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Bayne, Snell & Krause: The Firm Where the Lead Trial Lawyer Scored the Highest Bar Exam Grade in Texas

In December 1970, Barry Snell scored the highest grade of anyone who sat for the Texas State Bar examination that cycle. Fifty-five years later, he’s still trying commercial cases from the same San Antonio firm, now Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and recognized in Best Lawyers in America since 2009. This profile is part of Awesome Attorneys’ coverage of San Antonio business litigation attorney options.

At a Glance

Origin & Background

Bayne, Snell & Krause has operated in San Antonio since 1974, more than five decades of continuous commercial litigation practice in South and Central Texas. Barry Snell graduated in the top five of his class at St. Mary’s University School of Law and posted the highest score in the entire state on the December 1970 Texas Bar examination. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America since 2009, and was named one of the “Top 50” vote-getters among all Texas Monthly Super Lawyers statewide in 2010 — a distinction placing him among the top ten San Antonio attorneys that year across every practice area, not just his own. Clay Snell, with eleven years of experience, is also Board Certified in Civil Trial Law and was recognized as a Texas Monthly Rising Star. Don Krause brings 36 years of civil litigation experience with a specific emphasis on commercial and banking matters.

San Antonio Business Litigation Attorney Practice Concentration

The firm’s litigation practice centers on commercial disputes, construction litigation, shareholder litigation, complex commercial real estate disputes, and deceptive trade practices claims, alongside professional and medical malpractice and consumer law matters. Mixed representation disclosure: the firm explicitly represents both plaintiffs and defendants — “from large national corporations to individuals” — across its commercial litigation caseload, a dual-representation posture this profile discloses directly per its standard practice for adversarial, non-personal-injury categories.

Track Record

The firm’s own materials describe decades of commercial litigation results without publishing an aggregate verdict or settlement statistic. Business litigation outcomes vary substantially by case type, jurisdiction, and the specific facts involved; past results do not predict future outcomes.

Client Voice

Public client-review volume specific to the firm’s business litigation work (as distinct from its personal injury caseload) is limited — a gap this profile discloses rather than smooths over. The stronger available signal is peer-based: Barry Snell’s Best Lawyers in America recognition since 2009 and his Texas Monthly Top 50 placement are both peer-review-driven distinctions rather than client-star ratings.

Beyond the Courtroom

The firm’s 1974 founding date and continuous operation since makes it one of the longer-tenured litigation boutiques in San Antonio, predating most of the current business litigation bar in the city. Barry Snell’s specific bar-exam distinction — the highest score in Texas in his examination cycle — is a documented, dated fact rather than a vague claim of early academic excellence.

Recognition

Both Barry Snell and Clay Snell hold Board Certification in Civil Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, the credential this profile treats as most significant and the basis for describing them as specialists in this area. Barry Snell’s sustained Best Lawyers in America recognition since 2009 — sixteen consecutive years at time of writing — reflects a long peer-review track record rather than a single-year honor.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Commercial disputes in Texas, the firm’s core practice, are frequently shaped by the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code Chapter 17), which allows enhanced damages for knowing violations and is a recurring tool in the consumer and commercial disputes the firm handles. For construction litigation, another firm focus, Texas’s statute of repose under Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.008-009 generally bars claims against architects, engineers, and contractors more than ten years after substantial completion of the project — a hard cutoff distinct from the shorter statute of limitations that applies to when a claim must first be discovered and filed.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Bayne, Snell & Krause’s clearest strength is longevity paired with genuine peer-vetted credentials: a firm operating continuously since 1974, with a lead trial lawyer who holds both Civil Trial Law board certification and sixteen consecutive years of Best Lawyers recognition. That combination of institutional tenure and individual peer standing is uncommon.

The honest trade-off, disclosed above, is the firm’s mixed plaintiff-and-defendant representation — appropriate and common in commercial litigation, but a client should confirm the firm has no conflict with the specific opposing party in their matter before retaining. Public review volume for the business litigation practice specifically is also thinner than the firm’s tenure would suggest, likely reflecting a referral-and-reputation-driven client base rather than a review-platform-driven one.

Methodology & Sourcing

This profile was compiled from Martindale’s firm and attorney profiles, the State Bar of Texas attorney directory, and additional business/legal directory listings for Bayne, Snell & Krause. Statutory citations were checked against the Texas Business & Commerce Code and Civil Practice & Remedies Code as published by the Texas Legislature. No case results, credentials, or quotes were invented.

Publisher Disclosure & Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Bayne, Snell & Krause prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placements clearly labeled as such, but no payment of any kind determines inclusion in, or the content of, this editorial profile. This article is for informational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship between the reader and Bayne, Snell & Krause or Awesome Attorneys.