Jackson Walker attorneys Chip Babcock, Nancy Hamilton, and Audra Welter were recently named recipients of the Texas Civil Rights Project’s 2013 Kristi Couvillon Pro Bono Award, which is presented annually to attorneys who handled significant cases for the TCRP.
Mr. Babcock, Ms. Hamilton, and Ms. Welter were recognized for their successful representation of an internet publication called The Burnt Orange Report in a lawsuit filed by a former candidate for district judge in Dallas. The case involved a comment posted on a Burnt Orange Report bulletin board which dealt with the qualifications of the judge for office. The Jackson Walker team filed a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, which was granted, and continues to handle the matter on appeal.
Award recipients, including Mr. Babcock, Ms. Hamilton and Ms. Welter, were honored at the TCRP’s annual Bill of Rights Dinner on Nov. 9 in Austin.
Mr. Babcock has more than 25 years’ experience representing a variety of clients in commercial litigation, including intellectual property disputes, as well as in the field of media and communications law. In 2010, Mr. Babcock was selected as one of Texas Lawyer’s “25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter-Century,” and he is ranked as a top First Amendment attorney, a top Commercial Litigation attorney and a top Trial Lawyer in the prestigious Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business directory. He has been a “Super Lawyer” every year since Thomson Reuters instituted the award (2003-2012) and has also been listed by D Magazine as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas,” by H Texas magazine as one of the “Top Lawyers in Houston,” and by Texas Lawyer as one of Texas’ “Go To” lawyers. He is AV rated by Martindale–Hubbell and is included in the Commercial Litigation chapter of Who’s Who Legal: Texas. He was named as a “Best in Civil Litigation Defense” attorney by Super Lawyers: Corporate Counsel Edition. Mr. Babcock received his A.B. from Brown University and his J.D. from Boston University.
Ms. Hamilton has a national practice concentrating on First Amendment law, intellectual property, and complex commercial litigation. Ms. Hamilton has been named among the Best Lawyers of America, a “Texas Super Lawyer,” a “Top Lawyer” by H Texas Magazine, and is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell. She is a graduate of Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, and she received her J.D. degree in 1989 from the University of Houston Law Center.
Ms. Welter is an associate in the Litigation section at Jackson Walker. She has represented major banks, media companies, and corporations in commercial litigation, including claims involving breach of contract, partnership law, business torts, and defamation. She has also handled multiple small claims bench trials, argued motions in court, and has experience drafting motions and analyzing e-discovery. Ms. Welter received her B.A. from Wellesley College and her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law.
