Chelsie King Garza is a Houston medical malpractice and trial lawyer with experience in state and federal court. She has successfully handled complex commercial and product liability litigation, in addition to a variety of personal injury matters.
Devotion is the consistent theme that transcends every aspect of her life. Outside of the office, Chelsie Garza’s life is dedicated to her two children who are both students at the University of Texas at Austin. Just as she dedicates herself to her family, she pours herself into each and every case she takes on. Chelsie tried a medical malpractice case for a client who will forever have a colostomy bag as the result of a botched hysterectomy. That trial resulted in the largest medical malpractice verdict in Texas for 2012, as reported by Thompson Reuters. She was also part of the trial team that secured a $230mm judgment against the Air Force for the victims and families of the Sutherland Springs, Texas First Baptist Church shooting.
Her dedication and devotion extends beyond zealous advocacy and precedent-setting rulings to legal consulting with law firms across Texas on medical malpractice claims.
Chelsie grew up sharing time between the small California Death Valley town Trona and the New York/New Jersey metroplex. This dichotomy between small town and big city illustrates her ability to fit in anywhere. She was educated on the East Coast, completing her undergraduate degree in New Jersey and law school in Washington, DC, and now has put down roots in Texas.
Not only does Chelsie have an extensive background in helping those who have suffered horrible injuries; she has also worked on pro bono cases and dedicated her time to humanitarian causes. One such pro bono matter positively changed the coming and going rule for the entire State of Texas with regard to workers’ compensation. Chelsie works to improve her community. She was a previous fundraiser for the Tahirih Justice Center, an organization founded in 1997 to provide legal assistance to immigrant women and girls. She also works with and raises funds for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation in support of her son who has IBD.
Awards, Honors, Speaking Engagements, & Publications
2026
- Best Lawyers In America
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Certified Mediator
2025
- Best Lawyers In America
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Certified Mediator
2024
- Best Lawyers In America
- Best Personal Injury Lawyers in Houston, Houston Chronicle
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, The National Advocates
2023
- Best Personal Injury Lawyers in Houston, Houston Chronicle
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, The National Advocates
2022
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, The National Advocates
2021
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, The National Advocates
2020
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Motor Vehicle Lawyers, The National Advocates
2019
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Motor Vehicle Lawyers, The National Advocates
2018
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Top 25 Medical Malpractice Lawyers, Trial Lawyers Association
2017
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
2016
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Lawyers, The National Advocates
- Speaker “Ethics of Online Case Acquisition,” April 26, 2016, Houston Bar Association CLE
2015
- AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Rating™
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Named one of Houstonia’s Top Lawyers
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- “Marketing Tips for Women Attorneys,” The Women’s Advocate, A Catalyst for 2014-2015, Women and the Law Newsletter, Spring 2015.
2014
- Named a Super Lawyer by Thompson Reuters
- Named one of Houston’s Top Lawyers by H Texas Magazine
- Top 40 Under 40, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Rising Star by Thompson Reuters
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- “The Innocent Seller and Foreign Manufacturer,” Texas August 11, 2014.
- Speaker “Ethics and Social Networking,” April 22, 2014, Houston Bar Association CLE.
2013
- Top 100 Trial Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers
- Named a Rising Star by Thompson Reuters
- “Four Considerations in Medical Malpractice Case,” Women Trial
- Lawyers Caucus, American Association for Justice, Spring, 2013.
- “Mental Anguish: The Overlooked Element of Damages,” September/October 2013, The Houston Lawyer, Vol. 51.
- Speaker “Mental Anguish: The Overlooked Element of Damages,” January 15, 2013, Houston Bar Association, Litigation Section CLE.
- Speaker “How to Succeed in a Plaintiff’s Practice,” January 23, 2013, Association of Women Attorneys.
- Speaker “Lessons From Our Past – History of Women and The Law,” March 1, 2013, Texas Women Lawyers.
- Speaker “Building and Enhancing Your Law Practice,” August 8, 2013, Asian-American Bar Association, Solo and Small Firm Committee.
2012
- Named one of Houston’s Top Lawyers by H Texas Magazine
- “Expanding the Coming and Going Rule… One Officer’s Struggle,” January/February 2012, The Houston Lawyer, Vol. 49.
- Speaker “How to Obtain Clients,” April 12, 2012, Houston Bar Association, Law and Practice Management Group.
- Speaker “Personal Injury Damages,” April 26, 2012, Personal Injury Basics, Law Review CLE.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
- American Bar Association
- Association of Women Attorneys
- Executive Mom’s Society
- Past Director of Sponsorship
- Federal Bar Association
- Hispanic National Bar Association – Affiliate Member
- Houston Bar Association
- Past Co-Chair and Committee Member of Gender Fairness Committee
- Past Committee Member of Gender Fairness Committee
- Past Committee Member of Community in Schools Committee
- Houston Trial Lawyers Association
- Big League Bash Committee Member
- Houston Young Lawyers Association
- Past Chair of Family Fun Committee
- National Association of Professional Women
- New Jersey State Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas
- Past Chair of Women and the Law Section
- Past Vice Chair of Membership of the Women and the Law Section
- Past Women and the Law Section Council Member
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Texas Women Lawyers
- Texas Women Rainmakers
- Inaugural event Steering Committee member and Curriculum Co-Chair
- Past Event Co-Chair
- Past Event Chair
PROFESSIONAL LICENSES
- Licensed by Supreme Court of Texas in 2002
- State Bar of New York – Admitted, 2000
- State Bar of New Jersey – Admitted, 2000
- United States District Court for the District of New Jersey – Admitted, 2000
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas – Admitted, 2002
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas – Admitted, 2002
