Crawford, Wishnew & Lang partner Haleigh Jones was born in Texas but moved around with the demands of her parents’ careers. After earning her undergraduate degree in Spanish and literature from the University of Cincinnati, she returned to the Lone Star State for law school, where she graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2015.
A decade after graduating, while gaining experience representing clients at trial and on appeal, Jones has maintained a close connection to her alma mater, coaching the moot court team to a 2024 victory at the American Bar Association competition.
“They were such an incredibly talented bunch, and the right team composition, the right work ethic,” Jones said. “We don’t get team chemistry like that every year.”
She keeps the trophy on her desk in the firm’s office.
Now expecting her first child, Jones has maintained a busy docket, recently presenting oral arguments in two cases, including one before the Texas Supreme Court.
Jones recently sat down with The Texas Lawbook to discuss her career and more.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Texas Lawbook: What is a trend you have seen in your practice?
Jones: I clerked my first year out of law school for the Dallas Court of Appeals with Justice Doug Lang, and it felt like when I was on the court, if a party requested oral argument in an appeal, [the court] pretty much gave it to them. If there was a way or a reason that they said they wanted oral argument, [the court] would allow it. That has now changed. I have requested oral argument in almost every single appeal that I’ve ever pursued on either side. First of all, because I think it’s fun. Second of all, because the client wants the opportunity to see what the panel is like. The third – any chance you can have to advocate on behalf of your client, you’re going to take it, right?
I always ask for oral argument, generally, and lately, I’ve seen, post-COVID, a trend that the requests are denied. I’ve started putting, and maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but I’ve started putting in my request, “Hey, I’m trying to get board certified in civil appeals. I can’t do that if nobody will let me argue anything anymore.” I’ve had success getting some courts to grant that.
Texas Lawbook: Do you think other attorneys are running into that roadblock in trying to get their board certification?
Jones: Yeah, I definitely think so. Last year, I was the president of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, and so I got a lot of exposure to young lawyers. And I’m technically still young, according to the ABA, for one more year; it’s 12 years of practice or less. I’m counting my last year, and other young lawyers are like, “Yeah, I just can’t get the court to grant my request for oral argument.” I don’t know why they’re not granting oral argument like they used to. I can only speculate. It’s a trend, for sure.
Texas Lawbook: Do you have a memorable experience or case in your career so far?
Jones: I have many. The ones that stay with me the most are the ones that I’ve lost. If you’re not losing, you’re not trying. I think the cases that you lose are the ones that stay with you the most. We have a case that we actually just settled after losing a claim on summary judgment, and that one will haunt me, probably for the rest of my career, was a 1983 claim. The judge dismissed the 1983 claim and allowed our Title VIII claim to go forward. After that, the case settled. But the facts were just so egregious. It was a sexual abuse of a student case at a school district by a teacher. I won’t forget that case for the rest of my career, and not only because I lost, but because the facts were so egregious, and there’s nothing you can do to change the law, right?
It’s hard to sue a governmental entity, and that’s just, as a lawyer, beyond my control. The things that are beyond my control, and the cases that I lose because of the things beyond my control, those are the ones that I think about.
Of course, we’ve had some amazing wins. We won a trial last year, and we went out, had a big celebration. We feel really good about how some of our arguments in the Fifth Circuit went in August and are hoping for an opinion in our favor on those. Those are great, but those aren’t the ones that stay with me and keep me up at night.
Texas Lawbook: Why did you choose to study law?
Jones: I decided when I was 12 years old that I was going to go to law school, and it was a combination of nature and nurture. My mom really encouraged me to go, and said, “You’re really not great at math, but you’re really good at arguing with me, and, more importantly, you’re really good at reading and writing.” She really just encouraged me, and she’s right. I mean, I do like reading. I do like writing. I was the kid who was reading Harry Potter at the dinner table, as my family would go out to dinner. I was reading a book for most of elementary school. I just loved reading so much. And the law is something that changes constantly, and you have to study constantly. You’re a forever student if you’re a lawyer, especially an appellate lawyer.
When I went to law school and we had our first reading assignments, and I started getting into a rhythm of preparing for class and doing all of that, I had this immediate moment of, yeah, this is where I’m supposed to be. It was a combination of nature and nurture, but at its core, I would say, a pursuit of reading and writing.
Texas Lawbook: What do you enjoy about teaching at SMU?
Jones: I have relationships with students that have stayed with me for almost a decade. I just love the mentorship of it, truly. I know that sounds kind of trite, like a lot of people say they love being a mentor. I really do. I love being a mentor, and I teach moot court. I coach the national moot court teams, which means that we’re practicing appellate advocacy, so we’re reading the law, and we’re learning something.
I’m teaching them on an issue that the Supreme Court of the United States might actually take up. They’re cutting-edge issues of law I have to teach these students … so I have to learn the issue myself. … I just have fun learning about whatever the new thing that the ABA thinks is important every year. Sometimes it’s criminal law. Sometimes it’s … some copyright stuff. Social media and copyrights have taken off, just really interesting stuff, and so I enjoy learning about it. But then I enjoy working with the students, too. And I’ve been doing it 10 years now, and it’ll be a part of my practice forever.
Texas Lawbook: What is a hobby of yours when you get a chance to step away from your desk or the courtroom?
Jones: Right now, I’m pregnant with my first child. My hobby right now is sleeping. I work and I sleep. Those are my two speeds right now. But in a normal world where I’m not pregnant, I really am a Peloton junkie, and I ride my bike almost every day — to the point where my husband says that if our house was on fire, he would have to go try to somehow save the bike and bring the bike out, because it keeps me sane. I’ve been on it while pregnant probably three times a week, which depends on my energy level and what we’ve got going on. Three times a week feels pretty good while pregnant.
Texas Lawbook: Do you have a favorite fictional lawyer?
Jones: I really don’t. My favorite real lawyer is probably Ruth Bader Ginsburg, just because she was so brilliant in the way that she knew her audience, and she would make her arguments about women’s rights when she was taking up cases on those issues. As an advocate, before she took the bench, she would make the arguments as if they applied to men only to the all-male Supreme Court, and she’s just brilliant. And the way that she did that, the way that she knew her audience, it got her some really fantastic results that were kind of ahead of her time and ahead of her vintage as a lawyer. And so she’s for sure my favorite lawyer to have walked this earth.
Texas Lawbook: Do you have any upcoming trials or hearings we should know about?
Jones: I have a slew of trials in November, around Thanksgiving, that are probably not going to happen just because of where we are on the docket. Then I have a really big one set in March in Judge [Eric] Moyé’s court and hopefully some more oral arguments along the way. That’s kind of what the next six months look like.
If you or someone you know would like to be profiled in a future edition of Asked & Answered, please let us know at tlblitigation@texaslawbook.net. Check out our other Asked & Answered interviews below:
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