Jackson Walker congratulates partners Noah M. Galton and Jorge A. Padilla on their selection as finalists for the Austin Under 40 Awards. Presented by the Young Women’s Alliance and Young Men’s Business League, the Austin Under 40 Awards honor and celebrate Austin professionals who have demonstrated excellence in their careers, while also making an impact in the community. These individuals are recognized in 16 categories, including Austinite of the Year.

Noah and Jorge were nominated, and ultimately selected as finalists, both for their career achievements as legal advocates and for their commitment to serving the community.

Meet Noah

Noah’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, including eminent domain, real estate litigation, energy litigation, litigating issues surrounding governmental/sovereign immunity, and general business litigation. Noah has prosecuted numerous lawsuits to jury verdict, including in both state and federal court, and has appeared in dozens of administrative hearings. Noah has a truly statewide practice, with experience in over 40 Texas counties.

In his eminent domain practice, Noah has represented river authorities, electricity providers, oil/gas midstream companies, railroads, municipal utility districts, municipalities, and independent schools districts in the acquisition of real property rights for extensive public projects aimed at expanding critical infrastructure in the State of Texas. In addition, Noah represents landowners in seeking just compensation under the Texas Constitution and protecting their property rights.

Active in the Austin community, Noah serves on the Development Committee of the Waterloo Greenway Conservancy (formerly, the Waller Creek Conservancy), where he has assisted with fundraising and advocacy efforts for the Conservancy’s transformative project in the heart of downtown Austin, which will ultimately include a state of the art 1.5-mile park system with the power to bring the entire Austin community together. In addition, Noah currently serves as Chair of the Austin Bar Association’s Eminent Domain Section.

In 2019, Noah was named a Fellow to the Texas Bar Foundation. He has been recognized as a “Texas Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers since 2019, among the “Up-and-Coming 100” list of Texas Rising Stars in 2022, and by Austin Monthly in its “Austin’s Top Attorneys” list for Eminent Domain since 2021. Noah was also recognized as a finalist for the Austin Under 40 Awards in 2020.

Meet Jorge

Jorge litigates business disputes for a variety of business clients, as well as trustees, executors, tech companies, property managers, real estate investors and developers, healthcare providers, pension funds, and media companies. Although his practice is focused in Austin, Jorge has advocated for his clients in state and federal courts throughout Texas. He also has extensive experience in the areas of probate and fiduciary litigation involving will contests, trustees, executors, and partnership and corporate disputes.

Within the community, Jorge has played an active role in several different local nonprofits, and currently serves as Treasurer and board member of AVANCE Austin, where he’s overseen the implementation of a long-term investment plan for the organization.  He has also served on the board of directors for the Austin Sunshine Camps, Northwest Softball League, and St. Thomas More Society of Austin.  He has chaired committees to plan the Silicon Labs Sunshine Run, as well as the Diocese of Austin Red Mass, and is an active member of his parish, St. Louis King of France. In 2018-2019, Jorge served as President of the Austin Young Lawyers Association and was a member of the Executive Committee of the Austin Bar Association. Also, in 2018, Jorge was selected to participate in the Fellows Program of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) and as a member of the Leadership Austin-Essentials class, a program founded by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Jorge has been recognized among The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation since 2021, as a “Texas Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers since 2020, and by Austin Monthly in its “Austin’s Top Attorneys” list for Civil Law Litigation in 2020 and 2021.

The 24^th Annual Austin Under 40 Awards and Fundraiser takes place on May 15, 2023, at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas. To learn more, visit the event website.