been fortunate to earn a national reputation as one of the premier defense attorneys for military personnel accused of misconduct.

One of my first cases after re-entering private practice was representing a National Guard solider under investigation for fraud in connection with an Army recruiting scandal. One recruiting scandal client led to several clients, which eventually led to hundreds of clients. Along the way, I was shocked by the massive injustice and wholesale disregard for due process. My advocacy saved many under investigation, but I still couldn’t stop the Army’s retribution against my clients. However, recently, on Nov. 3, 2022, senior Pentagon officials held a press conference and announced, in effect, that everything I had been saying and advocating for over the last eight years was in fact true—the investigations were flawed and the Army illegally created federal criminal history entries on thousands of soldiers and veterans. After the Army’s admissions, I expect to file claims for damages for most all of my clients.

Closer to home, I continue to represent military personnel and veterans in courts around the Central Texas area, but I’ve also focused on representing all types of people accused of crimes, ranging from criminal mischief to defrauding the federal government to first-degree murder, as well as alleged victims. What I had once envisioned as a typical criminal defense practice has become a firm that advocates for its clients within the criminal and civil justice systems, but combines the framework of military expertise and strategic problem solving, with the understanding of what it takes to look at a problem beyond the traditional litigation lens. We work with our clients not just in the courtroom, but also in navigating our governmental bureaucracies. I believe in representing each of my clients with the same tenacity I bring to my military clients, and our firm is built around upholding that same reputation.

In addition, my expertise is frequently sought out by law enforcement officers facing criminal charges in what I call the “war on cops.” I, along with my trial partner Ken Ervin, take on many high-profile cases where police officers are indicted in officer-involved shootings or other use-of-force incidents.

Today, my law partner Wesley West and I run a growing firm of six attorneys. O’Connell West, PLLC is headquartered in Austin, but we also have an office in the Killeen/Fort Hood area, and expect to open a San Antonio office in early 2023. Most recently, we successfully recovered damages for the family of a junior airman who was killed on a U.S. air base in Germany and represented a sexual assault victim in a civil action against her attacker. AUST INL AW Y ER AL AL

Doug O’Connell is a partner at O’Connell West, PLLC in Austin and Killeen. He served 30 years in the Army & Army National Guard. Doug retired in 2017 at the rank of Colonel.