C. Don Clayton
Don Clayton was raised in Sulphur Springs, Texas until moving away shortly before his senior year due to his father’s job transfer. After graduating from Corsicana High School, Don attended the University of Texas in Austin and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1997. Thereafter, Don attended the University of Houston Law Center and graduated with honors in 2000. He was an Article’s Editor for the Houston Law Review and a member of the Order of the Barristers Honor Society. He received the American Jurisprudence Award for obtaining the highest grade in Constitutional law.
Following law school, Don was hired by Locke Purnell Rain Harrell in Dallas, Texas. At the time, the firm had approximately 100 lawyers in Dallas, Houston, Austin and New Orleans. Over the years, and after several mergers, Locke Purnell Rain Harrell ultimately grew to be a major international law firm with well over 1000 lawyers in approximately 20 cities all around the world. The firm is currently known as Locke Lord LLP.
During a 17-year career at Locke Lord, Don advanced to Partner and eventually became Senior Counsel. He has litigated cases in state and federal courts all across Texas, from Northeast Texas through East Texas down to Beaumont, all along the Gulf Coast and Central Texas, out to Midland and El Paso.
Don has litigated catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases, including fatal construction injury cases and life altering injury cases, such as one involving power line burns over 95% of the victim’s body. He has litigated hundreds of other cases including real estate disputes, lender disputes, landlord/tenant disputes, drug testing and privacy disputes, technology disputes, construction disputes, breach of contract actions and others.
Don has also worked on statewide and nationwide class actions in Texas and in other jurisdictions including California, Illinois and Georgia, with several of these cases involving claims exceeding $100,000,000 in total. In addition, over the years, he has worked on bank and lender audits and compliance issues, including working with state and federal regulators.
Don has been married to his wife, Mandi, for almost 14 years, and they have a daughter, Catie, who is 12 years old. After 17 years of large firm practice, and with their daughter entering middle school, Don and Mandi decided it was time to make a life change. They decided to move back to his hometown in Sulphur Springs and make a new and better kind of life. They have become members of First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, and they are excited to be part of this wonderful town and community.