About Kelley

The Short Version

Kelley is often described as creative, thorough, and a problem solver. As a child, she loved puzzles and logic problems and read anything she could get her hands on. It is no surprise, then, that she found herself drawn to civil appeals. In addition to her innate sense of curiosity and her desire to understand how things work, several aspects of Kelley's background and training help her to be an impactful appellate attorney:

Undergrad Honors Studies. Kelley completed two separate honors programs at The University of Texas at Austin, Plan II Honors and the Canfield Business Honors Program ("BHP"). Plan II taught her to think critically, ask the right questions, read quickly, and write persuasively. BHP taught her how to think like a business leader, which helps her to approach legal disputes from a practical perspective. 

Baylor Law School Training. Kelley's law school training at Baylor Law School, including the prestigious (or infamous) Practice Court Program, taught Kelley how to think like a trial lawyer, how to try a civil case, and why the evidentiary and procedural rules (and error preservation) matter. 

District Court and Appellate Clerkships. Kelley's experience clerking for both a Texas Supreme Court justice and a United States District Court judge give her unique insight into how judges (and staff attorneys) at all stages of litigation view the case and issues.

Defense Firm Experience. Having worked at three defense-focused firms of various sizes (international, regional, and boutique), Kelley has seen and handled almost everything--from SCOTUS amicus briefing and commercial appeals to document review and discovery responses to serving as embedded appellate counsel in insurance-defense personal injury cases. As a result, Kelley has first-hand experience understanding how civil defenses are crafted from start to finish.

Kelley brings this background into every case and is here to help you (the trial lawyer) focus on the client and the jury--without worrying about overlooking a technicality or needing to fight against a team of "law" lawyers on the other side.

The Long Version

In addition to handling numerous appeals in both federal and state courts of appeals, Kelley has guided clients through every stage of the litigation process, as well as in arbitration. She has extensive experience representing upstream and midstream oil and gas clients, ranging from energy-specific disputes over operating agreements, title and royalty issues, regulatory matters, and surface owner disputes, to traditional business litigation involving commercial contracts, fraud, fiduciary duties, patent infringement claims, and much more. Kelley has also represented construction and downstream clients in litigation involving diverse issues, including contract, indemnification and insurance coverage disputes. Kelley is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. 

A Fort Worth native, Kelley is a proud alumna of Plan II Honors and the Canfield Business Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Following completion of her undergraduate degrees, Kelley attended Baylor Law School on a full academic scholarship. During law school, Kelley served as Senior Executive Editor on the Baylor Law Review and competed on two interscholastic moot court teams, including one as student coach and brief writer. During law school, she interned for U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey C. Manske in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

After graduation, Kelley clerked for Justice Paul W. Green of the Supreme Court of Texas, where she enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the decision-making process of the justices in a variety of energy and business disputes. Kelley also drafted opinions, prepared recommendation memoranda and presented issues at case conferences among the justices. This experience laid the foundation for Kelley’s extensive appellate practice.

After her appellate clerkship, Kelley practiced in the Houston office of Bracewell LLP in the litigation section. While at Bracewell, Kelley was part of the team in a patent infringement trial in the Eastern District of Texas, including handling the jury charge, and worked on multiple appeals in both the Fifth Circuit and the Federal Circuit, as well as administrative proceedings in the ITC and arbitrations. 

Kelley then joined the Houston office of Gray Reed & McGraw LLP, where she continued to gain experience in both litigation and appellate matters. Kelley argued before multiple Texas intermediate courts of appeals and handled appeals in the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court, and Texas intermediate courts. Additionally, Kelley filed amicus curiae briefs in both the Seventh Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. Kelley argued summary judgment motions in both state and federal trial courts, tried a case to a directed verdict in Texas state court, and drafted and filed countless dispositive motions in both state and federal court.

Next, Kelley served as a law clerk to Senior Judge Lynn N. Hughes and Judge Drew B. Tipton in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. In this role, Kelley drafted substantive legal opinions and orders, advised the judges in making rulings, and regularly attended hearings. Her federal clerkship gave Kelley first-hand insight into the decision-making process of federal trial judges and allowed her to see a vast diversity of federal and state-law claims, including employment litigation, administrative proceedings, contract disputes, personal injury and insurance coverage litigation, and intellectual property litigation. 

Most recently, Kelley was a partner at Wright Close Barger & Guzman, LLP, a Chambers-ranked Texas appellate boutique firm based in Houston. Kelley appeared as embedded appellate counsel in multiple jury trials per year, in addition to handling dispositive motion practice and appellate briefs.

Kelley is a dedicated member of the local community, both the bar and at large. Kelley previously served on the council for the Houston Bar Association Appellate Section, on the board of directors for the Houston Young Lawyers Association, and the board of trustees for the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation. She serves as the secretary for the William B. Travis Elementary PTA and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Houston, Inc., where she served many years on the Strategic Planning Committee.