Kelsi Stayart White

Kelsi Stayart White represents plaintiffs and defendants in commercial litigation cases, including disputes involving trade secrets, non-compete agreements, employment, and commercial lending. She also has handled wage and hour class-action cases.

She prides herself on connecting with her clients and enjoys solving challenging problems for them. Since joining AZA in 2016, she has tried multiple cases to juries and the bench in both state and federal court.

In 2019 alone, Ms. White obtained a six-figure award of attorneys’ fees for a client in a bench trial in Texas state court; handled appeals in state and federal appellate courts, including oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and secured a temporary restraining order against a client’s former employee protecting the client’s confidential information and trade secrets. Most recently, Ms. White defended a popular Houston restaurant in a nuisance lawsuit seeking to enjoin its operations. Just days after being hired, Ms. White and the AZA team won a modification to a previously entered TRO, which lifted burdensome restrictions on the restaurant’s operations. Two weeks later, the plaintiffs dismissed the lawsuit.

Ms. White has experience in all stages of trial practice in both state and federal court, handling evidentiary hearings, and briefing and arguing summary-judgment, pre-trial, post-trial, and post-judgment motions. She was named to the 2021 list of “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch” for commercial litigation. This is a national peer-review distinction developed by Best Lawyers in America honors associates for their outstanding professional excellence early in their careers.

Ms. White is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. She served as a law clerk for Judge Leslie H. Southwick of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During law school she served as associate editor of the Texas Law Review, and interned for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Tony M. Davis in Austin. She earned her B.A. degree with highest honors from the University of Texas at Austin.