Former District Court Judge

Dan Hinde served as the Judge of the 269th District Court of Harris County, Texas for over 10 years.  Over that time, he almost 300 cases and resolved over 15,000 cases—from personal-injury, wrongful-death, medical-malpractice, and catastrophic-injury cases, to industrial- and residential-construction cases, employment disputes, trade-secret claims, noncompete litigation, eminent-domain matters, and internal business disputes—and much more.  

After leaving the bench, Judge Hinde returned to private practice, where, on top of representing clients in complex cases, he began mediating and arbitrating civil cases of virtually all types—such as personal and catastrophic injuries, complex commercial matters, construction suits, internal business and partnership disputes, employment and noncompete claims, and trade secret and copyright cases.  He performs both in-person and virtual (Zoom) mediations.  He is a member of several arbitration panels, including the American Arbitration Association, American Health Law Association, Judicial Workforce Arbitrations, and Dispute Solutions, Inc.

Both as a judge and a lawyer, Judge Hinde has served as a leader in a variety of roles.  Currently, he is the Chair of the State Bar’s Pattern Jury Charge—Oversight Committee, responsible for reviewing all changes and additions to the 9 volumes of the Texas Pattern Jury Charges.  While on the bench, he was a Director of the Texas Center for the Judiciary and a frequent speaker at the annual state and regional judicial conferences.  Locally, Judge Hinde was the Chair of the Jury Committee of the Harris County Board of District Judges, which oversees summoning and distributing jurors to 85 trial level courts in Harris County.  Judge Hinde continues to serve on the Supreme Court’s Judicial Committee on Information Technology.  Previously, he served as Chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Federal Practice Section and is a longtime member of the HBA’s Judicial Polls Committee.

Judge Hinde is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, is a member of the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, and holds a Civil Jurisprudence Certificate from the College of Judicial Studies.  He is a member of the American Law Institute, as well as the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Federal Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern, and Eastern Districts of Texas.

Before entering the legal profession, Judge Hinde graduated with High Honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where he served as an Articles Editor for the Texas Law Review.  Before that, Judge Hinde earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, where he graduated magna cum laude.  

Judge Hinde and his wife, Rosanna, are members of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church and are the proud parents of David and Anne.

• Arbitration
• Class Action & Mass Tort
• Construction
• Cyberspace & Privacy
• Employment Law
• Energy & Utilities
• Health Systems
• Insurance
• Intellectual Property
• Mediation
• Personal Injury & Torts
• Real Estate

• The University of Texas School of Law – Austin, Texas

– J.D. with Honors, May 1997
– Articles Editor, TEXAS LAW REVIEW (Volume 75)
– Dean’s Achievement Award: Highest Grade in Property

• Texas A&M University – College Station, Texas

– B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, May 1994
– Buck Weirus Spirit Award for Outstanding Leadership, 1994

CERTIFICATIONS AND AWARDS

• Board Certified—Civil Trial Law (Texas Board of Legal Specialization)
• Member—American Arbitration Association Commercial, Complex, Energy Panels of Arbitrators
• College for Judicial Studies—Civil Jurisprudence (Texas Center for the Judiciary)
• 2013 Outstanding Legal Article Award for “What Law Applies?” (Houston Bar Foundation)

LEADERSHIP

• Chair—Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Oversight Committee, State Bar of Texas (2020-present)
• Director—Texas Center for the Judiciary (2017-2018)
• Co-Chair—Cybersecurity Subcommittee, State Judicial Committee on Info. Tech. (2019-present)
• Chair—Pattern Jury Charge Oversight Subcommittee on Fiduciary Duty (2016-2018)
• Chair—Jury Committee, Harris County Board of District Judges (2017-2018)
• Chair—Technology Committee, Harris County Civil District Courts (2013, 2015-2018)
• Chair—Rules Committee, Harris County Civil District Courts (2013-14)
• Chair—Pretrial Subcommittee, State Bar of Texas Court Rules Committee (2012-13)
• Chair—Houston Bar Association Federal Practice Section (2009-10)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• American Law Institute
• Houston Bar Association
• Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists
• American Bar Association
• College of the State Bar of Texas
• Federal Bar Association
• Texas Bar Fellows
• Aggie Bar Association

