Lubbock lawyer elected as president of Texas criminal defense attorneys' group
Lubbock defense attorney David Guinn was sworn in Saturday as the 53rd president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
The group, which consists of 3,800 members, is the country’s largest and oldest statewide professional organization for criminal defense attorneys.
Guinn, a partner in the law firm of Hurley, Guinn, Singh & VonGonten, has represented clients in state and federal courts.
He will be the sixth Lubbock lawyer to serve as President of TCDLA. Previous Hub City attorneys to lead the group include: George Gilkerson, Clifford Brown, Bill Wishkaemper, Dan Hurley and Mark Snodgrass (2018).
“The Lubbock legal community is strong and cooperative," Guinn said. "Just pulling your weight up makes for constant improvement in our culture. Humble service to others and the mission of TCLDA is something to be taken most seriously"
The Waco native graduated from Reicher Catholic High School in 1984. He earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from Baylor Law School in 1989.
He began his law career as an assistant district attorney in Johnson County.
He initially started his private practice in Crane before moving to Lubbock to serve under the Administrative Office of the U.S. Supreme Court for four years as a federal public defender.
As a federal public defender, Guinn's work on U.S. v. Emmerson secured the first lower federal court ruling in the country that held that the Second Amendment's right to bear arms was an individual right.
He returned to private practice in 1999.
A year later, he represented Bill Chrane, a doctor charged with wire fraud in federal court. The case went to trial and resulted in an acquittal.
In 2004, Guinn and his law partner Dan Hurley represented Eugene Fullwood, who faced 67 federal charges ranging from mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and bank fraud. A jury acquitted him on all counts.
Guinn is the eldest son of Carol Perry and longtime Baylor Law constitutional law professor David M. Guinn, who died in 2022.
Guinn's brother, John, is the staff attorney for U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Manske.
Guinn has been married for 36 years to Wendy of Mexia. They have three sons - Randal, Taylor and Robert - and four grandchildren.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: David Guinn elected as president of Texas criminal defense attorneys' group
