Biography
Appellate Counsel for High-Stakes Litigation
Robert Gilbreath handles high-stakes civil appeals, mandamus proceedings, and critical trial-court issues in complex litigation nationwide. Trial lawyers and clients retain him when the briefing, the record, the jury charge, or the appellate posture may determine the outcome of the case long before oral argument.
Rob has more than 36 years of appellate experience and has handled more than 250 appeals and original proceedings in state and federal courts across the country, including the United States Supreme Court, multiple federal courts of appeals, the Supreme Court of Texas, the New York Court of Appeals, the Arizona Supreme Court, and the Georgia Supreme Court. He has argued more than 150 appeals.
Trial Support and Strategic Appellate Guidance
In addition to handling appeals, Rob works with trial teams on dispositive motions, jury-charge issues, preservation of error, expert challenges, and post-verdict strategy. He has served on trial teams in matters involving some of the nation’s largest verdicts, including one exceeding $4 billion and two exceeding $300 million.
His practice includes business and commercial disputes, insurance coverage litigation, product liability, toxic torts, fiduciary litigation, professional liability, constitutional litigation, class actions, and catastrophic personal-injury matters.
Representative Matters
- Ritchie v. Rupe — Prevailed in the Supreme Court of Texas in a landmark shareholder-oppression case that eliminated the common-law buyout remedy and reshaped Texas corporate law.
- COC Services v. CompUSA — Eliminated a $250 million jury award in a franchise and licensing dispute.
- White v. Pottorff — Secured reversal of a $36 million judgment involving alleged LLC tag-along rights.
- Monticello Asset Management v. Wells — Obtained reversal and rendition of a $15.6 million premises-liability judgment.
- Scapa Dryer Fabrics v. Knight — Secured reversal of a multimillion-dollar asbestos verdict after successfully challenging expert testimony.
- Regent Care of San Antonio v. Detrick — Prevailed in the Supreme Court of Texas in a significant statutory damages case involving medical-expense recovery.
Credentials and Recognition
Rob is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He previously chaired the Appellate Exam Commission for the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and served as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Texas.
He is a founding trustee of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society and has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America, D Magazine, and Martindale-Hubbell.
Services
Education
- Baylor University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1989)
- Baylor Law Review, Lead Articles Editor
- Baylor University (B.B.A., with honors, 1987)
Bar Admissions
Courts
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Professional Affiliations
- Founding Member and Trustee, Texas Supreme Court Historical Society
- State Bar of Texas
- Chair, Local Bar Liaison Committee, Appellate Section (2005)
- Chair, Civil Appellate Law Exam Commission (2012)
- Dallas Bar Association
- Chair, Appellate Section (2003)
- Nominating Committee, Appellate Section (2006-present)
- Judiciary Committee (2015)
- Member, American Bar Association
- Texas Board of Legal Specialization
- Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
- Product Liability Advisory Council
Honors and Recognition
- Texas Super Lawyers (2003–2025)
- Top 100 Lawyers in Texas (2012, 2015)
- Top 100 Lawyers in Dallas/Fort Worth (2007–2009, 2012–2013, 2019–2021)
- The Best Lawyers in America© (2012–2026) – Appellate Practice
- D Magazine
- Best Lawyers in Dallas – Appellate Law (2003, 2005, 2012, 2014–2015, 2017–2020, 2023–2024)
- Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40 (May 2004)
- Martindale-Hubbell® – AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated
- Texas Supreme Court Historical Society – Founding Member and Trustee
Recognition for Legal Writing and Advocacy
Rob’s legal writing has earned praise from courts, scholars, and practitioners alike:
- Hambrick v. Foremost County Mut. Ins. Co., 2024 WL 1661254 (Tex. App.—Tyler): Cited Rob’s published criticisms of the “zero damages” rule as influencing modern Texas jurisprudence.
- 1464-Eight, Ltd. v. Joppich, 154 S.W.3d 101 (Tex. 2005): His issue statement was commended by two Texas Supreme Court staff attorneys as a model for how to “spark interest” by identifying the case’s core legal question.
