Brett Ordiway’s practice is devoted solely to representing the wrongfully convicted and sentenced. One of just 133 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 prominent defense firm Sorrels, Udashen & Anton, later Udashen Anton, in 2013. While with the firm, Brett earned his board certification and was recognized by Super Lawyers as a Texas Rising Star and top-rated appellate attorney. In 2022, Brett was then 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.

In 2025, Brett founded Ordiway PLLC, seeking to provide top-flight representation to clients in direct appeal and habeas proceedings in federal and Texas courts and trial support to attorneys and clients who aim to preserve the record and improve their chances of avoiding an appeal altogether.