The Houston-based firm expands its litigation practice with a veteran Texas trial lawyer known for high-stakes commercial, energy, and complex disputes.
Burke Law Group (“BLG”), the Houston-headquartered boutique known for elite counsel in high-stakes litigation, environmental, regulatory, and corporate matters, has announced that Liz Klingensmith joined the firm as a Partner in its Houston office, arriving from an Am Law 100 law firm. Her arrival adds significant trial firepower to the firm’s expanding Texas litigation practice and marks the latest step in Burke Law Group’s build-out of a trial practice designed for sustained, bet-the-company disputes.
A trial lawyer with more than two decades of experience, Klingensmith is the lawyer companies call when commercial, energy, construction, and trade-secret disputes threaten core assets, operations, or the bottom line. She represents clients in multiple industries, with depth in the energy sector, through every stage of the dispute-resolution process, from pre-suit risk assessment and strategy through discovery, dispositive motions, trial, arbitration, mediation, and appeal, with a focus on protecting enterprise value and delivering business-critical results.
Klingensmith has tried multiple cases to favorable verdicts and judgments. Among her marquee results, she served as co-lead trial counsel in a five-week jury trial in a bet-the-company construction and energy dispute over the design and construction of a crude distillation facility. The trial resulted in a favorable verdict, later affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the defeat of more than $100 million in counterclaims. She is widely valued for turning complex technical and commercial facts into clear trial themes that resonate with judges, juries, and arbitrators.
“Liz is exactly the kind of lawyer clients want in the room when the stakes are existential. She tries cases and wins them in the most demanding commercial and energy disputes, and she does it with the judgment, command, and business pragmatism that define this firm. Her arrival deepens our already-formidable Texas litigation bench, and it signals precisely where Burke Law Group is headed,” said Marcella Burke, Chairman and Managing Partner of Burke Law Group.
Klingensmith’s arrival comes during a period of rapid growth for the firm, which has expanded to 22 lawyers in a few years. Her addition strengthens a Texas-rooted litigation bench anchored in Houston, where she joins partner Ross Spence, and in Austin, where partner Jill Carvalho, Ph.D., is based. The group extends nationally through partners Patrick Kenneally in Chicago and Paul Simon in Lafayette, Louisiana, who has been ranked in the Chambers USA Guide for General Commercial Litigation for the past three years. Joshua D. Wright, a former Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, also recently joined the firm as senior counsel, focusing on complex antitrust, consumer protection, regulatory, and litigation matters. Together they are supported by a growing bench of counsel and associates, including Joe Bingham, Madison Burke, and Abigail Hornsby, who bring elite federal clerkships and government experience to the team.
The build-out reflects a deliberate strategic evolution. Burke Law Group earned its reputation helping companies navigate high-stakes confrontations with the government. With the addition of Klingensmith and a growing roster of trial talent, the firm is extending that strength into sustained, long-horizon litigation, giving clients a single platform for both the crisis and the campaign.
“Burke Law Group is building something rare. The firm has the sophistication and firepower of the largest practices, paired with the focus, speed, and partner-level attention that companies want when everything is on the line. I was drawn to the caliber of the lawyers here and to a platform built for the way high-stakes litigation is really won. I look forward to trying cases alongside this team and to helping our clients protect what matters most,” said Klingensmith.
Active in the profession and her community, Klingensmith serves on the Executive Committee of the Institute for Energy Law and is a past Chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Oil, Gas and Mineral Law Section. She earned her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and holds bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Music History from Rice University. She is admitted to practice in Texas and Oklahoma and before all four U.S. District Courts in Texas.
About Burke Law Group
Burke Law Group is a Houston-based boutique delivering elite legal counsel for high-stakes matters. The firm advises companies across the United States on complex environmental, regulatory, and enforcement matters, high-stakes commercial litigation, and corporate transactions, pairing the sophistication of an Am Law platform with the focus, agility, and responsiveness of a boutique. Burke Law Group was recognized as a leading firm in the 2026 Chambers USA Guide, ranked in Texas for Environment, and Chairman and Managing Partner Marcella Burke is individually ranked for Environment in Texas.