Patrick Short is a trial lawyer based in Rockwall County, Texas, the county east of Dallas County with over 35 years of experience representing clients in East and North Texas in personal injury, wrongful death, criminal defense, and selected civil litigation matters. Patrick is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and in Criminal Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is also Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Patrick is one of six lawyers in the State of Texas that are double Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in both Personal Injury Trial Law and Criminal Law.Patrick has been selected as a Texas Super Lawyer every year since 2006 in addition to his invitation-only selection of the American Trial Lawyers Association’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in 2009 and 2011. He has been selected to the invitation-only Best Attorneys of America.Patrick is admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas, as well as Texas state courts. He earned his J.D. (Juris Doctorate) from California Western Law School in 1982 and his B.A. in psychology from Baylor University in 1979. He graduated from the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming in July 2009.Patrick served four two-year terms (2009-2017) on the McLendon-Chisholm City Council, Place 3, in Rockwall County, Texas. A Spanish-speaker, he served as interim Hispanic pastor from 2004 to 2007 at Lake Pointe Church, where he and his wife have remained members since 1985. Prior to starting his own law firm, Patrick served as the Assistant Criminal District Attorney in Rockwall County, Texas from 1985 to 1986. He is a member of many associations, including: Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, The National Trial Lawyers, the Christian Legal Society, the Christian Trial Lawyers Association, the Rockwall County Bar Association, Rockwall County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Collin County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Dallas County Bar, and the Texas Bar Association.Patrick represents injured persons in personal injury and wrongful death claims in the North Texas and East Texas area and throughout the entire state of Texas. Defense of citizens accused, investigated or arrested for criminal law violations in Texas counties, such as: Rockwall, Dallas, Collin, Denton, Kaufman, Hopkins, Hunt, Tarrant, Grayson, Ellis and all counties in Texas. Patrick believes in the right to trial by jury.
Texas Super Lawyer, every year since 2006 to present.
Top 100 Trial Lawyers, 2009, 2011
American Trial Lawyers Association Top 100 Trial Lawyers.
Best Attorneys of America.
Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Law, by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law,
Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Criminal Law.
In 2019 of over 100,000 active attorneys in Texas, there were 7,450 attorneys board certified in one (1) of the twenty-five (25) specialized areas of law in Texas. Patrick Short is one (1) of five (5) lawyers currently in Texas who are Board Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law and Criminal Law. Less than 1.5% of active lawyers in Texas are Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and less that 1% is Board Certified in Criminal Law.
Patrick believes in the right to trial by jury as afforded to all citizens under the 6th and 7th Amendments to the United States Constitution.