BAR ADMISSIONS

• Supreme Court of the United States
• S.D. Tex.; E.D. Tex.; N.D. Tex.
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• State Bar of Texas

JUDICIAL AND LEGAL COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS

• American Law Institute (2020-present)
• Texas Pattern Jury Charges—Oversight Committee, State Bar of Texas (2013-present)
• State Judicial Committee on Information Technology, State of Texas (2014-present)
• Board of Directors, Texas Center for the Judiciary (2017-2018)
• Finance Committee, Texas Center for the Judiciary (2016-17)
• Judicial Resources Committee, Texas Center for the Judiciary (2012-13)
• Court Rules Committee, State Bar of Texas (2007-13)

PUBLICATIONS

• “What’d I Miss? An Update on the Texas Pattern Jury Charges,” 31st Annual Conference on State
  and Federal Appeals, June 10, 2021
• “Special Judges Could Relieve Local Civil Trial Backlog,” Houston Bus. Journal, Apr. 26, 2019
• “The Jury Charge,” Civil Appellate Practice 101, Sept. 2017 (update of conference material)
• “Motions for Continuance,” The Advocate, Fall 2015
• “A Glossary of Common Trial Objections,” The Houston Lawyer, July/Aug. 2013
• “What Law Applies?” The Houston Lawyer, July/Aug. 2012
• “The Use of iPads by Judges,” In Chambers, Fall 2011
• “Conflicts of Privilege,” Pretrial Practice and Discovery, Winter 2006
• Note, “Consensual Sentencing in the Magistrate Court,” 75 TEXAS L. REV. 1161 (1997)

JUDICIAL AND CLE PRESENTATIONS

• “What’d I Miss? An Update on the Texas Pattern Jury Charges,” 31st Annual Conference on State
  and Federal Appeals, June 2021
• “Jury Charges: Perspectives from the Bench and Bar,” HBA Appellate Section, July 2020
• “The Courts’ Role at the Apex of State Power: Public Health Restrictions in the Time of
  Pandemics,” Houston and Austin Chapters of the Federalist Society, April/May 2020
• “Polishing Your Evidence: Technology in the Courtroom,” HBA Bench-Bar Conference, 2019
• “Trying Your Maritime Case in State Court,” 26th Annual Admiralty and Maritime Law
  Conference, Sept. 2017
• “Litigation on the Gulf Coast,” Panel Discussion, Marine and Energy Law Conference, Oct. 2017
• “The Jury Charge,” State Bar of Texas Civil Appellate Practice 101 Seminar, Sept. 2017
• “The Ins and Outs of Early Dismissal,” Texas Regional Judicial Conferences, 2017
• “Effective Voir Dire,” several times over many years
• “Implementing, Enforcing, and Amending Discovery Orders,” 2016 Texas Reg’l Judicial Confs.
• “Objection!” Litigation Section, Houston Bar Association, 2015
• “60 Apps in 60 Minutes,” 2015 HBA Bench-Bar Conference; 2012 Texas Judicial Conference
• “iJudging,” Texas Annual Judicial Conference, 2013; Texas Regional Judicial Conferences, 2012
• “There’s an App for That,” Advanced Civil Trial Course, 2012
• “Service in the Third Branch,” George H.W. Bush School of Public Service, Texas A&M
  University, 2010
• “Interactive Briefs,” DRI Annual Meeting, Oct. 2008
• “Using Treater Depositions to Win the Battle of the Experts,” DRI Drug & Medical Device
  Seminar, May 2007

• HOBBIES AND INTERESTS: Marathons, Aggie football, history, music

• All regions in Texas
• All regions in the U.S.
• Austin
• Basin & Range Province
• Dallas
• Great Plains
• Gulf Coast Plains
• Houston
• North Central Plains
• San Antonio

• English