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After serving as a briefing attorney, Mr. Allen spent his early years defending hundreds of street crime cases, often for indigent clients charged with heinous offenses. These were the toughest criminal cases in the system, and to win he had to investigate and put together cases the old fashioned way: single-handedly, on time and on a very limited budget. Success only came from persistence, expertise and cutting-edge, creative defenses. A winning reputation long ago led to engagement in far more complex litigation—but the bedrock principles of putting together a successful defense remain the same.  Mr. Allen understands the issues facing corporate officers, board members and companies targeted by government agencies in criminal and agency enforcement actions—circumstances that can threaten the very survival of a business concern or the liberty of its executives. The core principles of effective defense apply with equal force to even the most complex regulatory enforcement actions, but the business client—whether public or private, regulated or not—faces additional challenges in reporting, accounting, employment, compliance and public relations that demand multifaceted guidance and expertise. Mr. Allen has successfully navigated officers and companies through difficult cases stemming from actions commenced by the Department of Justice Criminal, Civil and Antitrust Divisions, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state securities regulators, FINRA, the Pentagon, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Office of Inspector General of HHS, the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), state attorneys general, the Federal Trade Commission, the N.T.S.B., the D.E.A., the Environmental Protection Agency, state environmental enforcement agencies, numerous state prosecutors, and others.   Mr. Allen has challenged—and outmaneuvered—the most powerful government agencies in their own forums and at every level of the judicial arena, from state and federal district courts to state supreme courts to federal circuit courts of appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court.

In business and in any kind of litigation, knowledge is power. And a powerful defense is one that usually wins. A lawyer facing down a prosecuting government agency must know how the agency operates and the laws that govern the agency’s theory of prosecution. The successful lawyer will also know—thoroughly—the client and the business environment in which the client operates. Mr. Allen settles for nothing short of mastery of a client’s business model, its industry and its workforce. Each client benefits from top-tier expertise in the substantive law and the means necessary to fully investigate the case and the defenses. Only from that comprehensive platform can the proper and effective strategy be devised for beating back the charges. Forensic expertise is as important as command of the subject matter. Mr. Allen employs only the best computer forensic professionals whose tenacity and talent have —more than once—produced findings that literally no other expert in the country could accomplish. This team uses state-of-the-art technology to extract, preserve, protect and examine electronically stored information, so often the key to winning white-collar cases. Forensic proficiency extends to all facets of a defense investigation. Mr. Allen uses top-notch investigators, forensic accountants, engineers and other experts, most of whom once served as government investigators with the F.B.I., the I.R.S., H.H.S. and various intelligence agencies. These experts get results, outwit their government counterparts, and provide the ammunition to construct and execute a winning strategy.

Mr. Allen has assumed many leadership roles in the bar and the civic arena. He has been elected by his peers to serve as president of the criminal bar and has served in various roles by appointment to state and local bar committees. He was selected by the State Bar of Texas to act as its legislative liaison to draft and shepherd bar-sponsored criminal justice bills through the Texas legislature for multiple sessions, and a number of laws on the books in Texas bear his handiwork. A prolific author and speaker, Mr. Allen has assumed political leadership roles at the local, state and national level including in congressional and mayoral races, city bond elections, statewide judicial races, and national presidential campaigns. Multiple Dallas mayors have sought out his advice and assistance. After media reports of malfeasance and structural dysfunction in Dallas municipals courts in the 1990’s, Mr. Allen was appointed by the Dallas City Council to chair a Blue-Ribbon Task Force of bar and community leaders to reorganize the City’s municipal court system. He was later appointed by the Dallas City Council to serve as the first chairman of the city’s Judicial Nominating Commission. Mr. Allen is an elected and ordained elder at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas and has devoted his time and talents to numerous charitable organizations and projects.

HONORS AND PUBLICATIONS

• Mr. Allen has been frequently honored and recognized as a leader in the white collar defense bar. He has been consistently named “Top Rated Lawyer” by American Lawyer and Lexis/Nexis Martindale Hubbell as published in Legal Leaders and Corporate Counsel, since the listing was created and including for 2021.  He was long ago named a “Super Lawyer” for White Collar Defense by Thomson Reuters (2006), and has been listed in the Super Lawyers directory every year since.  Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, selected from independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. From a bar survey in 2005 D Magazine recognized him as a “Best Lawyer” in the Dallas metropolitan area.
• He has been rated “AV Preeminent” by Martindale Hubbell for over 35 straight years – rated at the very highest level of legal ability and ethical standards by his fellow lawyers and judges.  Long ranked in the top 5% of lawyers, his practice is listed by Martindale Hubbell in The Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.
• His accomplishments and cases have been reported extensively in the regional press and by many national media outlets ranging from Business Week magazine to USA Today to CBS’ 60 Minutes and The Wall Street Journal. His career has been profiled in multiple large metropolitan newspapers.
• Mr. Allen is the co-author of a popular and authoritative 1200-page legal practice manual, Kinkeade & McColloch’s Texas Penal Code Annotated (Thomson/West Group) (with U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, N.D.-Tex.) The commentaries authored by Mr. Allen have been cited by courts as authoritative interpretations of criminal law. The work was first published in 1997 and is thoroughly updated and re-published annually. Mr. Allen has also co-authored a popular two-volume treatise on criminal procedure and appellate law.
• He has written six published law review articles on criminal law and procedure along with many bar journal articles and editorial contributions to such publications as Voice for the Defense and the Texas Bar Journal. He has served as editor of White Collar Crime Update, and was a weekly columnist for the Dallas Times Herald on business law issues.
• Mr. Allen is a high-regarded lecturer and commentator on criminal practice issues, constitutional law, civil and criminal investigations, parallel litigation, and managing complex litigation. He has taught classes at law schools, delivered dozens of speeches to national, state and local bar conferences including the American Bar Association and the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and has been a legal commentator for radio and television news.