Bet-the-Company Litigation Commercial Litigation Criminal Defense: White-Collar
*Named the "Lawyer of the Year" in this practice area in the 2026 edition in Houston.
Rusty Hardin, Jr.
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2016 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Acclaimed Texas trial lawyer Rusty Hardin is the founder and name partner of Houston’s Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP, accomplished in both complex civil matters and significant criminal cases. Mr. Hardin has more than 40 years of litigation experience, beginning his career as an assistant prosecutor in Houston’s Harris County in 1975.
Since entering private practice in 1991, Mr. Hardin has tried over 70 jury trials, fairly evenly split between civil and criminal cases. His clients have been as varied as Arthur Andersen in both civil and criminal cases; Dow Jones, for whom the firm won a new trial in the face of the largest libel verdict in history; the J. Howard Marshall II estate in the nationally followed probate trial involving claims made by Anna Nicole Smith; ExxonMobil Corp.; Rice University; Las Vegas Sands; and a lengthy roster of professional athletes that includes Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Warren Moon, Rudy Tomjanovich, Calvin Murphy and Adrian Peterson.
Mr. Hardin also has a lengthy track record of independent investigations involving highly sensitive matters. He served as chief trial counsel for Independent Counsel Robert Fiske and his successor Kenneth Starr in the Whitewater investigation. And more recently, he led a politically fraught investigation into the actions of a University of Texas System Regent for a Texas legislative committee.
Mr. Hardin has earned many accolades over the years, earning a place on The National Law Journal’s list of The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America in 2013 and profiled as a “Trial Ace” by Law360 in 2015. He was named one of the "25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter-Century" by Texas Lawyer in 2010. He has been selected a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and inducted into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Since 2009, Hardin has served on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee.
A native of North Carolina, Hardin received his undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Overview
- Southern Methodist University, J.D., graduated 1975
- Wesleyan University, B.S., graduated 1965
- Texas, State Bar of Texas
- Order of Centurions, 100+ Jury Trials, Litigation Counsel of America - Member
- American Board of Trial Advocates (AOBTA) - Member
- American College of Trial Lawyers - Fellow
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers - Fellow
- Litigation Counsel of America - Senior Fellow
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving - Member, Advisory Board
- Texas Bar Foundation - Fellow
- Texas People Against Crime - Founder
- Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee - Member (2009-present)
- Yellowstone Academy - Member, Advisory Board
- United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
- United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- Texas, State Bar of Texas
- Order of Centurions, 100+ Jury Trials, Litigation Counsel of America - Member
- American Board of Trial Advocates (AOBTA) - Member
- American College of Trial Lawyers - Fellow
- International Academy of Trial Lawyers - Fellow
- Litigation Counsel of America - Senior Fellow
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving - Member, Advisory Board
- Texas Bar Foundation - Fellow
- Texas People Against Crime - Founder
- Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee - Member (2009-present)
- Yellowstone Academy - Member, Advisory Board
- Southern Methodist University, J.D., graduated 1975
- Wesleyan University, B.S., graduated 1965
- United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
- United States District Court for the District of Columbia
- United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
- United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
- Bet-the-Company Litigation, Houston (2026)
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Houston (2019)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Bet-the-Company Litigation
- Commercial Litigation
- Criminal Defense: White-Collar
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Oil and Gas Law
Awards:
Best Lawyers, rated in Commercial and Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2016-2025
Benchmark Litigation Star, 2013-2022, 2024
Recipient, Texas Bar Foundation, Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award, 2024
Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2023-2024
Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers, 2022-2024
Named to Chambers Global Guide - Band 1 in USA Litigation: Trial Lawyers, 2024
Paul Stallings Civility and Ethics Award from the Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (TEX-ABOTA), 2023
Named to the Lawdragon Hall of Fame Class of 2023
Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, 2021-2023
Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2003-2023
Top 100 Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2003-2009, 2011, 2018, 2020-2023
Top 100 Houston Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2003-2011, 2016-2023
Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year Houston area Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2019
Named a “Lion of the Texas Bar” by Texas Lawbook, 2015
Named a “Trial Ace” by Law360, 2015
Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement award, 2015
Named one of “The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America,” National Law Journal, 2013
Recipient, Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, Lifetime Excellence in Advocacy Award, 2013
Ranked nationwide by Chambers USA in Litigation: Trial Lawyers
Ranked by Chambers USA among top Texas lawyers in both General Commercial Litigation and White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations
Top 100 Houston Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2003-2011, 2016-2025
Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell
Lifetime Achievement Membership among America’s Top 100 Attorneys
"Prosecutor of the Year," State Bar of Texas, 1989
"Go-To Lawyer" for Civil Defense Litigation, Texas Lawyer, 2002
"Attorney to Hire When You’re in Trouble," Houston Chronicle, 2003
"Houston’s Top Lawyers," H Texas magazine, 2006
"Go-To Lawyer" for Commercial Litigation, Texas Lawyer, 2007
Top 10 Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2003-2007
Named one of "The 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter-Century," Texas Lawyer, 2010
Recipient, Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, Lifetime Excellence in Advocacy Award, 2013
Named one of "The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America," National Law Journal, 2013
Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement award, 2015
Named a "Trial Ace" by Law360, 2015
Named a "Lion of the Texas Bar" by Texas Lawbook, 2015
Best Lawyers – Lawyer of the Year Houston area Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2019
News & Media
Case History
Cases
- Investigation of University of Texas System Regent
Led high-profile investigation of University of Texas System Regent on behalf of the Texas House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operation. The probe, initiated because of Regent Wallace Hall’s lengthy personal investigations of the UT administration, found four possible grounds for impeaching him. In the end, the House Select Committee censured Hall for misconduct, incompetence or behavior unbefitting the holder of a state office.
- Criminal defense of Roger Clemens
Represented major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens in winning an acquittal at the end of a two-month federal trial in Washington in which Clemens was charged with perjury, obstruction of Congress and making false statements. The charges stemmed from accusations of steroid use by Clemens’ former trainer.
- Defense of New York Yankee Wade Boggs in civil suit for alleged verbal assault
Won jury verdict in 4 minutes clearing famed baseball star in civil assault suit by a flight attendant seeking damages for her claim that Boggs verbally abused her on a charter flight. Mr. Hardin's defense showed that the woman escalated the situation with her own verbal shots.
- Defense of Arthur Andersen accounting firm in criminal and civil cases arising from Enron scandal
Represented accounting firm Arthur Andersen in criminal fraud trial, securities class actions and numerous civil suits as part of the multidistrict litigation based in Houston and related to the financial collapse of Enron Corp.
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