Cody is an incisive writer and advocate, deploying skills earned over years of government service and litigation practice. Cody is passionate about arguing the law, but he is also adept in matters of factual development and strategy. He loves working out solutions to puzzles, whether in settling a case, closing a transaction, or briefing a complex legal issue. Since his first moot court argument, Cody has known that litigation and appellate advocacy were his vocation. Whether drafting key motions or presenting argument, he strives to put every client's best case forward.
Cody’s legal career started in Tyler, Texas, where he served as an inaugural law clerk to newly appointed United States District Judge J. Campbell Barker. Cody and the rest of Judge Barker’s team created their new chambers from the ground up, learning and working together to prepare for all manner of cases and proceedings. As part of that work, Judge Barker’s team cleared a backlog of nearly 300 cases from the Eastern District’s docket. At the Tenth Circuit, Cody clerked for Judge Joel M. Carson III, honing his research, analysis, and writing skills while making recommendations for the disposition of various matters before the court, preparing Judge Carson for oral argument, and drafting orders and opinions.
During his time as a Coleman Fellow in the Texas Solicitor General’s office, Cody represented the State and its agencies and employees before state and federal appellate courts, oversaw trial litigation teams, and advised the Attorney General’s senior staff on matters of policy and strategy. Cody managed a docket of intermediate appellate court matters, conducted briefing at the petition stage in the Texas Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, and participated in merits briefing in those Courts. Cody has also argued in Texas state appellate courts. Through his civil service, Cody has expertise in areas such as appeals, original proceedings, federal and Texas procedure and constitutional and civil liberties issues.
In his commercial litigation practice at an Austin-based boutique, Cody has gained substantive experience litigating and mediating matters involving real estate; breaches of contract and related issues; partnership and other intra-business disputes; labor-law suits, including discrimination, harassment, and fair-labor issues; executive employment issues such as Sarbanes-Oxley protections; first-party insurance claims; and complex marital estates.
- Successfully opposed writs of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court and petitions for review in the Supreme Court of Texas.
- Participated in briefing to the United States Supreme Court on issues such as the Waterfront Commission Compact, the First Amendment, post-conviction issues, and the Indian Child Welfare Act.
- Successfully moved the Supreme Court of Texas to consolidate and transfer appeals.
- Participated in merits briefing to the Supreme Court of Texas on various issues of state substantive law, administrative procedure, and civil liberties.
- Assisted in successfully appealing a Texas trial court’s refusal to compel arbitration.
- Obtained dismissals of appeals on grounds such as lack of jurisdiction and want of prosecution.
- Assisted in obtaining mediated settlements of complex, high-value marital estates.
- Successfully defeated prematurely filed motion for summary judgment.
- Assisted in obtaining “death penalty” sanctions against opposing party for spoliation.
- Assisted in prosecution and settlement of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claim.
- Negotiated buyouts, settlements, and other litigation-ending or litigation-avoiding deals on behalf of businesses and individuals.
- State Bar of Texas
Litigation Section; Appellate Section - Texas Young Lawyers Association
- Austin Bar Association
- Austin Young Lawyers Association
- Federal Bar, Austin Chapter
- Fifth Circuit Bar Association
- Eastern District of Texas Bar Association
- EDTX Association of Former Law Clerks
