Gary Ingram has practiced law in the Fort Worth-Dallas area for more than 40 years. You might say he started from the ground up.
In his first jury trial in his first year out of law school, Ingram represented an elderly female butcher who suffered a work-related injury to her foot. He persuaded the jury to award his client lifetime medical benefits and a substantial award of damages.
That initial courtroom victory was a good first step in a legal career distinguished by subsequent wins at the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Supreme Court, the National Labor Relations Board in Washington D.C. and in trial courts, intermediate appellate courts and administrative tribunals in Texas and around the country.
Along the way, he has successfully defended nationwide class actions involving issues of equal pay, age discrimination, hiring practices and promotions, in addition to negotiating multistate collective bargaining agreements and resolving Occupational Safety and Health Administration citations and claims against federal contractors.
For more than 20 years, Ingram was the statewide leader of Jackson Walker’s Labor and Employment Law Practice Group, which grew under his leadership from four attorneys to one of the largest Labor and Employment Practice groups among Texas law firms.
When not focused on serving his clients, Ingram has devoted time and energy to helping educate lawyers by speaking at professional education programs and volunteering his legal services to help disabled veterans with their legal problems.
Likewise, he has been an active member and Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and Tarrant County Bar Foundation, organizations that help fund and promote legal assistance and education to those in need. Outside the legal community, he has coached many youth sports teams and has raised money and contributed free legal services and advice to charitable organizations, particularly those whose mission is to help abused or neglected children and animals.
Which legal case in American history do you see as the most influential? Why?
Gideon v. Wainwright: it established that individuals have a fundamental right to counsel.
What inspired you to become an attorney?
As a young boy, I enjoyed reading about – and was inspired by – Abraham Lincoln, an attorney who practiced his profession with the utmost integrity.
What is your most significant professional achievement?
Having earned the respect and admiration of my family for the manner in which I have practiced my profession.
What motivates you?
Fear of not being totally prepared.
What are the major challenges facing young attorneys?
Overcoming their addiction to smart phones.
Do you have a specialty area of practice?
Employer-side labor and employment law compliance and litigation, and I am board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
– Betty Dillard