Nina Cortell

For more than four decades, Nina Cortell has represented corporations, public entities and individuals in cases that have put her at the forefront of Texas litigation practice. Chambers USA, Chambers and Partners (2025) describes her as one of “the elite appellate lawyers in Texas, frequently handling high-profile constitutional and commercial disputes in the Texas Supreme Court, the Fifth Circuit and other appellate courts.” Best Lawyers (published by Woodward/White, Inc.) recognizes her as a 2025 “Lawyer of the Year” for bet-the-company litigation in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Nina’s record includes significant victories in both state and federal trial and appellate courts. Along with her Haynes and Boone colleagues, she has helped secure wins on a wide variety of claims for clients such as ExxonMobil Corporation, AT&T, Trinity Industries, Matador Resources Company, Texas Capital Bank, and the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System.

Nina places a high priority on community service. She is proud of her role as a co-founder of the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, which is devoted to enhancing the success of women in law and serves as a national resource to convene leaders, generate ideas, and lead change. Nina also works actively with the judiciary to improve the judicial process. For over two decades, she served on the prestigious Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee, which is comprised of judges and attorneys from across the state and advises the Court in connection with its rule-making authority.

Nina is honored to have received the 2016 Greg Coleman Outstanding Appellate Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation, and also the 2024 ADL Jurisprudence Award for outstanding leadership and exemplary contributions to the legal community, the 2013 Jack Pope Professionalism Award from the Texas Center for Legal Ethics, the 2012 University of Texas School of Law Distinguished Alumnus Award for Community Service, the 2009 Outstanding Lawyer Award from the Dallas Bar Association, and the 1999 Louise B. Raggio Award for significant contributions toward the advancement of women in the legal profession.