Kelsi Stayart White focuses on dispositive motions and appeals in state and federal court in all areas of commercial litigation. Before her focus on appellate work, Kelsi first gained substantial trial experience, including trying multiple commercial cases to juries and the bench in both state and federal court, handling an international arbitration, and seeking and defending temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions. Because of that experience, she brings a trial lawyer’s practical perspective and communication skills to high-stakes motions and appellate briefs. Kelsi also supports AZA’s trial teams in presenting critical legal issues to judges and handling appellate issues at trial, including in AZA’s recent $22 million federal jury trial win on behalf of the Port of Houston Authority in March 2022.
As a recent example of her appellate success, Kelsi won an argument to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Melinda Abbt v. City of Houston in 2022, in which the Fifth Circuit issued two new precedents in reversing a summary judgment on a hostile work environment claim for Kelsi’s female firefighter client.
Kelsi was named to the 2021 and 2022 lists of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for commercial litigation. This is a national peer review award developed by Best Lawyers in America to target associates for their outstanding professional excellence early in their careers. She was also named on the 2022 Texas Rising Stars list for her excellence in plaintiff civil litigation. Rising Stars, which is compiled by Thomson Reuters’ Texas Super Lawyers, honors leading attorneys age 40 and younger and those who have been in practice no more than 10 years.
Kelsi is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. She served as a law clerk for Judge Leslie H. Southwick, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During law school she served as associate editor of the Texas Law Review, and interned for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Tony M. Davis in Austin. She graduated with highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Texas at Austin. Kelsi is a Council Member for the Federal Practice Section of the HBA and is also actively involved in the Appellate Practice Section. She attends St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and is the proud mother of two toddlers.
Kelsi Stayart White focuses on dispositive motions and appeals in state and federal court in all areas of commercial litigation. Before her focus on appellate work, Kelsi first gained substantial trial experience, including trying multiple commercial cases to juries and the bench in both state and federal court, handling an international arbitration, and seeking and defending temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions. Because of that experience, she brings a trial lawyer’s practical perspective and communication skills to high-stakes motions and appellate briefs. Kelsi also supports AZA’s trial teams in presenting critical legal issues to judges and handling appellate issues at trial, including in AZA’s recent $22 million federal jury trial win on behalf of the Port of Houston Authority in March 2022.
As a recent example of her appellate success, Kelsi won an argument to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Melinda Abbt v. City of Houston in 2022, in which the Fifth Circuit issued two new precedents in reversing a summary judgment on a hostile work environment claim for Kelsi’s female firefighter client.
Kelsi was named to the 2021 and 2022 lists of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for commercial litigation. This is a national peer review award developed by Best Lawyers in America to target associates for their outstanding professional excellence early in their careers. She was also named on the 2022 Texas Rising Stars list for her excellence in plaintiff civil litigation. Rising Stars, which is compiled by Thomson Reuters’ Texas Super Lawyers, honors leading attorneys age 40 and younger and those who have been in practice no more than 10 years.
Kelsi is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. She served as a law clerk for Judge Leslie H. Southwick, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. During law school she served as associate editor of the Texas Law Review, and interned for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Tony M. Davis in Austin. She graduated with highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Texas at Austin. Kelsi is a Council Member for the Federal Practice Section of the HBA and is also actively involved in the Appellate Practice Section. She attends St. Martin’s Episcopal Church and is the proud mother of two toddlers.
REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS
- Successfully defended on appeal and defeated review at the Texas Supreme Court of the denial of an anti-SLAPP motion filed on the eve of trial and obtained affirmance of sanctions award against the movant. Patriot Contracting, LLC v. Mid-Main Properties, LP, No. 14-20-00724-CV, 2022 WL 1251236 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Apr. 28, 2022, no pet. h.). Read more about the win here: https://azalaw.com/aza-beats-frivolous-anti-slapp-appeal-in-construction-case/
- Obtained affirmance of the denial of a special appearance in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals. Marquette Transportation Company, LLC, et al. v. Simon, No. 14-21-00729-CV (Dec. 13, 2022).
- Secured the reversal of a district court order that had affirmed federal agency’s FOIA determination that information about client’s accounting methodology was subject to disclosure under FOIA. Ryan LLC v. Dep’t of the Interior, No. 22-10373 (Nov. 28, 2022).
- Handled multiple Fifth Circuit appeals as lead counsel, including presenting oral arguments in 2019 and twice in 2022, in cases involving a secured lending jury trial, FOIA, federal statutory claims, and employment matters.
- Secured reversal of summary-judgment order on Title VII harassment claim as lead counsel for all briefing and oral argument before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Abbt v. City of Houston, No. 20-20085 (Mar. 11, 2022).
- Caused a wrongful death lawsuit against AZA client to be completely abandoned by plaintiff after seeing our summary judgment motion. Rather than respond, the plaintiff simply dropped the lawsuit.
