Texas Border Businesses
Austin, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott today announced appointments to the new First Commercial Court Division in Dallas, which was created last year to help businesses efficiently resolve complex commercial disputes in Texas. The Governor appointed Andrea Bressa and William “Bill” Whitehill as judges in the First Commercial Court Division. The terms are effective September 1, 2024 and expire September 1, 2026. The First Commercial Court Division is comprised of Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Kaufman and Rockwall Counties.
Andrea Bressa Ms. Bressa, of Murphy, is a judge in the 471st Judicial District Court and recently served two years as a municipal district judge in Collin County. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the Collin County Bar Association, the Kurt B. Henderson American Inn of Court, and the Federalist Society. She was the recipient of the 2022 Emerging Aggie Lawyer Award from the Texas Aggie Bar Association and was honored as a 2023 Outstanding Jurist by the Collin County Women’s Bar Association. Ms. Bressa earned her Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Texas A&M University, her Master of Science in Sociology from the University of North Texas, and her Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman College of Law.
William “Bill” Whitehill Koppel is a member of the law firm Condon, Tobin, Sredek, Thornton & Nerenberg, where he heads the firm’s Appellate and Special Issues Practice Group. He is also a former judge of the Texas Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Dallas. Prior to joining the Court of Appeals, Koppel was a trial and appellate partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell (formerly Foley & Lardner) for many years. Koppel is the chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Appellate Section and is past chair of the Texas State Bar Association’s Antitrust and Corporate Litigation Section and the Dallas Bar Association’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section. Koppel is an adjunct instructor of trial advocacy at SMU’s Robert H. Dedman School of Law, a lecturer at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and Deposition Technology, and a frequent continuing legal education speaker at the Texas State Bar, the Dallas Bar Association, and other events. Koppel is a Master of Law at the Mack Taylor Institute, a Life Member of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation. Additionally, he is a former member of the Center for International Law, the International Bar Association, the Fifth Circuit Bar Association, the Rockwall Bar Association, the Dallas Young Lawyers Association and the Texas Association of Bank Advisors. He has served as a judge on the Coppell Teen Court, is a homeless kitchen volunteer at Cornerstone Baptist Church and a former co-teacher and mentor at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy. Whitehill earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and his Juris Doctor from SMU Dedman School of Law.
Last year, Governor Abbott signed Bill 19 into law, creating new specialized business courts across the state to streamline the resolution of business disputes.
