Second Court of Appeals

Justice Place 4

David E. Keltner (1986 to 1990)

David E. Keltner was born on January 16, 1950, in Fort Worth, Texas.  He attended Paschal High School and received his bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in 1972.  After college, he volunteered and served in the army before ultimately matriculating at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he served on the moot court team and was inducted into the National Order of Barristers.

After graduating from law school in 1975, Keltner spent a brief period in London on a fellowship before starting work at Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller, where he practiced for ten years.  In 1986, he successfully ran for a seat on the Second Court of Appeals.  Following the election, Governor Mark White appointed Keltner to the court so that he could begin sitting on cases right away.  He served as a justice for four years before returning to private practice.

After leaving the court, he spent eight years at Haynes & Boone before joining Jose, Henry, Brantley & Keltner as a named partner.  He later formed the Keltner Law Firm.  He joined Kelly Hart & Hallman in 2017 and continues to practice as a partner in the firm’s appellate section.

Keltner served on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee for Professionalism that drafted the Texas Lawyer’s Creed and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.  He has received numerous awards, including the James E. Coleman Jr. Award for Professionalism in the Fifth Circuit.  He currently serves on both the Texas A&M University School of Law Dean’s Advisory Council and the SMU Dedman School of Law Executive Board.