Charles Babcock

Practice Areas

Trial & Appellate Litigation

Career

Chip Babcock litigates at both the trial and appellate levels across the United States. He has tried over 100 cases to a jury, handled over ten domestic and international arbitrations and argued over 50 appeals. His practice is focused on bet-the-company, First Amendment and media litigation, commercial litigation, copyright infringement, appellate cases, and special investigations.

Chip has represented individuals such as Jerry Jones, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil McGraw, George W. Bush, and Reggie Love (aide to President Obama). His corporate clients have included Independent Bank, ORIX USA, Celanese Corp, Fox News Network, CNN, Google, CBS Television Studios, Vantage Drilling International, Warner Brothers Pictures, New Line Cinema, 3M Corporation and OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.

Chip has tried highly publicized cases such as Turner v. Dolcefino, which was covered gavel to gavel for nine weeks on CourtTV (now TruTV); Texas Beef v. Oprah Winfrey, which was litigated for six weeks in Amarillo, Texas, and concerned the popular talk show host’s statements about “mad cow” disease; Knight v. The Chicago Tribune, a case tried in Cook County, Illinois, involving a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist defendant and his highly acclaimed series about prosecutorial misconduct; In re Sharon Keller, which involved an effort to remove the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals from the bench; and In re Hecht, where the Judicial Conduct Commission attempted to admonish the (now) Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court over statements he made in support of a nominee to the United States Supreme Court.

Professional Memberships

American College of Trial Lawyers; American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); The Center for American and International Law (CAIL); International Academy of Trial Lawyers; Litigation Counsel of America; American Law Institute; The Texas Philosophical Society; Brown University Crew

Previously served on the Texas Commission of Judicial Selection (2019-2020)

Work Highlights

Among Chip’s many successes is his representation of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions Inc. in numerous litigation matters pertaining to First Amendment law across the United States. He successfully defended The Chicago Tribune in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. He served as lead counsel for Dr. Phil in his game-changing case for the broadcast industry regarding the California Retraction Statute against the Kalpoe brothers – one-time suspects in the murder of Natalee Holloway. He defeated an effort to remove the presiding judge from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. The trial judge ruled in favor of Chip’s client, and a Special [Appellate] Court of Review dismissed all charges. In 2012, he successfully defended Celanese Ltd. in a multi-billion dollar fraud and breach of contract case involving a methanol supply agreement. In 2014, he represented the plaintiff and won a jury trial against Nissan North America, Inc. In 2015, he won a highly publicized case for a Texas District Judge regarding her posts on Facebook. In 2018, he tried a high-profile breach of contract case for Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits in Dallas County. In 2019, he successfully defended The University of Texas at Austin in a preliminary injunction hearing regarding the university’s speech code.

Chip has appeared before the United States Courts of Appeal for the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits, as well as the Texas, California, and Illinois Intermediate Appellate and Supreme Courts. He has appeared for oral argument in more than 50 cases including the Dallas Court of Appeals, where the Court heard the first case on the merits of a dismissal under the Texas Citizens Participation Act – anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) statutes. His cases include an important matter concerning the speech and debate clause of the Federal Constitution in the Ninth Circuit. He established the First Amendment right of journalists to protect confidential sources in a Fifth Circuit case involving the TransAmerican Press. In the First Circuit, Chip successfully defended Harpo in a copyright/misappropriation appeal. In January 2013, the California Court of Appeal found that the state’s retraction statute applied to all television broadcasts and not just breaking news, thus vindicating Chip’s clients. Chip has argued and won several significant libel, defamation, and First Amendment law-related cases on behalf of major media defendants, including Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil, FOX Entertainment Group, Bill O’Reilly, and Univision. In 2019, he argued a case of first impression under the new Texas Defamation Act before the Texas Supreme Court.

Education

Awards