Donald E. Godwin

With more than 40 years of experience, Donald E. Godwin has developed a reputation as one of Texas’ most professional and effective trial lawyers. He handles a wide variety of civil and commercial litigation, including environmental matters, oil and gas litigation, wills and probate law, family law disputes and business torts. Board-certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Civil Trial law, Mr. Godwin is known for his skill in breaking down complex legal terms for the benefit of juries and clients. From the Dallas office of Godwin Bowman PC, Mr. Godwin accepts cases throughout Texas and the United States.

Donald E. Godwin and his Mission Critical Litigation team secured a defense victory in a non-competition/non-solicitation agreement case brought against their clients by an international multi-billion dollar building conglomerate, which was seeking more than $40 million in compensatory damages, in addition to punitive damages and attorney’s fees. The two-week jury trial was presided over by the Honorable Judge Maricela Moore in the 162nd Judicial District Court and was one of the first complex commercial litigation jury trials to commence in-person in Dallas County since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020.

A member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Mr. Godwin is known in the corporate world as a formidable advocate in representing companies’ best interests. Notably, he was the Lead Trial Lawyer in the successful defense of Halliburton in connection with all civil litigation and investigations concerning BP's Macondo well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico (Deepwater Horizon), generally recognized as the largest environmental litigation case in the history of the United States.  He also gained widespread respect among his peers for his work as Halliburton’s lead attorney in asbestos litigation; successfully negotiating settlements for 382,000 national asbestos claims within an impressive time frame of one year. 

After receiving a Bachelor of Science from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1969, Mr. Godwin went on to earn his Master of Science degree in accounting in 1970 from the University of Memphis. He then earned his Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 1973.

Among numerous other recognitions, Mr. Godwin has been selected four times to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America by Lawdragon, Inc., has received the highest rating possible of AV Preeminent* from Martindale-Hubbell, has been selected to the "50 Lions of the Texas Bar" by Texas Lawbook, has been honored 10 times among Thomson Reuters' Top 100 Texas Super Lawyers, and has been included in The Best Lawyers in America** since 2012. He has also been featured in Chambers USA since 2014 for his outstanding contributions to general commercial litigation.

*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.

**The Best Lawyers in America® 2013. Copyright by BL Rankings, LLC., Aiken, SC