GearyBeck Trial Lawyers
Portrait of Brandon Beck, Attorney

Brandon Beck

Founding Partner
brandon@gearybeck.com

Brandon Beck has worn many hats in his legal career. He was a moot court national champion, a trial associate at a law firm defending insurance companies, an appellate attorney with the Federal Public Defender’s Office, and a law professor and legal scholar. Along this journey, he has collected invaluable stories and experiences, which he brings with him to each new case. His return to full-time litigation is with one goal in mind: to work on the hardest cases with the highest stakes.

High-stakes litigation is nothing new to Brandon. He has served as lead counsel on over 400 appeals in federal court. In 2019, he argued and won United States v. Davis before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2022, he persuaded the Supreme Court to grant certiorari, vacate, and remand the sentence of Treshun Bates, resulting in a new sentence of time served. Most recently, in 2024, he co-authored the Supreme Court merits brief for Respondent in United States v. Rahimi, which challenged the constitutionality of a federal firearms law. In addition to his work before the Supreme Court, Brandon has argued fifteen cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, including an argument before the en banc court.

Based on these experiences, Brandon has been invited to lecture on issues of constitutional law at University of Chicago Law School, Duke University School of Law School, Notre Dame Law School, Vermont Law School, Texas A&M University School of Law, and elsewhere. Additionally, he has been quoted by Texas Monthly, Politico, Bloomberg, the Los Angeles Times, CBS, the Washington Examiner, and others, on a wide variety of legal topics.

Brandon is licensed to practice in all state and federal courts in Texas, and before the Fifth Circuit, Tenth Circuit, and U.S. Supreme Court. He is a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, and the Texas Tech University School of Law.

Law Review Articles

  • How to Start (or Stop) a War on Crime: A Conceptual Cookbook, Georgia State Law Review (2025)
  • Massey v. Texas: Eroding the Exclusionary Rule and Incentivizing Police Misconduct, Texas A&M Law Review (2024) (with Geoffrey Corn)
  • The Federal War on Guns: A Story in Four-and-a-Half Acts, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law (2023)
  • The Orwell Court: How the Supreme Court Recast History and Minimized the Role of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to Justify Limiting the Impact of Johnson v. United States, Buffalo Law Review (2018)
  • Just Visiting: Health Care Liability Claims and Non-Patient Injuries in a Health Care Setting, South Texas Law Review (2015)
  • Current Problems (and Solutions) in Texas Personal Injury Suits Involving Motorists and Livestock, Texas Tech Law Review (2015) (with Shane McGuire)

