Biography

West Bakke handles critical motions and appeals for clients in complex litigation in federal and Texas courts. His experience spans every stage of a case: emergency-injunction proceedings, jurisdictional and threshold pleading challenges, discovery disputes, summary judgment, jury charge, mandamus, and appeal.

Before entering private practice, West clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. That experience informs his written advocacy, his oral argument, and his understanding of the practical considerations that shape judicial decision-making.

West has briefed matters before the Supreme Court of Texas, Texas’s Fourth and Fifteenth Courts of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the federal district courts in Texas and the District of Columbia. He has presented argument in both trial and appellate courts, including before the Fifth Circuit and on cross-motions for summary judgment in federal and state trial courts.

A sixth-generation San Antonian, West enjoys golf, hunting in South Texas, and practicing his Spanish. He is an Eagle Scout.

Education

SMU Dedman School of Law, J.D.

• Valedictorian
• Editor, SMU Law Review

Texas A&M University, B.B.A.

• Business Honors and Finance
• Minor in Spanish

Bar Admissions

Texas