Kelly Hart
David Keltner
Attorney David Keltner, a partner in the Fort Worth firm Kelly Hart, was presented the 2023 American Inns of Court James E. Coleman Jr. Award for Professionalism in the Fifth Circuit during a reception in San Antonio on Monday.
The award was presented by Judge Carl E. Stewart, Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn, and BG Malinda E. Dunn, USA (Ret.).
“David is a lawyer’s lawyer — knowledgeable, experienced, collegial, and, most importantly, ethical,” wrote Marianne Auld and Dee J. Kelly Jr. in their nomination of Keltner. “At the same time that he has put together one of the most impressive legal careers that the Texas bar ever has witnessed, he also has garnered a reputation for his civility and professionalism.”
The American Inns of Court Professionalism Awards are awarded each year in participating federal circuits to a lawyer or judge whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession and the rule of law.
Keltner’s commitment to ethics was witnessed in his role in drafting the Texas Lawyer’s Creed: A Mandate for Professionalism, promulgated by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 1989.
The document that Keltner and three others crafted urges lawyers to be more professional and to live up to the ideals they were taught in law school.
A justice on the Texas Court of Appeals early in his career, Keltner has dedicated most of his career to appellate work. After an early stint in trial work at Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller, Keltner moved to Haynes and Boone, LLP, where he created one of the nation’s first appellate sections.
He joined Kelly Hart as a partner in 2007. He has been the lead counsel in more than 300 appellate decisions.
Keltner is one of only 320 fellows of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Best Lawyers named him the Appellate Lawyer of the Year for Dallas-Fort Worth in 2016 and 2018. In 2012, the Texas Bar Foundation gave Keltner its first Gregory S. Coleman Outstanding Appellate Lawyer Award. Texas Lawyer named him the state’s “go-to appellate lawyer.”
Keltner has also promoted ethics and professionalism by helping found the Eldon B. Mahon American Inn of Court. He has also been active in the state bar. He chaired the Board of Directors of the State Bar of Texas and the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. He is a frequent speaker at continuing legal education events.
Keltner earned a journalism degree at Trinity University in 1972 and a law degree from SMU’s Dedman School of Law in 1975.
The American Inns of Court, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, inspires the legal community to advance the rule of law by achieving the highest level of professionalism through example, education, and mentoring. The organization’s membership includes nearly 30,000 federal, state, and local judges, lawyers, law professors, and law students in more than 360 chapters nationwide.