JUDGE MARICELA MOORE

Summary of Legal Experience:

Judge Maricela Moore has 20 years of wide-ranging civil legal experience. She currently presides over the 162nd Civil District Court in Dallas County and also serves as the Local Administrative District Judge for Dallas County. In addition, she previously served as the Presiding Judge of Civil Jury Services. Before becoming a judge, she was a partner in a boutique litigation firm, founded her own law firm that focused on employee rights, and practiced complex commercial and employment litigation at Baker & McKenzie and Cowles & Thompson P.C. She was also a law intern with the Texas Supreme Court and the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Judge Moore has extensive experience litigating in both trial and appellate courts commercial, employment, contract, trade secret, non-competition agreement, and other complex civil matters. She has also presided over hundreds of products liability, commercial, and personal injury jury trials. In addition, she has been engaged to investigate potential ethical and legal violations by executives and employees of national banking associations, publicly traded companies, and public associations. She is Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Awards & Recognition:

• American Board of Trial Advocates Trial Judge of the Year, 2019
• Recognized by “BestLawyers” in the area of labor and employment law, 2014-2016
• Named a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” by D Magazine, 2014, 2016
• Named a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Super Lawyers, a publication of Thomas Reuters, 2014-2016
• Named a “Texas Rising Star” by Super Lawyers, a publication of Thomas Reuters, 2005, 2011-2014
• Recipient of the Dallas Bar Association Jo Anna Moreland Outstanding Committee Chair Award, 2012
• Recommended by the Dallas Morning News for the 162nd Civil District Court, 2012, and 2016
• Endorsed as Qualified for the 162nd Civil District Court by the Committee for a Qualified Judiciary, 2012, and 2016

Professional Associations:

• College of the State Bar of Texas Member, 2011-present
• Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Foundation Fellow, 2008-present
• Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Leadership Class, 2004
• Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Judicial Intern Co-Chairperson, 2005
• Dallas Bar Association, Equal Access of Justice Small Firm Committee Chair
• Dallas Bar Association Board of Directors, 2007 and 2019
• Dallas Bar Foundation Fellow, 2007-present
• Dallas County Associate Judge Selection Committee, 2004
• Dallas Hispanic Bar Association, Past President, 2007
• Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation, Past President, 2008-2010
• Mac Taylor Inn of Court, Associate Member, 2007-present
• Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas, Past President, 2010-2011
• Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court, Associate Member, 2005-2006
• Texas Bar Foundation Fellow, 2007-present
• University of North Texas Law School, board of advisors, 2014-present

Education:

• J.D., George Washington University Law School, 2001
• B.S., magna cum laude, Boston College, Carroll School of Management, 1997

Personal:

• Longtime resident of East Dallas
• Two children
• Bilingual in English and Spanish
• Parishioner at St. Thomas Aquinas Church
• Member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas