Ralph Canada

Partner

Ralph has over 30 years of trial and appellate experience, not just in Texas, but also before courts and arbitration panels throughout the country.

Education

B.A., University of Texas at Austin, 1976, with highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa

J.D., Harvard Law School, 1979, cum laude

Admissions

State of Texas (1979)

U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

A native Texan, Ralph has over 30 years of trial and appellate experience in Texas, as well as before courts and arbitration panels throughout the country. His experience includes a diverse array of complex commercial disputes such as business torts, contract disputes, tax, real estate development, and professional malpractice.

Before joining Deary Ray, Ralph served as partner and litigation head in the Dallas offices of two national law firms. In 2011, he was selected by attorney peers for inclusion in Texas Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters service, in the Business Litigation category.

Since 2003, he has represented plaintiffs in numerous tax shelter matters, in courts, arbitration tribunals, and on appeal throughout the country. He has twice spoken at ABA Tax Section Meetings on civil litigation involving tax shelters. He recently successfully argued the case of Ouwinga v. Benistar 419 Plan Servs., Inc., 694 F.3d 783, 787 (6th Cir. 2012), before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in which class claims against the promoters of a life-insurance based tax shelter were reinstated and remanded to the federal district court for discovery.

Representative Experience

Lead plaintiffs’ counsel in numerous tax shelter cases against major law, accounting and investment firms, including two class actions certified for settlement in Southern District of New York

Lead trial counsel in multi-week arbitration over the sale of a computer company

Lead trial counsel in multi-week trial representing the former CEO of a retail company

Awards and Recognition

Phi Beta Kappa

Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Environmental Law Review

The Best Lawyers in America®, by BL Ranking, LLC, 2020 – present

Professional Memberships

Dallas Bar Association

State Bar of Texas

American Bar Association

Publications and Speeches

Author, “The SEC and Environmental Disclosure,” Harvard Environmental Law Rev. 392 (1977)

Co-Author, “Surviving the First Year of Law School” (Lord Publishing, 1978)