About Brett Ordiway
Brett Ordiway’s practice is devoted solely to representing the wrongfully convicted and sentenced. One of just 126 Texas attorneys board certified in criminal-appellate law, Brett has represented countless people in direct appeals and applications for writs of habeas corpus in the state and federal courts, winning relief for a long list of clients.
From the beginning, Brett has focused his practice on post-conviction criminal work. Even before graduating from the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, Brett worked in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office’s appellate division, learning how the state responds to direct appeals and applications for writs of habeas corpus. After graduating, Brett served two terms as the law clerk for Judge Paul Womack of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas’s highest criminal appellate court. There, Brett learned how courts evaluate direct appeals and applications for writs of habeas corpus.
A Dallas native, Brett joined Udashen Anton in 2013. In addition to earning his board certification in criminal-appellate law in 2019, Brett has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Texas Rising Star and top-rated appellate attorney. In 2022, Brett was appointed to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s Criminal Appellate Law Exam Commission, the committee that drafts the certification exam. In 2024, Brett co-chaired the Center for American and International Law’s Criminal Writs seminar.
- Brett Ordiway spoke at the Center for American and International Law’s “Criminal Writs” seminar on the subject of “Cognizable Issues.”
- Working with the Innocence Project of Texas, Gary Udashen and Brett Ordiway won the reversal of a capital murder conviction and life sentence based on false testimony
- Brett Ordiway spoke at the Center for American and International Law’s “Actual Innocence: Habeas Issues” conference on the subject of “Advanced Nuts & Bolts: Motions, Pleadings, & Hearings.”
- Brett Ordiway spoke at the Center for American and International Law’s Criminal Writs & Habeas Training Conference
- Brett Ordiway was appointed to the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s Criminal Appellate Law Exam Commission
- Sheridan Lewis, Brett Ordiway, and Katherine Reed were selected to the 2021 Texas Rising Stars list.
- Brett Ordiway spoke at The Center for American and International Law’s Habeas Issues program on August 28, 2020. Brett was the defense attorney on a panel discussion, “From Client to Court: A Walk Through the 11.07 Writ Process.”
- U.S. Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Eastern, Texas
- U.S. District Court, Northern, Texas
- U.S. District Court, Southern, Texas
- U.S. District Court, Western, Texas
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Texas
- University of Texas School of Law (JD, 2011)
- University of Texas at Austin (BA, 2008)