Dianne Whitehorn Lawter

Dianne Lawter grew up in Houston. Dianne attended Texas A&M on a four year academic scholarship and received a BBA in accounting, with honors. She attended law school at the University of Texas where she graduated Order of the Coif .

Dianne began her legal career in the Trusts & Estate section of Fulbright & Jaworski. In 1994, Dianne left Fulbright & Jaworski to form Lawter & Lawter with her husband, Jack Lawter. Dianne is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law section and the Litigation section. She is a fellow of the Houston Bar Foundation and a past chair of the Houston Bar Association, Trust and Estates Law section.

Her practice for nearly 20 years has been focused entirely on trusts and estate litigation. Dianne was voted a “Super-Lawyer” in Texas Monthly in 2009 (by Thomson Reuters) and was named one of Houston’s top lawyers by H-Texas (2005, 2010). She is Board Certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law.

Dianne Lawter is a recognized author and frequent speaker on trust and estate litigation matters. She is experienced in litigating complex and hotly-contested matters, often with millions of dollars at stake. Dianne is well-versed at the demanding nature of trust, estate, and probate litigation, and has tried cases both to juries and to judges. Dianne has also represented clients before numerous Texas Courts of Appeal and the Texas Supreme Court. In addition to being an experienced litigator, Dianne is also known for her experience in being able to craft successful settlements on terms favorable to her clients, often in situations given little chance for settlement. Through the complex and often protracted and acrimonious litigation process, Dianne takes the burden off of clients and helps position them to be in the best position possible for favorable settlement or, if such a settlement cannot be reached, for litigation.