FOUNDING PARTNER
Overview
Kelly Crawford has more than 30 years of experience in handling complex commercial litigation, including securities fraud, receiverships, oil and gas, employment, insurance and general business disputes.
Experience
Mr. Crawford has successfully represented clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation, including cases involving:
- Securities Fraud
- Oil and Gas Fraud
- Software licensing issues
- Employment disputes, including proprietary information, agreements and covenants not to compete
- Stock option agreements
- Copyright issues
- Insurance coverage disputes
- Shareholder disputes
- Partnership disputes
- Franchisor/Franchisee disputes
- Real estate disputes
- Telecommunication issues
- Creditors asserting claims in bankruptcy
Mr. Crawford has extensive experience in serving as a Receiver or representing Receivers. In cases brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mr. Crawford has been appointed the Receiver by Federal Courts in the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western District of Texas, as well as the Southern District of New York. In serving as Receiver Mr. Crawford has experience in assisting law enforcement agencies such as the Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals, and the United States Attorneys’ Office. The Office of the Attorney General for the State of Texas has used Mr. Crawford as a Receiver to recover several significant judgments. Secured lienholders or judgment creditors have also used Mr. Crawford as a Receiver.
Associations
- Member, Dallas Bar Association
- Founding Member, National Association of Federal Equity Receivers, including service on the Board of Directors
- Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation
- Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow, 2022
Education
- Juris Doctor, Southern Methodist University School of Law, cum laude
- Bachelor of Arts, New Mexico State University, cum laude
Community
- Interfaith Housing Coalition, including service as Chairman of the Board of Directors
- Deacon, Park Cities Baptist Church, including service as Chairman of Deacons and President of Trustees
- Lake Highlands Wildcat Club, including service as President
- Lake Highlands YMCA, Board of Directors
Honors
- Selected in “The Best Lawyers in America” list for Commercial Litigation, 2024
- AV rated, Martindale-Hubbell, 2008 – 2022
- Named in “Texas Super Lawyer” list, Thomson Reuters, 2009 – 2023
- Selected as one of Texas’ Top Rated Lawyers for 2015 – 2017 in Bankruptcy, Commercial Litigation and Insurance Law by Legal Leaders Magazine
- Recognized as one of the 2013 Top Rated Lawyers in Commercial Litigation by The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, Martindale-Hubbell, and National Law Journal
- Recognized in “Best Lawyers in Dallas” list, D Magazine, 2011
- Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow, 2022
Practice Areas
- Banking Litigation and Foreclosures
- Bankruptcy Chapter 11/Chapter 7
- Bankruptcy Litigation/Transactions
- Chapter 7 Trustee Representation
- Collections/Creditors’ Rights
- Government Enforcement Receiverships
- Corporate Entity Disputes
- Shareholder Disputes
- Oil & Gas Litigation
- Employment Litigation
- Banking Litigation and Foreclosures
- Oil & Gas Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
- Securities Litigation & Arbitration
- Real Estate Litigation
- Receiverships
- Securities Litigation & Arbitration
Publications
- AV rated, Martindale-Hubbell, 2008 – 2020.
- Named in “Texas Super Lawyer” list, Thomson Reuters, 2009 – 2020.
- Selected as one of Texas’ Top Rated Lawyers for 2015 – 2017 in Bankruptcy, Commercial Litigation and Insurance Law by Legal Leaders Magazine.
- Recognized as one of the 2013 Top Rated Lawyers in Commercial Litigation by The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, Martindale-Hubbell, and National Law Journal.
- Recognized in “Best Lawyers in Dallas” list, D Magazine, 2011.
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Spoke at the Securities Enforcement Training of the North American Securities Administrators’ Association in New Orleans on March 9, 2021 regarding “Asset Freezes & Receiverships”.
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Co-Author of “Your Secret is Safe With Me! (Maybe): Exploring the Financial Injury Exception to The Duty of Confidentiality by Jurisdiction” published by Thomson Reuters in the Securities Regulation Law Journal, Summer 2022.
Admissions
- Co-Author of “The Dilemma of In-House Counsel as Whistleblower: When and Where to Blow the Whistle?” published by Thomson Reuters in the Securities Regulation Law Journal, Fall 2018.
- Spoke at course for FBI agents and other members of law enforcement sponsored by the Economic Crimes Unit of the FBI, “Law Enforcement and Federal Receiverships: Maximizing Recoveries for Victims of Financial Fraud,” August 13, 2018.
- Panelist in 2017 for “Receiver Training Camp, Second Quarter” at annual conference of National Association of Federal Equity Receivers in Miami, Florida.
- Co-Author of “Broadcasting Lies”: Broadcaster Liability in Consumer Fraud, Part 1, published in the June, 2015 Commercial Fraud Committee newsletter, American Bankruptcy Institute.
- Spoke at Collin County Bench Bar Conference, “Wright v. Aspen – A Look From Both Sides at Texas Securities Fraud”, May 15, 2015.
- “Unlocking the Door to a Receiver’s Arsenal: A Receiver’s Best Weapons,” written by Kelly Crawford and Charlene Koonce for “Receiverships in Texas 2011” seminar sponsored by the State Bar of Texas, November 4, 2011.
- Spoke at “Receiverships in Texas 2011” seminar sponsored by the State Bar of Texas, November 4, 2011.
- Panelist in 2002 and in 2010 on topic of Receiverships presented at the Annual Southwest Securities Enforcement Conference sponsored by The Fort Worth District Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
- Note, Domangue v. Eastern Airlines, 722 F.2d 256 (5th Cir. 1984), 50 J. Air L. 375 (1985).