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)