Grant Schmidt

Prior to joining Willkie, Grant was the Managing Partner of the Dallas office of Hilgers PLLC. Prior to that, he was a litigation partner at an international law firm in Dallas. While there, he served as Assistant District Attorney at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office through a program sponsored by the firm.

Grant also served as a law clerk to The Honorable Sam A. Lindsay, United States District Court – Northern District of Texas.

While at the University of Notre Dame, Grant served as Student Body President. And while at the University of Texas School of Law, Grant served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Review of Litigation and was chosen by his class to speak at the graduation ceremony.  

• Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America, 2024 - 2026 
• Best Lawyers in America, 2024 - 2026
• D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers,” 2024 - 2026
• D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers Under 40,” 2020 - 2026
• Texas Lawyer, Finalist, Managing Partner of the Year, 2025
• Lawdragon’s “100 Managing Partners You Need to Know,” 2025 - 2026 

• Member, Northern District of Texas’s Advisory Committee
• Past President, The Federal Bar Association - Dallas Chapter
• Board Member, Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas (Appointed by the Mayor of Dallas)
• Chair of the Board, The Human Impact
• Member, Advisory Council of the Catholic Foundation
• Member, City of Dallas’s Ethics Advisory Commission (Appointed by Dallas City Council)
• Past Chair, Dallas Alumni Steering Committee for the University of Texas School of Law 

• Served as trial counsel for well-known bariatric surgeon Dr. William Daniel Nicholson IV, founder of the Nicholson Clinic for Weight Loss Surgery in Dallas, in a case alleging healthcare bribes and kickbacks. Of the 21 defendants indicted, Nicholson was the only defendant acquitted of all charges.
• Secured a recent 2026 jury trial win in Dallas County on behalf of a prominent land owner who sought relief against a developer in the context of claims related to the Texas Water Code, trespass, negligence, and nuisance. 
• Secured a recent 2026 trial win in Collin County – resulting in a take nothing judgment and defeating all breach of contract and fraud claims. 
• Secured a recent 2026 bet-the-company arbitration win in Texas – resulting in a CA and TX based company maintaining control of the company. 
• Successfully achieved outright dismissal of patent infringement claim in 2025 against client, a pharmacy provider, in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Successfully achieved outright dismissal in 2025 of a class action in California on behalf of a major airline.
• Successfully defeated a request to appoint a receiver to take over the client’s operations in TX Business Court in 2025.
• Successfully resolved a products liability case in TX state court in 2025 on behalf of a manufacturer in the context of a work place injury.
• Successfully achieved outright dismissal in 2024 of TCPA claims against a non-profit organization in NDTX.
• Successfully achieved outright dismissal in 2024 on behalf of a start-up tech company in the context of a jurisdictional dispute in TX.
• Successfully defended company in recent 2024 arbitration against breach of contract claims and alter ego allegations (leading to a complete defense win with zero damages awarded to the claimant).
• Successfully secured a decisive win in recent 2024 arbitration (specifically defending client against breach of fiduciary duty claims in the tech sector); succeeded on counterclaims and secured attorney’s fees for client as well.
• Successfully secured a favorable resolution in 2024 on behalf of a major national bank in the context of a landlord tenant dispute involving a high traffic branch location.
• Successfully secured a dismissal of multiple individual defendants in a breach of contract and negligence matter. in TX state court in 2023; subsequently succeeded in resolving the case in 2024 where a multi-million dollar demand of HG’s client turned into a significant payment (hundreds of thousands of dollars) to HG’s client.
• Represented large steel fabrication company in bet-the-company suit against competitor. Obtained early injunction against competitor restraining the competitor’s theft and unlawful use of trade secrets. After litigating for two years, obtained successful settlement for client on eve of trial.
• Represented a developer of a billion-dollar lakeside real estate project who faced injunction in favor of marina owner restricting development; obtained dissolution of injunction in favor of marina owner and dismissal of all claims against developer.
• Represented Fillmore Capital Partners, LLC, Fillmore Strategic Investors, LLC, Fillmore Strategic Management, LLC, Golden Gate National Senior Care, LLC and AlixaRx, LLC in a trade secret and patent litigation matter brought by Tech Pharmacy Services. Following a month-long trial, a jury rendered its verdict in less than a day, rejecting the plaintiff’s claims for fraud and trade secret misappropriation and finding no infringement on the asserted patents.
• Represented relators and obtained a successful settlement in a $100 million-plus False Claims Act case.
• Represented Fresenius Medical Care in over 12,000 individual product liability cases. The first bellwether trial ended in a defense verdict and the vast bulk of cases settled thereafter.

*Grant advised on some of these matters prior to joining Willkie.