Speaking

  • United States v. Rahimi and the Modern Second Amendment, 2025 Roswell CLE, Roswell, New Mexico, May 9, 2025 (1 hr.)
  • Litigating Originalism (guest lecture), Litigating Originalism Seminar, University of Chicago Law School, February 10, 2025 (1 hour, by Zoom)
  • Federal Crime Policy and the Second Amendment, CLE, Wyoming Bar Association (invited by the University of Wyoming College of Law Firearms Research Center), University of Wyoming, December 20, 2024 (1 hour, by Zoom)
  • Lawyers and the Constitution, Ramirez Elementary School (third grade classes), Lubbock, Texas, December 6, 2024 (45 min.)
  • Federal Crime Policy, Rahimi, and the Supreme Court (guest lecture), Second Amendment Seminar, Duke University School of Law, November 7, 2024 (1 hr.)
  • Search and Seizure Issues in the Post-Carpenter Era, CLE, Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Ruidoso, New Mexico, October 18, 2024 (1 hour)
  • Appellate Ethics: Ethical Considerations for Appointed Counsel in Criminal Cases, Lea County Bar Association, Hobbs, New Mexico, August 23, 2024 (1 hour)
  • United States v. Rahimi and the Modern Second Amendment, Lubbock Area Bar Association, Lubbock, Texas, August 7, 2024 (30 min.)
  • Litigating the Second Amendment in Federal Criminal Cases: A Panel Discussion by the Team that Represented Rahimi, 2024 Annual Federal Criminal Practice Seminar, Dallas, Texas, July 19, 2024 (1 hr.)
  • Federal Criminal Restitution, 2024 Annual Federal Criminal Practice Seminar, Dallas, Texas, July 18, 2024 (1 hr.)
  • How to Start (or Stop) a War on Crime, The Firearms Research Works-in-Progress Workshop (hosted by the University of Wyoming College of Law Firearms Research Center and the Duke University School of Law Center for Firearms Law), Duke University School of Law, May 23-24, 2024 (invited presenter and workshop participant)
  • The Road Not Taken: Using Robert Frost’s Poem to Introduce Principles of Statutory Interpretation, Lone Star Regional Legal Writing Conference, University of Houston, April 5, 2024 (25 min.)
  • Telling the Story: Legal Writing for Judges and Staff Attorneys, El Paso Court of Appeals, April 1, 2024 (1 hr.)
  • Approaches to Advocacy in Federal Criminal Law, Zoom CLE, Federal Public Defenders of Kansas and Western Missouri, December 13, 2023 (2 hrs, 15 min.)
  • Litigating under Bruen (presentation & panel discussion), Symposium: History, Tradition, and Analogical Reasoning, Notre Dame Law School, November 3, 2023 (1.25 hr.)
  • Davis, Rahimi, and the Supreme Court (guest lecture), Second Amendment Seminar, Duke University School of Law, October 10, 2023 (1.25 hr.)
  • Supreme Court Advocacy and United States v. Rahimi (guest lecture), Supreme Court Seminar, Vermont Law School, October 5, 2023 (1 hr.)
  • Gun Law Update, Lubbock Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Association, Lubbock, Texas, July 20, 2023 (30 min.)
  • The Federal War on Guns: A Story in Four-and-a-Half Acts, The Firearms Research Works-in-Progress Workshop (hosted by the University of Wyoming College of Law Firearms Research Center and the Duke University School of Law Center for Firearms Law), Texas A&M University School of Law, June 7-8, 2023 (invited presenter and workshop participant)
  • How to Tell a Story and Why: Narrative Storytelling in Legal Writing, 2023 Roswell CLE, Roswell, New Mexico, May 5, 2023 (1 hr.)
  • The Federal War on Guns: A Story in Four-and-a-Half Acts, 2023 Roswell CLE, Roswell, New Mexico, May 5, 2023 (1 hr.)
  • What is the Goal of Legal Writing?, 21st Annual Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, Las Vegas, Nevada, Feb. 25, 2023 (25 min.)
  • The Federal War on Guns: A Story in Four-and-a-Half Acts, Texas Tech Law Faculty Colloquium, Lubbock, Texas, Feb. 16, 2023 (1 hr.)
  • The Fundamentals of Restitution in Federal Criminal Law, 2022 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Dallas, Texas, July 28, 2022 (1 hr.)
  • Comments on N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, 2022 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Dallas, Texas, July 27, 2022 (15 min.)
  • Storytelling Beyond the Facts: A Narrative Approach to Core Legal Argumentation (guest lecture), Legal Practice II, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, February 1, 2022 (1 hr.)
  • Winning at the Supreme Court, 41st Annual Prairie Dog Advanced Criminal Law Seminar, Lubbock, Texas, January 7, 2022 (45 min.)
  • Supreme Review & Preview: A Panel Discussion for the American Constitution Society, November 18, 2020 (1 hr.)
  • Statutory Interpretation in Practice (guest lecture), Statutory Interpretation, Texas Tech University School of Law, October 28, 2019 (1 hr.)
  • Supreme Court Update, 2020 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Dallas, Texas, August 12, 2020 (1 hr.)
  • A Day at the Supreme Court, Lubbock Women Lawyers Association, Lubbock, Texas, August 15, 2019 (45 min.)
  • Supreme Court and Fifth Circuit Update, 2019 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Dallas, Texas, June 20, 2019 (1 hr.)
  • The Categorical Approach and its Application, 2019 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Dallas, Texas, June 19, 2019 (1 hr.)
  • The Role of the Prosecutor, Defense Attorney, and Judge in the Criminal Court System (guest lecture), Political Science: Criminal Process (3300), Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, October 17, 2018 (1 hr. 15 min.)
  • Your Civil Liberties (guest lecture), Introduction to Government (1301), Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, October 18, 2017 (1 hr.)
  • Wrongful Convictions, Texas Association of Legal Professionals (TALP), Lubbock, Texas, September 22, 2017 (1 hr.)
  • Success in Life and in Law (guest lecture), Legal Practice I, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, September 12, 2017 (1 hr.)
  • Prior Conviction Enhancements, 2017 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Dallas, Texas, July 27, 2017 (3 hr.)
  • How to Tell a Story and Why: Narrative Storytelling in Legal Writing, Texas State Bar Appellate Section CLE, Lubbock, Texas, May 22, 2017 (30 min.)
  • The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments (guest lecture), Introduction to Government (1301), Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, March 30, 2017 (1 hr. 15 min.)
  • Supreme Court Update, 2016 Federal Criminal Defense Seminar, Abilene, Texas, October 21, 2016 (1 hr.)
  • Making a Murderer: The Brendan Dassey Case from an Appellate Perspective, Lubbock Area Bar Association, Lubbock, Texas, August 10, 2016 (45 min.)
  • Sentencing Practice in the Post-Johnson Era, 2016 Federal Criminal Practice Refresher CLE, Fort Worth, Texas, April 8, 2016 (2 hr.)
  • Sentencing Practice in the Post-Johnson Era, 2016 Federal Criminal Practice CLE, Wichita Falls, Texas, April 7, 2016 (2 hr.)
  • Reaching Beyond the Textbook: How George Orwell, Bob Dylan, and Documentary Films can Supplement and Reinforce a Legal Writing Curriculum, 2016 Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, March 18, 2016 (25 min.)
  • But Did You Hear? Making Sense of Efforts to Discredit Making a Murderer, Making a Murderer Panel Discussion at Texas Tech University School of Law, Lubbock, Texas, February 2, 2016 (20 min. presentation, 2 hr. panel discussion)
  • Johnson v. United States: Its Relevance and Potential Impact, 35th Annual Prairie Dog Advanced Criminal Law Seminar, Lubbock, Texas, January 7, 2016 (1.5 hr.)
  • Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Part II, 2016 Federal Criminal Practice “Fundamentals” Seminar, Lubbock, Texas, January 6, 2016 (1.5 hr.)

