Ben Mesches

Practice Areas

Ben Mesches leads the firm’s Appellate Practice Group, serves on the firm’s Board of Directors, and he successfully guides appellate and litigation teams in high-stakes cases in state and federal courts nationwide.

Board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, in recent years Ben has amassed a string of high-profile wins in constitutional, commercial, and energy cases in appellate courts across the country:

• In a blockbuster case before the en banc Dallas Court of Appeals, he persuaded the court to hold that ERCOT, the grid operator for Texas’s largest electric-power marker, is not immune from suit (2022).

• In back-to-back to terms, he won constitutional cases at the Texas Supreme Court challenging legislative pension reforms impacting billions of dollars in pension funds (2019-20).

• In a closely watched case involving the standards governing the enforceability of forum selection clauses, Ben persuaded the California Supreme Court to grant review (2022).

• In the Fifth Circuit, Ben prevailed in a commercial dispute alleging contract, tort, and antitrust claims seeking in excess of $50 million (2022).

• In a precedent-setting insurance coverage dispute involving a cybersecurity breach, Ben secured reversal in the Fifth Circuit on behalf of a corporate policyholder (2021).

• In another set of cases in the Fifth Circuit, he secured reversals in a renewable-energy dispute involving a $300 million power contract (2017, 2019).

• In the Third Circuit, he defeated an $80 million claim in a trademark case in which the court held that a major pharmaceutical company owned disputed intellectual property rights (2019).

Ben’s peers recognize his collaborative leadership style. At the firm, Ben led the firm’s global litigation practice from 2016-2022 and serves on the firm's Board of Directors. He has served as president of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, chair of the American Bar Association’s Council of Appellate Lawyers—the only national appellate bench-bar organization in the country—and chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Appellate Section.

Ben is regularly invited to write and speak on litigation and appellate practice topics, including post- judgment strategy, practicing before the Texas Supreme Court, Fifth Circuit trends, jury charges, bankruptcy appeals, and the selection and preservation of issues for appeal.