Kyle Poelker is a trial lawyer who handles commercial, employment, and personal injury disputes for both plaintiffs and defendants. As lead counsel, he has won on both sides of the “v” in state and federal court. Kyle is based in AZA’s Dallas and Houston offices, and is the Head of Commercial Litigation in Dallas.

Kyle’s cases have covered many areas, including healthcare, energy, banking, secured lending, trade secrets, employment discrimination, executive employment, and personal injury matters.  Kyle also maintains a healthy executive employment practice, where he counsels both executives and companies on employment-related matters such as executive separation and employment agreement negotiation and drafting. Kyle is also actively involved in AZA’s class action litigation, representing plaintiff classes against health care providers in data privacy cases around the country.

In 2025, Kyle defended Cornerstone Capital Bank against a $140 million demand from a former employee who was terminated for improperly seeking reimbursements and retaining confidential information. After obtaining a temporary restraining order and an agreed temporary injunction against him, the former employee capitulated, taking nothing on his demand after jury selection. AZA Wins $140 Million Victory for Houston Bank.

In 2024, Kyle secured Harris County’s largest jury verdict for a commercial case: $25.9 Million—every penny that AZA asked the jury to award during closing argument. AZA Won Largest 2024 Harris County Jury Verdict in Commercial Litigation . Later that year, as lead trial counsel, Kyle won a total defense victory for former directors of a commercial condominium association against an association member seeking millions in attorneys’ fees and ongoing assessment payments. AZA Wins Take-Nothing Judgment from Jury for Ex-Directors of Chinatown Plaza.

Peer-reviewed and other organizations recognize Kyle for his practice. He was named on Texas Rising Stars lists from 2021-2026 for his excellence in business litigation. Recently, Kyle was also recognized as a Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers for 2026 for his work in financial services litigation.

Prior to joining AZA, Kyle practiced at a boutique litigation firm in Washington, DC, and was an Assistant Attorney General in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Kyle is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and Georgetown University, cum laude.

EDUCATION

• University of Chicago Law School, J.D
  • Hinton Moot Court Competition
  • Research Assistant to Professor Thomas Miles
• Georgetown University, B.A., cum laude

ADMISSIONS

• Texas
• Missouri
• Illinois
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

REPRESENTATIVE RESULTS

• In 2026, representing a Dallas-based family office, obtained relief from an improper lock-up agreement that allowed client to sell and transfer shares in a company who had recently IPO’d.
• After jury selection in September 2025, a former executive of AZA client Cornerstone Capital Bank capitulated and agreed to take nothing on his $140 million demand for payment of frivolous discrimination claims.
• In December 2025, Kyle secured a favorable settlement on behalf of thousands of patients to continue to protect the privacy of thousands of patients at one of the largest health systems in St. Louis, Missouri.
• In August 2025, Kyle secured class certification for thousands of patients whose protected health information was illegally shared by their hospital system. That case will proceed to trial in October 2026. (Jane Doe et. al. v. Mosaic Health System)
• In September 2024, Kyle won a four-week jury trial in a complex breach of contract case against HCA Healthcare, a Fortune 100 company, securing over $37 Million in damages, interest, and fees for a group of surgeons within the Fondren Orthopedic Group. AZA’s victory was the largest jury verdict in a commercial case in Harris County in 2024. (Fondren v. HCA)
• In 2023, Kyle achieved a defense victory for a fuel supplier in a one-week trial where the plaintiff alleged AZA’s client owed millions of dollars for breaching multiple purchase contracts. (Trafigura v. Texas Fueling Systems)
• In December 2024, as lead trial counsel, Kyle won a take nothing verdict against for the former directors of large plaza in Houston’s Chinatown, having previously prevailed on legal issues on appeal.
• In October 2024, won an $81 million summary judgment that included declaratory relief in a secured-lending dispute on behalf of a secured creditor (Virage SPV 1 LLC v. F. Kenneth Bailey Jr., P.C.)
• In August 2023, on the eve of trial and after obtaining favorable rulings at pretrial, resolved a partnership dispute relating to memory care facilities helping his client obtain a favorable settlement.
• In August 2022, obtained a temporary injunction after a three-day evidentiary hearing preventing the hostile takeover of a commercial HOA, restoring its elected leadership and preventing the attempted coup by hostile members.
• In 2018, obtained a $30 million judgment for an international terminal company related to the construction of a subsea pipeline in the Caribbean. (NuStar Terminals, N.V. v. REDS Caribbean Limited et al.)
• Successfully defended international chemical company following a Harris County refinery chemical release, by achieving complete dismissal of catastrophic injury claims asserted by over fifty workers, on statutory immunity grounds.  (In Re MDL July 27 Chemical Release)

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Texas Rising Star honors as presented by Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters Business,  2021-2026
• Texas Bar Foundation Fellow
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2026
• 2020-2021 Houston Young Lawyers Association Leadership Academy
• Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, 2021-2026

IN THE NEWS

• Four AZA Lawyers Named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers List
• Over Half of the AZA Firm Named on Super Lawyers and Rising Stars 2026 Lists
• Twenty-Four AZA Lawyers Named 2025 Texas Super Lawyers & Rising Stars
• AZA Wins $140 Million Victory for Houston Bank
• Fourteen AZA Lawyers Named 2026 Lawdragon Leading Litigators
• AZA Won Largest 2024 Harris County Jury Verdict in Commercial Litigation
• AZA Wins Class Action Certification Victory Against Hospital System Sharing Patient Information
• AZA Wins Take-Nothing Judgment from Jury for Ex-Directors of Chinatown Plaza
• AZA Names Bai, Poelker and Turkevich as New Partners
• AZA Wins $25.6 Million Jury Verdict for Healthcare Client 
• AZA Wins Three Trials in Just Two Weeks in May 
• AZA Wins Take-Nothing Judgment for Fuel Company
• Thirteen AZA Attorneys Earn Texas Rising Stars Honor
• Court Halts Hostile Takeover of Condominium Association in Houston’s Chinatown
• Ten AZA Lawyers on Texas Rising Stars List for 2022
• Eleven AZA Lawyers Make the 2021 Texas Rising Stars List  
• AZA Health Care Client Sees Administrative Judge’s Order Overturned 
• Three More AZA Lawyers Elected Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation