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Kelly Hart & Hallman is a law � rm rooted in the belief that it serves the community in which its lawyers work.

Kelly Hart & Hallman doesn’t keep a comprehensive record of the charity work its lawyers perform. � ere are no giant timecards chronicling hours of community and civic service. Earlier this year, the � rm did try to document its e� ect in the Fort Worth area and those numbers even surprised managing partner, Dee Kelly Jr. In fact, what he found was that hardly a charity, community group or cause exists in the greater Fort Worth area in which Kelly Hart & Hallman lawyers have not made an impact.

� e � rm’s dedication to the community has become a given in the culture of Kelly Hart & Hallman.

While Dee Kelly Jr. may think that helping the community should be instinctive, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce took note of the � rm’s exceptional service to the community and made it the city’s � rst law � rm to be recognized with the annual Spirit of Enterprise Award.

“Lawyers by their nature are individualistic,” explains Dee Kelly Jr., managing partner of Kelly Hart & Hallman. “Creating

a culture of service has never been a company policy, but re� ects the vision and leadership of our senior partners.”

Of course, this level of dedication to the community should be expected by anyone who knows founding partner, Dee J. Kelly, a man whose dedication to his work is matched only by his dedication to the community. Born and raised in Bonham, Texas, he credits his parents for instilling in him a strong code of values, the di� erence between right and wrong.

Founding partner, Dee J. Kelly, has long been the driving force behind the � rm’s dedicated work ethic. A� er graduating from Texas Christian University in 1950, he moved to Washington to work for House Speaker Sam Rayburn and attended George Washington University School of Law. He met Speaker Rayburn when he interviewed him for his high school newspaper. He also volunteered to work on Rayburn’s campaigns. “It was because of Mr. Rayburn that I was able to go to law school,” Kelly says.

By the time he was 25 years of age, he had received a degree from TCU, a law degree from George Washington University and spent two years serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean

Honored to Support His Community By Amile Wilson

Dee J. KellyDee J. KellyDee J. KellyDee J. KellyDee J. KellyDee J. Kelly

Photography by Shirley Che

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In 1979, Kelly Hart & Hallman began to handle a wide variety of business needs for Bass and quickly began amassing other clients needing the same service. According to Kelly, they were fortunate to have clients like the Bass family, Anne Marion, John Justin, Kay and Ben Fortson as well as the Moncrief family. It was a very good way to start a law � rm.

From its humble beginning of seven attorneys to its present size of 142 lawyers, the � rm continues to stress service to the community. Dee J. Kelly has received the Golden Deeds Award, which is awarded to an outstanding citizen of the community and the Blackstone Award, the highest award given by the Tarrant County Bar Association. In fact, the Star-Telegram named him as one of the ten most in� uential citizens in the city of Fort Worth for the � rst half of this century.

Kelly Hart & Hallman strives to be successful without letting that success cloud the root of company culture – service to clients and community.

Dee Kelly Jr. says, “Every lawyer has cases they are proud of and cases they remember, but we don’t want to dwell too much on the past. We don’t quantify, we just move forward. Each case is an educational experience and we just press on, always learning so that we can provide the best service possible for our clients.

“We built something special and made a di� erence in people’s lives, that’s really what it’s all about,” says Kelly Jr.

Assembling such a caring and hardworking team is itself hard work. But according to Kelly Jr., there is no cookie cutter that � ts exactly what the � rm is looking for in a new associate.

“We look for lawyers with unique talents that � t our clients’ needs,” he explains. “And we look for people who

seem to � t the culture of service that is so important to the way this � rm functions.”

As part of their team of legal professionals, Kelly Hart & Hallman has true strength in diversity. From young lawyers fresh out of judicial clerkships to former judges, the strength of the � rm comes from a solid mixture of experience and innovation.

� at experience is no more prevalent than with attorneys such as Bob Grable, founding partner and one of the foremost oil and gas practitioners in the state, and Dan Settle, also a founding partner and a principal � nancial and bond expert in Texas. Other well-known lawyers in the � rm include David Keltner, a former justice on the Texas Court of Appeals and John H. Cayce Jr., former chief justice of Texas’ Second Court of Appeals both are co-chairs of the � rm’s appellate practice; Marshall Searcy, who recently was chosen as the Outstanding Trial Lawyer in Texas

War. When he separated, he was a � rst lieutenant.A� er completing law school, Kelly returned to Texas

where he took a job as a legal examiner for the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulated the oil and gas industry in Texas. A� er brie� y serving in private practice in Fort Worth, he served as general counsel for W. A. Moncrief and W. A. Moncrief Jr., prominent Texas oil producers, and continued to work on energy, regulatory and business law. He began a solo practice in Fort Worth in 1964.

Kelly’s reputation and work ethic made him stand out in the legal world, and caught the eye of Sid Bass, president of Bass Brothers Enterprises. Despite having another law � rm on retainer, Bass wanted a local lawyer in Fort Worth and was very clear that he wanted Kelly to be that lawyer.

� e origination of Kelly Hart & Hallman actually had its beginnings when Sid Bass noti� ed Dee Kelly that he had made an arrangement with Vinson & Elkins in Houston under the terms of which Kelly would continue to be independent and Vinson & Elkins would furnish lawyers to work on the Fort Worth accounts.

“I have been, from the very � rst second, with Kelly Hart & Hallman because I told Dee Kelly he was going to be my lawyer,” Bass says, “But he was a single lawyer without a � rm. I needed a tax lawyer, an oil and gas lawyer, a real estate lawyer and a securities lawyer. So,

I told him I was going to make a deal between him and Vincent & Elkins, LLP, and that was going to be my law � rm.”

Mark Hart came to Fort Worth � rst as an associate of Vinson & Elkins and Bill Hallman came next, also an associate with Vinson & Elkins. � e arrangement with V & E lasted until March 1, 1979, when Kelly Hart & Hallman was formed. Bob Grable and Dan Settle were among the original founders along with Mark Hart and Bill Hallman. Pete Geren, former secretary of the army and a member of Congress from Fort Worth, was the � rm’s � rst associate.

Dee Kelly, Mark Hart and Bill Hallman enlisted a bright team of young lawyers dedicated to the idea of what the � rm could be. Pulling through all-nighters in crammed work conditions, the � rm’s founding members struggled to grow the practice.

“Back in those days, lawyers didn’t advertise,” Kelly explains. “� e only way you grew and got more clients was to develop a reputation for hard work and success.”

I love all aspects of the practice of law

Premiere 2013 Attorney at Law Magazine® Greater Fort Worth Edition 13

by the Texas Bar Foundation and Michael McConnell, a former

bankruptcy judge who heads up the bankruptcy and business

reorganization section of the � rm, and who is receiving the A.

Sherman Christensen Award for his work for the American Inns

of Court.

While the team of attorneys continues to grow, Dee J. Kelly

remains an active part of the � rm that established him as a

community leader in Fort Worth. Kelly has been a signi� cant

supporter of his alma mater TCU, where the alumni center

building is named in his honor. He has also supported the Law

School at Texas Wesleyan University, which in 2005, named the

law school library in his honor.

Despite already having a career spanning nearly 60 years, Kelly has

no plans on retiring any time soon. “I love all aspects of the practice

of law,” Kelly says. “I’ll be here practicing as long as I’m healthy.”

Carrying on the legacy of one of the 50 most in� uential

Texans may seem daunting, but for the entire sta� at Kelly Hart

& Hallman, the drive and dedication instilled in them from the

top down will always be with them.

As will the honor of being able to look out into the Fort

Worth community and see a city much better o� because of the

decades of work by their founding partners, Dee Kelly, Mark

Hart and Bill Hallman.

At A Glance

Kelly Hart & Hallman LLPWells Fargo Tower201 Main Street, Suite 2500Fort Worth, TX 76102(817) 332-2500(817) 878-9280www.KellyHart.com Practice Areas:Administrative / Regulatory Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Corporate Law,Natural Resources Law and Oil & Gas Law

Bar Admission:Texas, 1954 Education: • LL.B., George Washington University School of

Law, 1954• B.A., Texas Christian University, 1950 Professional Memberships:• UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Center, Board

of Trustees• Horatio Alger Association, Board of Directors• Performing Arts Fort Worth, Board of Directors• Texas Bar Foundation, Founding Member• American Bar Foundation, Fellow• American Bar Association• Fort Worth Bar Association• Tarrant County Bar Association Awards:• � e Best Lawyers in America, 1990-2013• Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly Magazine• Fort Worth’s Outstanding Business Executive, 1993• Horatio Alger Award, 1995• Fort Worth Tarrant County Bar Association’s

Outstanding Lawyer, 1997• Named one of the 50 Most In� uential Texans by

Texas Business, 1997• Fort Worth’s Outstanding Citizen, 2000• Distinguished Achievement Award, George

Washington University, 2001• Distinguished Citizen of the Year, Longhorn

Council of the Boy Scouts of America, 2003

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