Richard Hightower

Richard Hightower, a licensed attorney for more than 40 years, is Of Counsel in the firm’s Houston office.  Immediately before joining the firm in 2025, Mr. Hightower served for six years as a Justice on the First Court of Appeals in Houston and was named the 2023 Appellate Judge of the Year by the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists.  During his time on the bench, he authored hundreds of civil and criminal opinions and participated in the disposition of more than a thousand other appellate matters.

A native of Livingston, Texas, Mr. Hightower began his legal career in 1981 in Longview, Texas as an associate and then partner in the law firm of Sharp, Ward, Price, and Hightower.  In 1986, he relocated to Houston as a trial partner in a statewide firm eventually known as Brown McCarroll & Oaks Hartline.  In 2000, he opened his own law firm, Richard F. Hightower, P.C., serving as a mediator, hearing officer, and outside investigator, until his election in 2018.

Mr. Hightower is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell and has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer.  He is a Life Fellow of the Houston Bar Association, a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a member of the Texas Council of School Attorneys and the Judicial and School Law Sections of the State Bar of Texas.