- Obtained significant final arbitration award for a commodities trading company in a commercial supply contract dispute in 2020. In January 2020, Kelsi won an emergency arbitration order requiring the counterparty to continue performing the contract. Kelsi and her AZA colleague Nathan Campbell handled case development, discovery, the final evidentiary hearing, and post-hearing briefing.
- Obtained a temporary injunction against two former employees in a trade-secret misappropriation case on behalf of large drilling contractor in 2021 after a two-day evidentiary hearing and previously securing a temporary restraining order.
- Secured a six-figure award of attorneys’ fees in a bench trial in Texas state court in February 2019.
- Defended popular Houston restaurant Turkey Leg Hut in a nuisance lawsuit in 2019. Just days after being hired, Kelsi and the AZA team won a modification to a previously entered temporary restraining order, which lifted burdensome restrictions on the restaurant’s operations. Two weeks later, the plaintiffs dismissed the lawsuit.
- Served as second-chair in a federal jury trial for a plaintiff secured creditor in a UCC dispute in 2018.
EDUCATION
- University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with highest honors, May 2015
- Chancellors Society
- Order of the Coif
- Associate Editor – Texas Law Review
- Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
- American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence Awards
- Dean’s Achievement Awards – Outstanding Student in Constitutional Law I
- University of Texas at Austin, B.A., with highest honors, December 2011
- Phi Beta Kappa
BAR ADMISSIONS
- State Bar of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
HONORS AND AWARDS
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, 2021-2023
- Texas Rising Stars, 2022
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
- Author of the Fifth Circuit Update for the HBA’s Appellate Lawyer Newsletter
- Moderator/Organizer, Show Down at the Show Cause Corral: Navigating a Civil Contempt Hearing and Avoiding an Ambush, HBA Federal Practice Section (Feb. 16, 2022)
- Litigating Non-Competes on Both Sides of the “V”, Texas State Bar, Business Disputes (Sept. 2022)
- Error Resuscitation and Resurrection, UT School of Law, 32nd Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals (June 2022)
- Experts & Disqualifications, 43rd Annual University of Texas Page Keeton Conference, presented with U.S. District Judge Jeff Brown, Nov. 22, 2019
- Non-Compete Agreements: Leveling Up Trial Techniques and Litigation Strategies, webinar, Knowledge Group CLE , Nov. 20, 2019
- SLAPP Your Opponents: What Employment Lawyers Need to Know about the Anti-SLAPP Law, State Bar of Texas Webcast, Oct. 2, 2018
- Witness Credibility in Trials and Depositions, In-House Summit in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 20, 2018
- How to Try a Trade Secret Case in a Post-M.I. Swaco World, before the Houston Bar Association Litigation Section, Sept. 5, 2018
- Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher & Kelsi Stayart White, Litigating Non-Compete and Trade Secret Cases, white paper for American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, 11th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2017, Washington, D.C.
- Jay Lawrence Westbrook & Kelsi Stayart White, The Demystification of Contracts in Bankruptcy, 91 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 481, Issue 3 (Summer 2017)
IN THE NEWS
- Thirteen AZA Attorneys Earn Texas Rising Stars Honor
- AZA Wins Appeal to Keep Injured Client’s Case in Texas
- Seven Young AZA Lawyers Ranked among Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2023
- AZA Represents Ben & Jerry’s in International Lawsuit Against British-based Parent Company
- AZA Beats Frivolous Anti-SLAPP Appeal in Construction Case
- Ten AZA Lawyers on Texas Rising Stars List for 2022
- AZA Expands Sexual Harassment Protection in Major Appellate Win against City of Houston
- Twelve Young AZA Lawyers Ranked among Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2022
- Eleven AZA Associates Make US List of ‘Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch’ for 2021
- AZA Gets Turkey Leg Hut Restaurant Lawsuit Dissolved in Two Weeks
- AZA Associates Win Take-Nothing Judgment Plus Legal Fees in Settlement Funding Dispute
- Second-Year AZA Lawyers Win Complex Federal Lending Jury Verdict
- New AZA Attorneys
- Successfully defended on appeal and defeated review at the Texas Supreme Court of the denial of an anti-SLAPP motion filed on the eve of trial and obtained affirmance of sanctions award against the movant. Patriot Contracting, LLC v. Mid-Main Properties, LP, No. 14-20-00724-CV, 2022 WL 1251236 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Apr. 28, 2022, no pet. h.). Read more about the win here: https://azalaw.com/aza-beats-frivolous-anti-slapp-appeal-in-construction-case/
- Obtained affirmance of the denial of a special appearance in the Fourteenth Court of Appeals. Marquette Transportation Company, LLC, et al. v. Simon, No. 14-21-00729-CV (Dec. 13, 2022).
