DALLAS – In recognition of his “lasting imprint on the Texas Legal community,” Shackelford, McKinley & Norton trial partner David Elrod has been selected as a 2024 recipient of the Texas Legal Awards’ Lifetime Achievement honor.
Presented by Texas Lawyer, the Texas Legal Awards honors “trailblazing attorneys who have left an indelible mark” on the legal landscape of Texas, shaping the law while also achieving extraordinary outcomes for their clients.
“This a well-deserved honor. David is among the most tenacious, but unassuming trial attorneys I have known in my career,” said firm founder John Shackelford. “He has an innate ability to see what others may miss, and as a result he is the one that businesses continue to actively seek out for their most important litigation.”
In a state whose economy is built upon the framework of the oil and gas industry, Mr. Elrod has been a stalwart litigator in the energy business for more than 45 years, successfully representing Fortune 100 companies as well as individuals in complex commercial, business and bet-the-company cases.
He has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for his plaintiff clients through verdicts and settlements while also protecting his defense clients from substantial economic exposure.
Not only has he been a leader in the courtroom, he also is a proven firm leader. Launching his career at an AmLaw 100 firm, he opened Elrod PLLC in 2000. The firm quickly grew into one of the state’s preeminent energy law-facing boutiques before merging with another Dallas litigation firm. He joined Shackelford, McKinley & Norton in 2017.
His work has consistently been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America, Texas Super Lawyers, D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas and Lawdragon. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Mr. Elrod will be honored during the Oct. 15 Texas Legal Awards at the Arts District Mansion in Dallas. For more information on the Texas Legal Awards’ Lifetime Achievement honors, visit Texas Legal Awards: Q&As With Lifetime Achievement Winners | Texas Lawyer.
