Firm Profile

William S. Harris has practiced criminal law in North Texas for more than thirty-six years. Immediately out of law school he joined the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office where he served for five years as a prosecutor. In 1981 he left the District Attorney’s office to join the renowned Dallas law firm of Burleson, Pate and Gibson, where he began the practice of criminal defense law. In 1984 he returned to Fort Worth and opened his office as a sole practitioner. He has been certified as a criminal law specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1988. Mr. Harris is a former president and director of the Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association and a former Director of the Texas Association of Board Certified Criminal Law Specialists. He is currently a director of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the largest state criminal defense lawyers association in America, and served as president of that organization in 2010-2011. He frequently speaks on criminal law topics at seminars certified by the State Bar of Texas for Continuing Legal Education, teaching other lawyers. He is also a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Tarrant County Bar Association and the State Bar of Texas. Mr. Harris is admitted to practice in all Courts of the State of Texas, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.