Bill Pedersen, III

Bill Pedersen, III

Partner
214.550.3751

Bill Pedersen, III, is a Partner at Carter Arnett. Prior to joining the firm, Bill was elected and served as a Justice of Texas’ Fifth District Court of Appeals from 2019-2024 handling appellate matters arising from trial courts in Dallas, Collin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties. He authored approximately 400 opinions and was appointed by the Chief Justice of Texas to serve on a Special Court of Review. He also volunteered to serve as a trial judge, presiding over jury trials, contested hearings, and routine case dispositions.

Bill has served as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney in Collin County, Texas including as the Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit of the Family Justice Division, trying sixty jury trials to verdict. After serving as an Assistant Criminal District Attorney for approximately 28 months, Bill entered private practice, founding his own firm where he represented individuals, businesses, and corporate entities in civil, commercial, and criminal litigation in state and federal courts throughout Texas. Bill has appeared in a variety of state and federal courts and has tried approximately 100 civil and criminal cases to a jury.

Bill has spoken to numerous organizations and meetings of Texas lawyers about Texas law and the practice of law. He has spoken to the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, the Collin County Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, and the Advanced Family Law Conference.

Honors and Distinctions

  • Recognized “Top Young Lawyer in Texas,” Texas Monthly, 2010
  • DBA Presidential Citation, 2018

Professional Associations and Community Involvement:

  • Dallas Bar Association
    – Member
    – Vice-Chair of Ethics, Criminal Justice Committee, and Golf Tournament Committees
  • Collin County Bar Association
  • Mac Taylor Inn of Court, Master of the Bench
  • Founder, North Texas Criminal Law Inn of Court, Master of the Bench

Published Works & Speaking Engagements

  • Co-author, University of North Texas College of Law’s Accessible Law Review, Spring 2024, “Why Don’t You Run for Office: What You Need to Know About the Law Governing Getting Elected” with Louis A. Bedford, IV
  • Speaker and co-author, Advanced Family Law 2024, “Attorneys as Experts: Mixed Questions of Law & Fact,” with Paul Leopold
  • Speaker, DBA Judiciary Committee panel discussion, October 2023, “War Stories, Emerging Trends, and Practice Pointers form the Bench”
  • Speaker, DBA Ethics Committee presentation, October 2023, “Ethics in Appellate Advocacy,” with Anne Johnson and Chad Ruback
  • Speaker, Family Law 101 2023, Judges panel, “Bad Objections and Attorney’s Failure to Get Their Evidence In: You Can’t Handle the Truth.”
  • Speaker and co-author, Advanced Family Law 2022, The View from up here: Two Justices (One Family Law Specialist) Share Their Wisdom on Appellate Law Matters,” with Justice Dennise Garcia
  • Speaker, Judges Panel, October 2021, Criminal Practice Seminar
  • Speaker, 2017 Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference, “Dealing with Difficult Clients,” with Robert Tobey and Nathan Johnson
  • Speaker, DBA Ethics committee luncheon, “Dealing with Difficult Clients,” with Robert Tobey and Nathan Johnson

Practice Areas

  • Appeals
  • Business Litigation
  • Civil Rights Litigation
  • Complex Commercial Litigation
  • Employment Litigation
  • Governmental Liability

Education

  • Baylor University School of Law, 2001, Waco, Texas
    Juris Doctor, Order of the Barristers, Practice Court Student Assistant
  • Texas Tech University, 1998, Dallas, Texas, Dean’s List Fall 1996
    Bachelor of Arts in History
    Minors in Spanish and Philosophy

Admissions

  • Texas, 2001
  • U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, 2005
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, 2005
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2010