Congratulations to Austin Bar Member William Whitehurst, Jr.

Texas Bar Foundation Honors Whitehurst with Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award

Congratulations to William “Bill” Whitehurst, Jr.! The Austin Bar Association proudly salutes longtime member Whitehurst for being selected as a recipient of the Texas Bar Foundation’s 2022 Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award.

Whitehurst is a registered pharmacist, was a Fulbright Scholar, and served as a JAG officer, but these are just a few of his accomplishments. He now adds recipient of the Texas Bar Foundation’s Outstanding 50 Year Lawyer Award to the long list.

Whitehurst is a registered pharmacist in both Oklahoma and Texas. He specializes in medical-legal litigation.

He is also an instrument-rated pilot who has flown private aircraft for almost 40 years, and his practice also includes aviation and products liability law. Whitehurst is board certified as a Civil Trial Specialist by the

National Board of Trial Advocacy, board certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Whitehurst has achieved some of the largest-ever medical malpractice verdicts against the U.S. government, including verdicts of $44,717,681 and $32,676,410, ranking him among the nation’s top personal injury lawyers. He has been listed in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Lawyers in America and The Best Lawyers in America publications since their inception. His court admissions include the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Southern districts of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Military Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Halfway through his 50-year career as a lawyer, Whitehurst served four years as a JAG officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. He has also served as president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association, president of the State Bar of Texas, chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees, chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Fellows, president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, president of the Austin Young Lawyers Association, president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL), president of the IATL Foundation (twice), adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy at the University of Texas School of Law, and co-founder of a national organization, Bar Leaders for the Preservation of Legal Services for the Poor.

Much of Whitehurst’s career has been dedicated to providing legal services to the poor and promoting public interest law. In addition to maintaining a pro bono docket and co-founding Bar Leaders for the Preservation of Legal Services for the Poor, he has served as chair of the American Bar Association’s standing committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and was instrumental in establishing the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law at the University of Texas School of Law. The Whitehurst family annually provides summer fellowships in public interest law for UT law students. AL