The University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with honors 2012

• Texas Law Review
• Order of Barristers, National Member

The University of Southern California, B.A. 2008

Law Clerk to the Honorable Edward C. Prado, U.S. Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Law Clerk to the Honorable Morrison C. England, Jr., U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of California

Law Clerk to the Honorable Garland E. Burrell, Jr., U.S. District Judge, Eastern District of California

The State Bar of Texas

The State Bar of California

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Federal Bar Association, Dallas Chapter

William Mac Taylor American Inn of Court

George Padis is a Dallas trial lawyer who represents businesses, investors, and founders in partnership and commercial disputes, whistleblowers in False Claims Act cases, and individuals injured by government negligence. He is a partner at Sbaiti & Company PLLC.

George Padis is brought into disputes when the stakes are high and the client needs someone who can quickly master complex facts, develop a clear legal strategy, and relentlessly drive the case all the way—through trial and appeal. He represents companies, founders, executives, directors and officers, investors, and whistleblowers in high-stakes commercial, corporate, insurance-recovery, and government-facing matters.

George is one of a small number of Texas lawyers who combine deep Department of Justice experience; sophisticated business-litigation expertise in federal court, the Texas Business Court, and Delaware Chancery Court; and first-chair trial experience.

Before joining Sbaiti & Company, George served as Deputy Civil Chief and assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas, where he managed a team of seven assistant U.S. attorneys and led complex civil litigation involving the federal government, federal agencies, and federal officials. He has tried numerous cases to verdict and successfully handled appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Earlier, he practiced complex commercial litigation at Vinson & Elkins LLP and clerked for three federal judges. George is the lawyer you call when a company has a problem that requires investigative judgment, expert legal writing, and courtroom force.

Business, Transaction, and Insurance Disputes

• Achieved a favorable resolution for the founder and chief executive of a technology company in a Delaware-law earnout dispute arising from an M&A transaction, involving deferred purchase-price, milestone-payment, and equity-conversion claims. (Tex. Cty. Ct. – Dallas Cty.)
• Achieved a favorable settlement for a national electrical supply company in first-party insurance coverage and bad-faith litigation arising from an employee-theft claim under a commercial crime policy. (Tex. Dist. Ct. – Dallas Cty.)
• Obtained a favorable settlement for a satellite-imaging company in a post-merger appraisal action filed by common stockholders. (Del. Ch.)
• Obtained post-trial judgment denying unitholders’ request to enjoin and rescind a private issuance of convertible preferred securities on behalf of a Fortune 100 midstream energy company (member of trial team). (Del. Ch.)
• Obtained a TRO restraining millions in refinancing proceeds and ultimately achieved a favorable resolution for fourteen investor families in a multimillion-dollar partnership dispute arising from a real estate development venture, involving individual and derivative claims for fraud, securities fraud under the Texas Securities Act, breach of fiduciary duty, and insider self-dealing against the venture’s general partner, co-managers, and affiliated entities (Tex. Bus. Ct. – 1st Div., Dallas Cty.)
• Appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court from a Delaware Chancery Court ruling in a breach-of-contract action arising from the spinoff and merger of a diagnostic biotechnology company. (Del. Sup. Ct.)

Fraud, Enforcement, and Asset Recovery

• Investigated a qui tam complaint alleging kickbacks and violations of the False Claims Act, resulting in the company and two top executives paying the United States $12 million to settle allegations of improper payments to physicians. (N.D. Tex.)
• With co-counsel, persuaded the court to vacate an ex parte temporary restraining order that had frozen approximately $57 million in digital assets, on behalf of the chief executive of a venture-capital firm in litigation arising from the LIBRA token. (S.D.N.Y.)
• Obtained a preliminary injunction freezing assets on behalf of a physician defrauded in a “pig-butchering” cryptocurrency scheme, securing relief across multiple wallets and exchanges. (E.D. Tex.)
• Obtained summary judgment for a federal agency on Medicare-related claims arising from the Merit-based Incentive Payment System, against a plaintiff represented by an Am Law 20 firm, affirmed on appeal: S. Anesthesia Partners of Texas, P.A. v. United States Dep’t of Health & Hum. Servs., No. 2:23-CV-206, 2024 WL 1257491 (N.D. Tex. Mar. 25, 2024), aff’d, 126 F.4th 1057 (5th Cir. 2025). (N.D. Tex.)

