Alan York

"Alan's instincts, experience and credibility make him an integral part of any trial team looking to put on and preserve their best possible case."
Chambers USA, Litigation: Appellate client

"Alan York is a superior lawyer with a high level of legal intelligence."
Chambers USA, Litigation: Appellate client

"Alan has been an integral part of our case during the appellate process. We have been lucky to have him."
Chambers USA, Litigation: Appellate client

Alan is an appellate partner and Reed Smith’s global chair of Culture and Engagement. He spearheads the development and implementation of policies and programs aimed at fostering an inclusive culture, ensuring opportunity for all, collaborating with clients, and serving underrepresented communities.

Alan has been involved in appellate law since the inception of his legal career, serving from 1989 to 1990 as a briefing attorney to Justice Sam Robertson on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals. Since that time, Alan has maintained an active involvement in appellate bar activities, serving as chair of the Houston Bar Association Appellate Practice Section and as a council member of the State Bar of Texas Appellate Practice Section. He has also served as a judicial liaison between these bar sections and the judiciary, and has co-authored and co-presented numerous CLE topics with members of the appellate judiciary.

Alan is board certified in civil appellate law and focuses on pre-trial/trial strategy and support, as well as error preservation, appellate briefing, and argument in significant civil cases. In addition to his appellate docket, Alan is actively involved in trial practice, and served as one of the lead litigation and appellate counsel for Halliburton in civil claims and investigations arising from the Deepwater Horizon blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico, one of the largest environmental litigation matters in U.S. history. He also handles other appellate and litigation matters involving business disputes, environmental issues, insurance coverage, banking and real estate, and bankruptcy.

Alan has made the promotion of an inclusive culture a critical part of his practice. He serves on the National Board and as a leader of the Houston Leadership Committee for Lambda Legal, the most active legal organization fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ communities in the United States. He has led efforts to bring to Texas the Name Change Project, a program of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund that provides pro bono legal representation to individuals seeking name and gender marker changes.

Alan is the immediate past global chair of PRISM, Reed Smith’s LGBTQ+ business inclusion group, which he led from 2018 to 2023. Under Alan’s leadership, PRISM more than doubled its membership. Alan refined the group’s focus to more intentionally connect LGBTQ+ lawyers and professional staff, to enhance employment policies and benefits directly impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and to work with other marginalized communities to create intersectional programming.

Alan has been selected multiple times for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© list; is a seven-time recipient of Thomson Reuters’ Top 100 Lawyers in Houston honors; was named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Texas in 2016, 2017, and 2018; has been selected for more than 15 years to the Texas Super Lawyers list; has been recognized nine times among H Texas Magazine’s Top Lawyers in Houston; and is AV-rated Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest ranking for ethics and legal ability. He has twice been named to INvolve’s Outstanding Top 100 LGBT+ Executives Role Model Lists, which highlight role models for others to follow when it comes to being out and proud at work, driving positive change in the office, and supporting LGBTQ+ colleagues.

Alan received a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1989 and a B.B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Houston in 1986.

Recognitions

Twice named to INvolve’s Outstanding Top 100 LGBT+ Executives Role Model Lists, 2019, 2022
Selected through peer review for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© for Appellate Practice, 2015-2025
Named to Thomson Reuters’ Top 100 Lawyers in Texas, 2016-2018