- Secured the reversal of a district court order that had affirmed federal agency’s FOIA determination that information about client’s accounting methodology was subject to disclosure under FOIA. Ryan LLC v. Dep’t of the Interior, No. 22-10373 (Nov. 28, 2022).
- Handled multiple Fifth Circuit appeals as lead counsel, including presenting oral arguments in 2019 and twice in 2022, in cases involving a secured lending jury trial, FOIA, federal statutory claims, and employment matters.
- Secured reversal of summary-judgment order on Title VII harassment claim as lead counsel for all briefing and oral argument before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Abbt v. City of Houston, No. 20-20085 (Mar. 11, 2022).
- Caused a wrongful death lawsuit against AZA client to be completely abandoned by plaintiff after seeing our summary judgment motion. Rather than respond, the plaintiff simply dropped the lawsuit.
- Obtained significant final arbitration award for a commodities trading company in a commercial supply contract dispute in 2020. In January 2020, Kelsi won an emergency arbitration order requiring the counterparty to continue performing the contract. Kelsi and her AZA colleague Nathan Campbell handled case development, discovery, the final evidentiary hearing, and post-hearing briefing.
- Obtained a temporary injunction against two former employees in a trade-secret misappropriation case on behalf of large drilling contractor in 2021 after a two-day evidentiary hearing and previously securing a temporary restraining order.
- Secured a six-figure award of attorneys’ fees in a bench trial in Texas state court in February 2019.
- Defended popular Houston restaurant Turkey Leg Hut in a nuisance lawsuit in 2019. Just days after being hired, Kelsi and the AZA team won a modification to a previously entered temporary restraining order, which lifted burdensome restrictions on the restaurant’s operations. Two weeks later, the plaintiffs dismissed the lawsuit.
- Served as second-chair in a federal jury trial for a plaintiff secured creditor in a UCC dispute in 2018.
- University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with highest honors, May 2015
- Chancellors Society
- Order of the Coif
- Associate Editor – Texas Law Review
- Duberstein Bankruptcy Moot Court Competition
- American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence Awards
- Dean’s Achievement Awards – Outstanding Student in Constitutional Law I
- University of Texas at Austin, B.A., with highest honors, December 2011
- Phi Beta Kappa
- State Bar of Texas
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, 2021-2023
- Texas Rising Stars, 2022
- Author of the Fifth Circuit Update for the HBA’s Appellate Lawyer Newsletter
- Moderator/Organizer, Show Down at the Show Cause Corral: Navigating a Civil Contempt Hearing and Avoiding an Ambush, HBA Federal Practice Section (Feb. 16, 2022)
- Litigating Non-Competes on Both Sides of the “V”, Texas State Bar, Business Disputes (Sept. 2022)
- Error Resuscitation and Resurrection, UT School of Law, 32nd Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals (June 2022)
- Experts & Disqualifications, 43rd Annual University of Texas Page Keeton Conference, presented with U.S. District Judge Jeff Brown, Nov. 22, 2019
- Non-Compete Agreements: Leveling Up Trial Techniques and Litigation Strategies, webinar, Knowledge Group CLE , Nov. 20, 2019
- SLAPP Your Opponents: What Employment Lawyers Need to Know about the Anti-SLAPP Law, State Bar of Texas Webcast, Oct. 2, 2018
- Witness Credibility in Trials and Depositions, In-House Summit in Dallas, Texas on Sept. 20, 2018
- How to Try a Trade Secret Case in a Post-M.I. Swaco World, before the Houston Bar Association Litigation Section, Sept. 5, 2018
- Elizabeth Pannill Fletcher & Kelsi Stayart White, Litigating Non-Compete and Trade Secret Cases, white paper for American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law, 11th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference, November 2017, Washington, D.C.
- Jay Lawrence Westbrook & Kelsi Stayart White, The Demystification of Contracts in Bankruptcy, 91 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 481, Issue 3 (Summer 2017)
- Thirteen AZA Attorneys Earn Texas Rising Stars Honor
- AZA Wins Appeal to Keep Injured Client’s Case in Texas
- Seven Young AZA Lawyers Ranked among Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2023
- AZA Represents Ben & Jerry’s in International Lawsuit Against British-based Parent Company
- AZA Beats Frivolous Anti-SLAPP Appeal in Construction Case
- Ten AZA Lawyers on Texas Rising Stars List for 2022
- AZA Expands Sexual Harassment Protection in Major Appellate Win against City of Houston
- Twelve Young AZA Lawyers Ranked among Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for 2022
- Eleven AZA Associates Make US List of ‘Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch’ for 2021
- AZA Gets Turkey Leg Hut Restaurant Lawsuit Dissolved in Two Weeks
- AZA Associates Win Take-Nothing Judgment Plus Legal Fees in Settlement Funding Dispute
- Second-Year AZA Lawyers Win Complex Federal Lending Jury Verdict
- New AZA Attorneys
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