Government Liability and Federal Tort Claims

• Represented the plaintiff-appellant in obtaining reversal of summary judgment for the United States on an FTCA scope-of-employment question, with the Fifth Circuit holding that a reasonable jury could find the federal officer was acting within the course and scope of his duties or on a special mission: Barrier v. United States, No. 25-50675 (5th Cir. July 7, 2026). (5th Cir.)
• First-chair trial counsel in a complex medical-malpractice case, securing a defense verdict for the United States that was affirmed on appeal: Madrid v. United States, No. 3:22-CV-0982-D, 2024 WL 1894347 (N.D. Tex. Apr. 30, 2024), appeal dismissed, No. 24-10568, 2024 WL 5265307 (5th Cir. July 12, 2024). (N.D. Tex.)
• Lead trial counsel in a medical-malpractice case, securing a defense verdict for the United States and the individual physicians that was affirmed on appeal; the plaintiff was represented at trial by appointed counsel from an Am Law 50 firm: Blank v. United States, No. 22-10120, 2023 WL 1299238 (5th Cir. Jan. 31, 2023), cert. denied, 143 S. Ct. 2674 (2023). (N.D. Tex.)
• Lead trial counsel in a marriage-fraud case, obtaining a defense verdict affirmed on appeal: Horak v. U.S. Citizenship & Immigr. Servs., No. 23-10437, 2024 WL 2827943 (5th Cir. June 4, 2024). (N.D. Tex.)

Earlier Experience at Vinson & Elkins and the Department of Justice

• Obtained dismissal with prejudice on behalf of an exploration and production company’s directors and officers in litigation alleging material misstatements and omissions in connection with an initial public offering in violation of Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933. (S.D.N.Y.)
• Obtained dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) on behalf of an exploration and production company’s directors and officers in a class action alleging material misstatements and omissions in connection with a public offering. (Colo. Dist. Ct. – Denver Cty.)
• Obtained dismissal based on a forum-selection clause on behalf of an exploration and production company’s former directors and officers in a breach-of-fiduciary-duty lawsuit alleging mismanagement leading to the company’s bankruptcy. (Okla. Dist. Ct. – Tulsa Cty.)
• Obtained a favorable settlement of a breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim premised on a shareholder-rights plan and change-of-control severance benefits in the executive-compensation agreements of an exploration and production company’s chief executive and chief financial officers. (Del. Ch.)
• Obtained dismissal of a books-and-records lawsuit seeking documents pertaining to alleged breaches of fiduciary duty. (Del. Ch.)
• Defended a Fortune 100 nonalcoholic beverage company against three breach-of-contract lawsuits filed by a large restaurant-group holding company; the parties reached a favorable global settlement. (Tex. Dist. Ct. – Dallas and Collin Ctys.)
• Assisted in obtaining a favorable multimillion-dollar net settlement for the owner of a luxury hunting resort in a lawsuit against the general contractor for breach of contract in connection with the construction of the lodge, cabins, and related facilities. (Tex. Dist. Ct. – Tom Green Cty.)
• Assisted an exploration and production company in obtaining a favorable settlement of a breach-of-contract and implied-covenant lawsuit after a bench trial (member of trial team). (S.D. Tex.)
• Obtained summary judgment for federal agencies in employment-discrimination and Fair Credit Reporting Act matters, each affirmed on appeal. (N.D. Tex.; 5th Cir.)
• Obtained asylum following remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for a domestic-violence survivor and her juvenile son in a pro bono immigration matter. (5th Cir.)

Government Liability and Federal Tort Claims Act Litigation
Whistleblower, False Claims Act, and Healthcare-Fraud Litigation
Post-Closing M&A, Earnout, and Founder Disputes
Business Litigation and Commercial Disputes
Insurance Recovery and Bad-Faith Litigation
Investor, Securities, Shareholder, and Derivative Litigation
Director and Officer Defense
Digital-Asset Fraud and Recovery
Trial and Appellate Litigation

• “The New Affirmative Civil Enforcement Landscape: Perspectives from Recently Departed Civil AUSAs,” 2026 Northern District of Texas Bench Bar Conference (Apr. 24, 2026).

• “The Supreme Court Declines to Kill the Qui Tam—For Now,” Turning Square Corners: The Newsletter of the Federal Bar Association Qui Tam Section (Summer 2026), available at https://www.fedbar.org/qui-tam-section/wp-content/uploads/sites/127/2026/07/Qui-Tam-News-Summer-26_v4.pdf.
• “Competent Testifying Expert Supervision Is Required in the Age of AI,” The Texas Lawbook (Nov. 10, 2025), available at https://texaslawbook.net/competent-testifying-expert-supervision-is-required-in-the-age-of-ai/ .
• “Back to the Future? How Relics of Property Law May Reemerge to Determine Rights and Obligations in Crypto Land,” The Texas Lawbook (Sept. 23, 2025) (with Mazin A. Sbaiti), available at https://texaslawbook.net/back-to-the-future-how-relics-of-property-law-may-reemerge-to-determine-rights-and-obligations-in-crypto-land/.
• “Arbitration Under Siege: Reforming Consumer and Employment Arbitration and Class Actions,” 91 Texas Law Review 665 (2013).
• “Overcoming the ‘Energy Paradox’ in the Built Environment,” 42 Texas Environmental Law Journal 85 (2011).