Kelly Hollingsworth

Senior Associate Attorney

“I got into family law the very first time when a former business litigation client came to me saying he was dissatisfied with the selection of family lawyers he had been interviewing.   

I learned then that there was a place in the Dallas/Fort Worth family law market for lawyers with ‘big firm’ skills and credentials.  I stayed in family law – and have now dedicated my practice to it exclusively – for the very same reason I went to law school; I wanted to make a difference in peoples’ lives when they were facing adversity.”​

Kelly received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1990, where he earned distinction in the study of finance, and was a faculty appointee to the Student Leadership Council, all while working full time throughout.  Kelly earned his law degree in 1995 from Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, during which he won outstanding brief in advanced moot court, was on the Dean’s List, and earned top honors in the study of advanced labor law.  Following law school, Kelly clerked for United States Magistrate Judge William F. Sanderson, Jr., in the Dallas Division of the Northern District of Texas.  Prior to joining the Beal Law Firm, Kelly was a partner at Godwin Gruber, LLP and Glast, Phillips & Murray, LLP., both in Dallas, and founded and operated his own firm. Just following his clerkship, Kelly was an associate with Haynes & Boone, LLP, and a Senior Associate at the Dallas office of Bickel & Brewer, a national litigation boutique.

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Kelly is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is licensed to practice in all the federal and state courts in Texas.  He is also licensed to practice before Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.

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Twenty-three years of trial practice across the State of Texas (from Marshall to Muleshoe and Laredo to Lipscomb, in addition to years in the Dallas/Fort Worth area) have convinced Kelly that the fundamentals are critical, no matter the population of the venue or the size of your case: know the facts of your case and know every conceivable legal standard that could control those facts.

EDUCATION

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW

Degree:  Juris Doctor – May, 1995

Honors and Activities:

Top Paper – Advance Labor Law Seminar

Dean’s Scholar and Dean’s List

Outstanding Oralist – 1993 Moot Court

Top Ten Briefs – 1994 Moot Court

Wagner Labor Law Moot Court Team

Business Counseling Clinic

TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

Degree:  Bachelor of Science, 1990

Major: Political Science

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Laney & Bollinger, L.L.P. – Plainview, Texas, 2014-2018 - Partner                            

Family, criminal defense, personal injury, and business litigation practice

K. Hollingsworth & Assoc., P.C. – Dallas, Texas, 2003-2004; 2011-2014

Diverse litigation and appellate practice in business, personal injury, and family law

Glast Phillips & Murray, P.C. – Dallas, 2004-2010 - Member                                                 

Numerous business and family law jury and bench trials and appellate work

Godwin Gruber, L.L.P. – Dallas, 2000-2003 - Partner                                                             

Commercial litigation and family law

Bickel & Brewer – Dallas, Texas, 1998-2000 - Senior Associate                                                        

Commercial litigation: class action defense, and multi-jurisdiction litigation

Haynes and Boone, L.L.P. – Dallas, Texas, 1996-1997 – Associate

Business Litigation

Honorable William F. Sanderson, Jr. - 1995-1996 - Law Clerk                                                             

Law Clerk to United States Magistrate Judge in Northern District of Texas

MEMBERSHIPS

Family Law Section of the State Bar of Texas

State Bar of Texas

South Plains Trial Lawyers Association

PUBLICATIONS

Uber Unfair Competition in the Taxi Industry, Global Competition Review, May 20, 2014

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Guest Lecturer in Business Law – Wayland Baptist University

REPORTED CASES

Exchequer Financial Group, Inc. v. Stratum Development, Inc., 239 S.W.3d 899 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2007, no pet.) 

In Re: Adolfo Giovanni Tieri, 283 S.W.3d 889 (Tex.App.—Tyler 2008, orig. proceeding) 

Dallas/Fort Worth Int’l Airport Bd. v. Ass’n of Taxicab Operators, USA, 335 S.W.3d 361 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2010, no petition)

Dallas/Fort Worth Int’l Airport Bd. v. Ass’n of Taxicab Operators, USA, Cause No. 05-12-00777-CV

Ass’n of Taxicab Operators, USA v. City of Dallas, 720 F.3d 534 (5th Cir. 2013)

Leighton v. Rebeles, 343 S.W.3d 270 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2011, no petition)

Leighton v. Rebeles, 399 S.W.3d 721 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2013, no petition)

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COMMUNITY

Director – Crisis Center for the Plains

Director – Amherst Christian Retreat Center