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Richardson Firm: A Past President of the National Board of Trial Advocacy Runs This Austin Boutique

Jim Richardson doesn’t just hold trial-advocacy board certifications — he ran the organization that issues one of them. He served as President of the National Board of Trial Advocacy from 2020 to 2022 and now chairs its Austin-area chapter, on top of holding three separate active board certifications: Civil Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and both Civil Trial Law and Civil Practice Advocacy from the National Board of Trial Advocacy itself. That’s a genuinely unusual credential stack — most attorneys hold one board certification, not three, and few have led the certifying body itself.

Mixed-Representation Disclosure

Richardson Firm PLLC represents both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial litigation. The firm’s own materials state directly: “We handle all types of civil litigation in state and federal courts, for plaintiffs and defendants, companies and individuals.” Richardson’s published case history confirms this in practice — he has both prosecuted claims (an $8 million fraudulent invoice scheme, $150 million in fraud claims against banking insiders) and defended them (a $100 million federal Superfund defense, defending an executor in complex probate litigation). Awesome Attorneys discloses this explicitly, consistent with its standard practice for every Business & Corporate Litigation profile.

Origin and Background

Jim Richardson graduated magna cum laude in Political Science in 1977 and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Tulsa Law Review. He is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and holds dual national board certifications from the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Civil Trial Law and Civil Practice Advocacy — each maintained through multiple recertifications over the years. He served as President of the National Board of Trial Advocacy from 2020 to 2022 and remains on its national board of directors; he has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, an invitation-only trial lawyer organization, since 2012. He holds Martindale-Hubbell’s highest Judicial AV Preeminent 5.0-5 rating. He was previously Chair of the Austin Bar Association’s Civil Litigation Section (2015–16) after serving in every other officer role in that section over the preceding years.

Practice Concentration

The firm handles trials and arbitrations across breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, breach of contract, tortious interference, real estate litigation, business torts and technology disputes, construction litigation, complex marital property claims, professional liability and legal malpractice, employment disputes, and trust and estate litigation. It is a genuine litigation boutique — no transactional practice — representing businesses, fiduciaries, trustees, and professionals throughout Texas and nationally. For a broader comparison of Austin litigation firms, see our Business & Corporate Litigation directory.

Notable Work / Track Record

The firm’s published case results, presented here as the firm’s own account, include a $5.6 million judgment in fiduciary fraud litigation, an $8 million fraudulent invoice scheme prosecuted to confidential settlement, fraud claims exceeding $150 million litigated against banking insiders and borrowers of a failed financial institution, lead plaintiffs’ counsel in one of Austin’s most complex real estate fraud and construction cases (independently reported by the Austin Business Journal), a successful defense in federal Superfund litigation arising from an abandoned mining operation, and successful defense of an executor in complex probate litigation involving a Texas automobile dealership. The Austin Business Journal reporting on the Met Center 10 case provides independent corroboration for at least one of these matters beyond the firm’s own account. As with all litigation results, past outcomes do not guarantee similar outcomes in any future matter.

Client Voice

Richardson’s published client testimonials are specific and largely long-tenured: one client states they have worked with Richardson “for over 15 years” across “federal court and various Texas trial and appellate courts,” calling him “genuine, prudent, understanding, and trustworthy.” Awesome Attorneys located a specifically valuable data point in the firm’s own published review archive: one client wrote candidly that “the cost for this extremely complex case was relatively steep for my pocketbook, but they did a very thorough and effective job” — a genuine, disclosed cost trade-off alongside praise for the work itself, which Awesome Attorneys is highlighting because it’s more informative than a purely positive review would be.

Beyond the Courtroom

Richardson frequently serves as course director, moderator, and presenter at legal conferences on trial advocacy, evidence, and procedure, including presenting at the State Bar of Texas’s Advanced Civil Trial Course and directing the annual “Ultimate Trial Notebook” series in Texas — meaning he trains other trial lawyers as a regular part of his professional practice, not as an occasional guest appearance.

Recognition for This Austin Business Litigation Firm

Peer-reviewed and third-party credentials: board certification in Civil Trial Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, dual board certification from the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chambers USA 2026 ranking in Litigation: General Commercial for Texas: Austin & Surrounds, Best Lawyers recognition in Commercial Litigation for 15 consecutive editions (2012–2026), 19-time Super Lawyers selection with multiple Top 50 Central & West Texas honors, and the firm’s Tier 1 ranking in Commercial Litigation from U.S. News–Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.” This is one of the more heavily peer-verified credential profiles Awesome Attorneys has documented in this directory’s Business Litigation category.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Fraud claims in Texas require proof of a knowingly false material misrepresentation made with intent to induce reliance, actual reliance, and resulting injury — a higher evidentiary bar than a simple breach of contract claim, which is part of why fraud litigation (a stated focus of this firm) tends to be more document- and testimony-intensive than straightforward contract disputes. Breach of fiduciary duty claims, another focus, turn on whether a formal or informal fiduciary relationship existed in the first place — a threshold question Texas courts scrutinize closely, since not every business relationship involving trust rises to a legal fiduciary duty. None of this is legal advice; the viability of a specific fraud or fiduciary duty claim should be evaluated by a licensed Texas attorney based on the actual relationship and facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Richardson Firm’s differentiator is genuinely rare credential depth: three active board certifications, leadership of a national trial-advocacy certifying body, ABOTA membership, and a Chambers USA ranking, layered on top of a documented, independently-corroborated track record spanning eight-figure fraud litigation to federal Superfund defense. The honest trade-off, disclosed by the firm’s own client in its own published testimonial archive, is cost: this is not a budget litigation option, and a prospective client should expect fees commensurate with the seniority and specialization on offer. For a genuinely complex, high-stakes commercial dispute — particularly one involving fraud, fiduciary duty, or construction and real estate litigation where Richardson’s specific track record is strongest — that combination of credentials and cost is a reasonable trade for a client who needs the strongest available advocate. For a smaller, lower-stakes commercial dispute, a less senior (and less expensive) litigation boutique may be more proportionate.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Richardson Firm PLLC’s official website (richardson-firm.com), Jim Richardson’s Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Chambers USA, and Lawyer Legion profiles, the firm’s published testimonials archive, its Best Law Firms review page, and the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s public certification standards. Case results are attributed to the firm’s own published materials except where independently corroborated (noted specifically for the Met Center 10 matter via Austin Business Journal reporting).

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 Richardson Firm PLLC or its attorneys 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.