Media

  • Quoted in “Justice Jackson Takes Unexpected Positions in Criminal Cases,” Bloomberg Law (June 26, 2024)
  • Quoted in “When a Defendant Gets Lost in Translation,” Texas Monthly (May 2024)
  • Quoted in “Federal Defenders Combine Forces to Argue at US Supreme Court,” Bloomberg Law (Nov. 27, 2023)
  • Video Interview: CBS News, “Hunter Biden's lawyer says gun statute ‘likely unconstitutional,’” discussing the legal arguments involved in the Hunter Biden indictment (Sept. 15, 2023)
  • Quoted in “Legality of Hunter Biden gun charges challenged by Supreme Court Bruen ruling," Washington Examiner (Sept. 17, 2023)
  • Quoted in “Federal gun law used in Hunter Biden case voided by appeals court," Washington Examiner (August 9, 2023)
  • Quoted in “Did Hunter Biden get off easy? We asked the experts,” Politico.com (June 21, 2023)
  • Quoted in “Starting pistol: Supreme Court’s new firearms standard tested on domestic abusers owning guns,” Washington Examiner (June 15, 2023)
  • Video Interview: Voz de America (Voice of America, Spanish Language Broadcast) regarding Governor Abbott’s proposal to increase mandatory minimum firearms offenses (March 30, 2023)
  • Quoted in “On an often unpredictable Supreme Court, Justice Gorsuch is the latest wild card,” Los Angeles Times (July 12, 2019)
  • Guest commentator, Texas Lawyer podcast series
  • Panelist, “Appellate Trends in the Fifth Circuit,” Texas Bar CLE
  • Quoted in Law360 and Bloomberg Law on appellate litigation topics
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