Blake Tartt

Blake Tartt has extensive experience representing a diverse group of Texas and international clients in significant commercial litigation, including construction and nuclear power, and mass tort cases involving personal injury and death claims. Mr. Tartt has not only served his many clients by trying cases; his career has been marked by tireless service to the Bar, only a portion of which is listed in this resume.

• Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, Texas (J.D., cum laude, 1959) Honors:
  • Order of the Woolsack
  • Delta Theta Phi
• Southern Methodist University (B.B.A., 1949)

• Texas
• U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas
• U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 5th and 11th Circuits
• U.S. Supreme Court

• Represented a large petrochemical manufacturer in a case involving more than 1,000 lawsuits following a petrochemical plant explosion, including deaths, personal injuries, and property damage; also represented this client in claims against its insurers relative to the plant reconstruction
• Represented an international oilfield services company in a case related to offshore diamond exploration and mining in South Africa that was ultimately resolved in the Texas Supreme Court
• Represented a municipal power authority in a lawsuit against an electric power generation supply company regarding a nuclear power plant in Texas
• Represented a municipal government in a suit against an international engineering and construction company regarding the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant

• Chapter 1, Subject Matter Jurisdiction  Haig, Business & Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, American Bar Assoc, West Publishing Group
• "The Participation of the Organized Bar in Judicial Selection: What Is Proper and What is Improper"  43 South Texas Law Review No. 1, 125-140, Winter, 2001

• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Southern Methodist University Law School, 1996
• Governor Bill Daniels Statesmanship Award, 2002
• Research Fellow, Center for American and International Law

• State Bar of Texas
  • President, 1983-1984
• State Bar of Texas
  • Board of Directors, 1972-1976
  • Executive Committee, 1975-1976 
• American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, 1984-Present
• State Bar of Texas, Sections on Litigation, Insurance, and International Law
• American Bar Association, Section on Litigation, Torts & Insurance Practice, Public Contract law, International Law, Individual Rights and Responsibilities
• American Bar Association
  • Council of the Senior Lawyers Division
  • Judicial Administration Division, Lawyers Council Executive Committee
  • Board of Governors, 2001-2004
  • House of Delegates, 1977-2004
  • Chair, Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, 1997-1998
  • Standing Committee on Public Education, 1986-1989
  • Commission on Women in the Profession, 1999-200
• American Law Institute, 1987-present
• American Board of Trial Advocates, 1982-present
• American Bar Foundation
  • State Co-Chair (International), 2001-present
  • Chair of the Fellows, 1987-1988
  • Texas State Chair, 1981-1985
• American Judicature Society
  • Vice Chair, Texas Chapter, 2004
  • Board of Directors, 1984-1988
• Texas Bar Foundation
  • Chair of the Board, 1974-1975
  • Chair of the Fellows, 1978-1979
• Houston Bar Association
• Houston Bar Foundation, 1990-1993
  • Chair, Board of Trustees, 1992-1993
• Defense Research Institute
• International Association of Defense Counsel, 1968-present
• Texas Association of Defense Counsel
• University of Houston Law Foundation
  • Trustee Emeritus, 1996-present
• Institute for Transnational Arbitration
  • Advisory Board, 1998-present
• Texas State Judicial Council, 1988-1994
• Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism
  • Treasurer, 1994-1996
• State Bar Historical Foundation
  • Trustee, 1992-present
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
  • Board of Trustees, 1987-1990
• Texas Arrhythmia Foundation
  • Board of Trustees
• Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, 1996-2001
• National Judicial College
  • Board of Visitors, 2005-Present