Speakers
Justice Dale Wainwright has impressive accomplishments in his profession and is an outstanding leader in the private and public sectors.
In his profession, Wainwright is the managing partner of the Austin office of the international law firm of Bracewell LLP. He is an appellate lawyer representing clients in complex appeals in state and federal supreme courts and courts of appeals across the nation, and he is among the top 1% of Texas attorneys selected by his peers to be a Texas Super Lawyer.
Justice Wainwright made history when he was elected to the Supreme Court of Texas in 2002, and was the first African American in Texas history to reach the Texas Supreme Court by election, winning contested primary, primary runoff and general elections. He was on the statewide ballot four more times and was successful each time. Upon his return to private practice at Bracewell in 2012, he was, at that time, the third-longest-serving member of the Court. During his ten years of service on the Texas Supreme Court, he authored more than 125 opinions.
Justice Wainwright began his judicial career in 1999 when he was appointed by Governor George W. Bush to preside over the 334th Civil Judicial District Court in Houston, Texas. As judge of the 334th District Court, he resolved over 3,000 cases and presided over more than 100 trials.
Recognizing his legal expertise and experience, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States invited Wainwright to join the board of directors of it legal arm, the Litigation Center. Wainwright now serves on the board of directors of the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, which directs the litigation and amicus involvement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in cases across the country on behalf of its 300,000 members.
In the community, Wainwright has also been a dynamic leader with important accomplishments. By appointment of the Governor in 2015, Wainwright is chairman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. Chairman Wainwright, and his board, oversee the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and manage an annual budget of $3.4 billion and the Department’s 38,000 employees and the 147,000 offenders in 109 state prison units. The Texas Department is recognized nationally for its rehabilitation and reentry programs for offenders who obtain certifications to work in the electrical, plumbing, carpentry, braille and other fields and has partnered with corporations to assist in finding employment for inmates upon their release from confinement. Through its education department, nearly 60,000 offenders received educational training last year. In large part due to the Department’s educational and rehabilitation programs, the Texas prison system has the lowest recidivism rate in the country, and is working to continue to improve its track record in this regard.
Reaching out to help the next generation, Wainwright was a founder of the Aspiring Youth Program, a non-profit foundation that helps at-risk kids to improve their educational achievement, stay in school and make good decisions. Started in Houston in 1992, the Aspiring Youth Foundation grew to become a national charity that operates in thirty-three cities across eleven states. In addition, Justice Wainwright was the recipient of the National Black Prosecutors Association’s Trail Blazer Award in 2006, and the Legal Excellence Award from the NAACP in 2000.
Wainwright was valedictorian of his high school, and was the first African American to achieve that honor. He earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1988 and his bachelor’s degree in economics (summa cum laude) from Howard University in 1983. He also studied economics as the Lucy Dalbiac Luard Scholar at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.Justice Wainwright was raised with parental examples of a healthy work ethic and Christian foundation. He was born in Nashville, Tennessee and raised in nearby Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, a town of about two thousand people. His dad was pastor of the church and worked hourly for DuPont Chemical Company, and his mom taught high school English and French. Justice Wainwright and his family moved to Texas in 1990.
Dale and his wife Debbie have three sons – ages 28, 25 and 18. The older two sons live and work in Austin and Los Angeles, respectively. The youngest son will be a college freshman at Columbia University in the fall and playing football for the Columbia University Lions.