Braden W. Sparks

In his four decades years of law practice, Braden W. Sparks has tried over 300 jury trials, civil and criminal, and has been appointed by state and federal courts as mediator in over 450 cases.  Sparks has tried or worked on cases from Alaska to Puerto Rico and California to New York.

He practices on all sides of the docket – plaintiff, defendant, appellant, arbitration, and mediator –  involving securities, financial transactions, real estate deals, pipeline disasters, patented orthodontic devices, class action claims, legal malpractice, engineering malpractice, hedge funds, general business counseling, and a wide variety of smaller monetary (but no less important) disputes, for companies, partnerships, business associations and individuals.

Sparks truly enjoys working with and helping people with all sorts of problems – personal and corporate, family law, partnerships, accounting disputes, company and asset acquisitions, brokerage disputes, digital information, computers, and also, on the criminal side, murder (prosecution and defense), federal crimes, white collar crimes.  He believes the practice of law is a service profession. He’s here to help, in other words.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

• Colorado College (1966-1970) B.S.
• Southern Methodist University (1970-1973) J.D.

LEGAL EXPERIENCE:

• Intern, Fort Worth Regional Office, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (1972)
• Prosecutor, Dallas County District Attorney’s Office (Henry Wade) (1974-9)
• Board Certified – Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1994)
• Licensed Mediator; extensive mediation experience (over 475 mediations); appointed by numerous courts

COURTS WHERE ADMITTED TO PRACTICE:

• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals – 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 10th Circuits
• Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
• All State Courts in Texas

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS [PAST AND PRESENT]:

• Master, Judge Paul Brown American Inn of Court
• Dallas County Bar Association
• Eastern and Northern Districts of Texas Bar Associations
• Federal Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
• Association of Attorney Mediators (N. Texas Chapter)

AUTHORSHIPS, INSTITUTES, SEMINARS AND LECTURES:

• Speaker:
  • Author, Speaker: “Parallel Proceedings in Broker-Theft Cases,” 19th Annual Meeting, Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (2010)
  • Sex, Lies, Videotape, And Advocacy: Common Ethics Problems In Mediation, Dallas Bar Ass’n., February 29, 1996 and July 25, 1997.
  • Basic Mediator Training, American Academy of Attorney-Mediators (1996).
• Author:
  • Co-Author, with Seth E. Lipner, “Ex-Employees of Respondents Should Not Serve as Arbitrators,” Vol. 17, No. 4, PIABA BAR JOURNAL (2010)
  • THE QUESTION BOOK: WHAT 90 EXPERTS RECOMMEND YOU ASK BEFORE YOU…, Chapter 47, Whether to File Suit. (Nelson,1993).
  • Co-author, with Hon. Nathan Hecht, ChiefJustice, Texas Supreme Court, Pre-Trial Motion Practice, Pre-Trial Orders and Scheduling Principles [sub-section on mediation], State Bar of Texas Advanced Civil Trial Short Course (1990).