Rusty Hardin

Experience

1. Founding Partner

   Rusty Hardin & Associates, Llp

   Jan 1996 — Present · Houston, TX, US

   Rusty Hardin is the founder and leader of Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP. He served as a prosecutor for many years. Before leaving the Harris County District Attorney’s office in 1990, Rusty was named Texas Prosecutor of the Year in 1989 and was featured in numerous news articles for his trial skills. In 1990, he founded Texas People Against Crime (TPAC), a statewide organization dedicated to addressing criminal justice issues from the perspective of crime victims and law enforcement.Rusty’s practice has been a diverse mix of approximately 85 percent civil trial work and 15 percent criminal trial work. Clients have been as varied as Arthur Andersen in both its civil and criminal cases; ExxonMobil; Rice University; The Venetian Hotel/Las Vegas Sands; the Houston Texans; various trusts and a corporation established by J. Howard Marshall II in a probate trial involving assaults on the J. Howard Marshall II estate by Anna Nicole Smith and J. Howard Marshall Dow Jones in obtaining a new trial in the face of the largest libel verdict in history; and various professional athletes such as Rudy Tomjanovich, Warren Moon, Wade Boggs, Scottie Pippen, Steve Francis, Calvin Murphy, Rafer Alston, and Roger Clemens.Since entering private practice in 1991, Rusty has tried over 70 jury trials, fairly evenly split between civil and criminal cases. Rusty enjoys nothing more than pleading cases before juries. “I love the challenge of trying to persuade a group of strangers to my point of view,” says Rusty. “From my years of experience on both sides of the courtroom, whether prosecuting or defending a client, I have found that juries almost always do the right thing. Even when I disagree, I can see how they got there.”In 2015 Hardin was named a “Trial Ace” by Law360, given a Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement award, named a “Lion of the Texas Bar” by Texas Lawbook, and inducted into both the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Education

• Wesleyan University

  Bachelor's degree

• Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law

  J.D.

Skills

• Arbitration