Gillespie, Rozen & Watsky P.C.

Practice Areas: 

Mr. Gillespie represents individual clients, corporate executives and unions in arbitration, mediation, civil trials, and appeals involving discharge, discrimination, sexual harassment, and employment matters. Mr. Gillespie has obtained numerous verdicts and settlements in excess of one million dollars for his clients.  He was recently the lead counsel in one of the first Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower lawsuits in the country.  He has tried many major jury trials involving employment law, including claims of age discrimination, race and national origin discrimination, tortious interference with contract, defamation, sex discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, disability discrimination, and breach of employment contracts.

Bio and Honors:

Hal Gillespie is a shareholder in the law firm of Gillespie, Rozen & Watsky, P.C. in Dallas, Texas. Gillespie has been rated one of the top 100 Texas Super Lawyers in Texas since 2003.  In 2007 Gillespie was listed as the “Go-To Lawyer” in Texas in the area of Labor and Employment Law.  Mr. Gillespie has been named as among the best 500 attorneys in the United States by Lawdragon.com.  Hal Gillespie is “AV” rated in Martindale-Hubbell. Since 1972 Mr. Gillespie has been engaged in extensive federal and state court trial and appellate practice.  

Mr. Gillespie is the past Chairman of the Dallas Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section.  He is currently serving on the Court Advisory Committee for the Northern District of Texas.  He is past President of the North Texas Chapter of the Industrial Relations Research Association and a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA) and the Board of Directors of its Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter.  Mr. Gillespie is a co-founding and active member of the Texas Employment Lawyers Association (TELA).  Mr. Gillespie is a member of the Lawyers Coordinating Committee of the AFL-CIO.  He is a member of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.  He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Texas Board Certification – Specialization

Hal Gillespie is board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Admitted:

State Bar of Texas, 1972

U.S. Dist. Court, Northern Dist. of Texas, 1972

U.S. Court of Military Appeals, 1973

U.S. Dist. Court, Western Dist. of Texas, 1974

U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, 1976 

U.S. Dist. Court, Eastern Dist. of Texas, 1976

U.S. Supreme Court, 1977

U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 1977                              

U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 1981

U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, 1985

U.S. District Court, Southern Dist. of Texas, 1997

U.S. District Court, Western Dist. of Oklahoma, 2004

U.S. Court of Appeals, Dist. of Columbia Circuit, 2005

U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2010

Education:

Mr. Gillespie graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. Degree with Honors in 1969.   He served as an associate editor on the Texas Law Review and is a 1972 honor graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.

Presentations:

Mr. Gillespie has presented numerous papers and speeches regarding Employment and Labor Law and Trial Advocacy.  An abbreviated listing of recent presentations includes:

Annual Update of New Developments in Labor and Employment Law to Dallas Bar Association; given with co-presenter Mark Shank annually since 2000;

The Curse of Summary Judgment (and How to Deal with It); 2002 Presentation at University of Texas School of Law;

Using Themes and Stories to Win Your Employment Law Trials; 2002 Thirteenth Annual Convention of National Employment Lawyers Association, Lake Buena Vista, FL;

An Overview of Sexual Harassment Law; a presentation for the Hawaii State Bar Association of Employment & Labor Law & ADR Seminar, 2002;

Top Ten Plaintiffs Lawyers Tips for Winning Employment Law Trials; State Bar of Texas Advanced Employment Law Course – February 20-21, 2003, Houston, Texas;

Using Themes and Stories to Win Your Employment Law Trials; 20th Annual Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute, Minnesota, May 28 & 29, 2003;

Beyond Scrapes & Bruises: Emotional Distress Damages – Proving What Can’t Be Seen; 2004 National Employment Lawyers Association annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas, June 25, 2004.

How to Choose an Arbitrator; a presentation for the Southwest Region of the National Academy of Arbitrators and the North Texas Chapter of the Industrial Research Relations Association, Dallas, Texas, April 8, 2005

Mock Trial of Employment Law Matter; Texas Employment Relations Symposium, Westin Riverwalk Hotel, San Antonio, Texas, July 27-28, 2006

ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference, the “How to Do It Right” Track, Witness Interviews and Evaluation of Evidence, November 8, 2007

Trial Advocacy for the Plaintiff’s Employment Lawyer, Overview of Direct Examination Techniques, March 7, 2008