Chad Baruch

Chad Baruch recently completed his term as the 85th chair of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors—and as the first Jewish lawyer to serve as president or chair of the State Bar. A former college basketball coach and professor, Baruch is certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. 

In 2015, Baruch wrote a legal brief, the “Hip Hop Brief,” that received national media attention, including feature stories in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Spin. One newspaper called it “the greatest amicus brief in Supreme Court history.” Another of his cases, Rhine v. Deatons, became the first case in American history in which the U.S. Supreme Court requested the briefing of a state solicitor general at the certiorari stage. 

Baruch received the 2024 State Bar of Texas Pat Nester Award, the 2015 Gene Cavin Award, the 2016 Dan Rugeley Price Memorial Award, the 2018 Patrick Wiseman Memorial Award, and the 2019 Jim Bowmer Professionalism Award from the Texas Bar College. 

A recognized constitutional scholar, Baruch serves as a contributor to Black’s Law Dictionary and has lectured to thousands of attorneys across the country on legal writing.