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Dylan Russell is an accomplished trial and appellate attorney. He has been Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2017 and was recertified in 2022. Only about 400 attorneys licensed in Texas currently hold this certification, out of over 100,000 licensed attorneys. Now in his 21st year of practice, his focus is on complex trials and appeals.
In his appellate practice, Dylan has presented almost thirty oral arguments in state and federal appellate courts. He has argued five times to the Supreme Court of Texas, five times to the Fifth Circuit, and once to the Second Circuit in New York. During the 2022-2023 term alone, Dylan had 5 petitions for review granted by the Supreme Court of Texas. Since 2015, Dylan has had 12 petitions, including 2 petitions for writ of mandamus, granted by the Supreme Court of Texas. When he has been respondent in the Supreme Court of Texas, no petitioner has had their petition granted. Dylan has also briefed two petitions for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. One asked whether state-court judgments confirming arbitration awards, including state-court orders clarifying such judgments, are “judicial proceedings” entitled to “full faith and credit in every court within the United States,” pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1738. The other asked whether a defendant, in an FHAA discrimination case, must know of the disability “at the time” a reasonable accommodation is requested and denied or whether the knowledge can be acquired later, before any judgment is entered. In Texas’s mid-level appellate courts, Dylan has argued many times to the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals in Houston and also to the courts of appeals in Waco, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Beaumont, and Tyler. In addition to the courts mentioned above, he has briefed cases in the courts of appeals in El Paso and San Antonio. Dylan has also briefed two bankruptcy appeals, presenting oral arguments in one of them to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. Dylan has also attended trials as appellate counsel in federal district courts in Fort Worth and Houston and in a bankruptcy adversary proceeding in Fort Worth.
In his trial practice, Dylan has tried cases as first chair in Harris and Montgomery Counties, including several jury trials in Harris County. He appeared in numerous federal and state district courts in counties throughout Texas, including in Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Liberty, Bexar, Travis, Brazoria, Williamson, Burnet, Hardin, Lubbock, Brazos, Denton, and El Paso counties, among others. Dylan also has appeared in federal courts and in state courts, pro hac vice, in states such as Florida, Missouri, New York, Connecticut, and Oklahoma.
Recognized as a Rising Star in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by Texas Super Lawyers, Phil is also a Fellow in the Texas Bar Foundation. Prior to becoming a lawyer, taught in the Houston Independent School District at an inner-city middle school. He also served as a bandmaster and musician on Norwegian, Celebrity, Holland America and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. He is admitted to the Fifth Circuit, Southern District of Texas and Western District of Texas in the federal court system.
Phil lives in Houston with his wife and their two young boys. When not working, Phil can be found coaching or assisting with his kids’ sports, enjoying Houston’s vibrant arts scene with his wife, or cheering on the Astros.
J.D., University of Virginia School of Law
M.A., The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies
B.A., Washington & Lee University, Politics
Randy is the past President of the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, and past Chair of the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. He has served as the President of the Houston Bar Association, President of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association, President of the Houston Trial Lawyers Foundation, Vice President of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation, Director of the State Bar of Texas (two terms), Commissioner of the Equal Access to Justice Commission, Trustee of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, and is currently on the Board of Directors at South Texas College of Law Houston.
Randy started his legal career at Fulbright & Jaworski, where he represented doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and businesses in the state of Texas who were accused of civil wrongdoing. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from South Texas College of Law Houston in 1987, where he was on the Law Review and was a member of the nationally recognized Board of Advocates. South Texas College of Law Houston has honored Randy with its highest honor— the Dean’s Medal, as well as its Public Service Award (the inaugural award). South Texas College of Law Houston has renamed its legal clinics The Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics, which represents 15,000 square feet of new, state-of-the-art facilities to bring together clients with unmet legal needs and students who are eager to work with those clients under the direct supervision of their professors. In 2018, South Texas College of Law Houston honored Randy with the Distinguished Alumni Award.
Prior to law school, Randy graduated Magna Cum Laude from Houston Baptist University— where he was recognized as an NCAA Academic All-American in 1984. He attended HBU on a soccer scholarship, and the soccer field at the university now carries his name— Randall O. Sorrels Field. While at school, he was recognized as the Outstanding Student in both Political Science and Speech Communications. In the greatest honor, the university gives to alumni, Randy was named as HBU’s Outstanding Alumnus of the Year for 2009, and he continues to be involved in alumni events and meetings.
Randy is married to his law partner, Alex L. Farias-Sorrels, and considers her one of the smartest lawyers he knows. He is also a father of five children and one granddaughter. His oldest daughter is a teacher and helps with the Sorrels Law communications efforts. His second daughter is a speech language pathologist in New York. His twin son and daughter are law students at the University of Texas. And his youngest son is in a Montessori program.
He has published numerous articles, including:
He lives in Bellaire, Texas with his wife Carol, and has two adult children. He is an avid cyclist and consumer of political news. He and Carol are active members at Christ the King Presbyterian Church.
You can trust that the Sorrels Law team of attorneys and staff has the experience and the skills to meticulously and strategically handle your case. We know what we are doing and we will guide you every step of the way. Ask us any question and call us at any time.
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