- "Lost Secret Revealed: The Seven ABC’s of Successful Appellate Advocacy", Certworthy (Winter 2005):
Cited by Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court of Australia in his 2006 Dame Ann Ebsworth Memorial Lecture. Praised by legal bloggers for its insights, with one noting, “its important points apply to trial-level advocacy as well.”
- "Caught in a Crossfire: Preventing and Handling Conflicts of Interest", 27 Tex. Tech L. Rev. 139 (1996): Selected for West’s Insurance Law Review (1997–98) and featured in the National Law Journal's “Worth Reading” column. Also cited by NBI and other insurance law CLE materials.
- "Tape Recording of Conversations: Ethics, Legality, and Admissibility", 59 Tex. B.J. 950 (1996): Cited in the Congressional Research Service’s report, Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2003), also archived on WikiLeaks.
- A former Texas appellate justice wrote to Rob after reading one of his briefs: “I don’t think I’ve ever felt compelled to do this before—but I just want to say it’s one of the finest pieces of work I’ve read... and I’ve read a lot of briefs in the last 25 years.”
- Rob’s article, The Supreme Court of Texas and the Emancipation Cases, 69 Tex. B.J. 948 (2006), was described on a legal blog as: “The kind of piece people pass along to others. I'd like to see it expanded and published nationally.”
Selected Cases - Highlights
Landmark Business & Fiduciary Wins
- Ritchie v. Rupe (Tex. 2014) – Won a landmark Texas Supreme Court ruling for business clients, eliminating the common-law claim for shareholder oppression, narrowing statutory oppression remedies, and rendering judgment that plaintiff take nothing.
- Basic Capital Mgmt. v. Dynex (Tex. App.—Dallas 2013) – Secured judgment entitling clients to recover over $40 million on loan-commitment claims after remand from the Texas Supreme Court.
- White v. Pottorff (Tex. App.—Dallas 2015) – Reversed a $36 million judgment against client in an LLC dispute over alleged “tag-along” rights.
- COC Services v. CompUSA (Tex. App.—Dallas 2004) – Eliminated a $250 million jury award against client, winning judgment notwithstanding the verdict in a franchise-licensing case.
High-Stakes Tort & Class Action Defense
- Monticello Asset Mgmt. v. Wells (Tex. App.—Dallas 2024) – Wiped out a $15.6 million jury verdict against client property owner in a premises-liability case, with the court holding the alleged defect was open and obvious.
- Scapa Dryer Fabrics v. Knight (Ga. 2016) – Secured reversal of a multi-million-dollar asbestos verdict against client manufacturer after showing plaintiff’s expert testimony failed Daubert standards.
- Anderson v. City of New Orleans (La. Ct. App. 2018) – Obtained reversal of a toxic-tort class-certification order, defeating expansive exposure claims for client companies.
Plaintiff-Side Victories
- Regent Care of San Antonio v. Detrick (Tex. 2020) – Won a Texas Supreme Court ruling for plaintiff, ensuring recovery of substantial future medical expenses under statutory damages provisions in a high-stakes med-mal case.
- Lougay Toles v. Edward Toles (Tex. App.—Dallas 2001) – On a pro bono basis, restored a jury’s award for emotional-distress damages to a wife who suffered abuse, reversing the trial court’s take-nothing judgment.
Regulatory & Constitutional Cases
- El Dorado Land Co. v. City of McKinney (Tex. 2013) – Secured ruling for landowner that a repurchase option constituted a compensable property interest in an inverse-condemnation case.
- City of Garland v. Dallas Morning News (Tex. 1999) – Won a ruling requiring disclosure of a city manager’s memorandum, shaping Texas public-records law.
Additional appellate victories: Rob has also prevailed in dozens of other high-stakes appeals nationwide, including reversals of multi-million-dollar verdicts, confirmation of arbitration awards, class-action dismissals, and mandamus relief in multi-billion-dollar disputes. A detailed list is available upon request.