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Rusty Hardin & Associates: The Firm the Texas House Picked to Prosecute a Sitting Attorney General’s Impeachment

Origin and Background

Rusty Hardin graduated from Southern Methodist University’s law school in 1975 and spent the next 15 years as a Harris County assistant district attorney, trying more than 100 felony cases — including 14 death-penalty cases — without a loss, earning him the State Bar of Texas’s Prosecutor of the Year honor. He entered private practice in 1991 as a founding partner of a predecessor firm before establishing Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP in 1996. Between 1994 and 1996 he also served as Chief Trial Counsel for the Whitewater Independent Counsel’s Office under both Robert Fiske and Kenneth Starr. In 2023, the Texas House of Representatives selected Hardin to lead the prosecution in the impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before the Texas Senate — one of the highest-profile public assignments of his career.

Practice Concentration

Rusty Hardin & Associates is a roughly 15-attorney Houston firm handling both civil and significant criminal matters, with its civil practice concentrated on complex commercial litigation, contract disputes, bet-the-company litigation, and plaintiffs’ personal-injury claims. The firm represents both plaintiffs and defendants across its civil docket — a disclosed, mixed-representation practice rather than a one-sided plaintiff or defense shop — and its client roster spans corporations including Dow Jones, ExxonMobil, Arkema, Rice University, Las Vegas Sands, and the accounting firm Arthur Andersen. Awesome Attorneys notes directly that this firm is equally well known for significant criminal defense work; this profile focuses on its commercial and civil litigation practice specifically. See this Houston Business Litigation directory for how this firm compares to other commercial litigation practices serving Harris County.

Notable Work / Track Record

Hardin’s firm won a new trial for Dow Jones in the face of what was, at the time, the largest libel verdict in U.S. history, and represented Arthur Andersen in a matter that ultimately resulted in a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning the accounting firm’s obstruction-of-justice conviction. The firm also represented the J. Howard Marshall II estate in the nationally followed probate dispute involving claims made by Anna Nicole Smith, and represented chemical company Arkema after environmental charges were filed over toxic emissions released at its Crosby plant during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Case outcomes in complex civil litigation depend heavily on the specific facts involved, and past results do not guarantee similar outcomes in any other case.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a public consumer-review presence for Rusty Hardin & Associates, consistent with a boutique litigation firm whose civil clients are predominantly corporations and institutions rather than individual consumers. Chambers USA’s independently sourced commentary describes Hardin as “an impressive performer in a whole host of civil and criminal matters, with substantial experience representing both individuals and corporates at trial” — a third-party characterization rather than Awesome Attorneys’ own assessment.

Beyond the Courtroom

Hardin founded Texas People Against Crime, a statewide organization addressing criminal-justice issues from the perspective of crime victims and law enforcement, and served as the 2017 President of the Litigation Counsel of America. He has held multiple leadership positions on State Bar of Texas committees and serves as a faculty member for numerous public and professional legal organizations, alongside being a frequently sought speaker on trial tactics and media relations during high-profile litigation.

Recognition for This Houston Business Litigation Firm

Rusty Hardin & Associates earned a Tier 1 ranking — the highest possible — in the 2026 Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” guide for commercial litigation in the Houston metro area, alongside Tier 1 rankings for white-collar criminal defense, plaintiffs’ personal-injury litigation, and appellate practice, plus separate recognition for bet-the-company litigation. Hardin himself was named Houston’s 2026 Lawyer of the Year for bet-the-company litigation by Best Lawyers, and partners Terry Kernell and Megan Moore were separately honored for commercial litigation in the same 2026 cycle. Chambers USA has ranked Hardin as a Texas Band 1 lawyer in general commercial litigation, and the State Bar of Texas Litigation Section inducted him as a Texas Legal Legend. Awesome Attorneys did not identify a Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification individually attributed to Hardin, so “specialist” language is not applied to this profile, consistent with house policy reserving that term for documented TBLS certification.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Most Texas breach-of-contract claims carry a four-year limitations period, while fraud and breach-of-fiduciary-duty claims — relevant to matters like the firm’s Arthur Andersen representation — are separately subject to a four-year period under Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.004. Defamation and libel claims, relevant to the firm’s Dow Jones matter, carry a one-year limitations period under Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.002. A prevailing party’s right to recover attorney’s fees on many contract claims runs through Chapter 38 of the Civil Practice & Remedies Code. Complex commercial cases above statutory dollar thresholds may now also be eligible for the Texas Business Court, a specialized trial court that began operating in September 2024. None of this is legal advice; a specific business dispute should be evaluated by a licensed Texas attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Rusty Hardin & Associates’s clearest differentiator is a founder with a documented, decades-long trial record spanning both prosecution and private civil and criminal practice, translated into a Tier 1 Best Lawyers commercial litigation ranking and a Chambers Band 1 designation specifically for general commercial litigation. The honest trade-off is that this is not a pure business-litigation boutique — the firm is equally, and arguably more publicly, known for high-profile criminal defense work, so a business client should understand they are hiring into a mixed civil-and-criminal practice rather than a commercial-litigation-only shop. For a Houston company facing a genuinely bet-the-company commercial dispute who wants a trial lawyer with a national reputation and Chambers-verified commercial litigation ranking, Rusty Hardin & Associates’s track record is a reasonable basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Rusty Hardin & Associates’s own website, including Rusty Hardin’s attorney biography and firm news releases distributed via Business Wire; Chambers USA’s lawyer profile for Rusty Hardin; Best Lawyers’ firm profile; the Houston Chronicle’s reporting on Hardin’s career; and the National Trial Lawyers’ and Litigation Counsel of America’s biographical profiles of Hardin.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.