2025 TEX-ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year
Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza, Inc. proudly announces that Ricardo G. Cedillo has been honored as the 2025 Texas Chapters of ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year at an event held in Santa Fe. Here is an excerpt from the program guide for Ricardo Cedillo. https://tex-abota.org/
“Born in Mexico, naturalized by choice, Ricardo G. Cedillo exemplifies the enduring contributions of immigrants to this nation and their steadfast commitment to the Constitution and its guiding principles. He practices law not merely as a profession, but as a calling. Through his advocacy, he embodies the ideal that justice must serve the many, not just the mighty. He lives this truth with humility and deep love for the law, his clients, and, most especially, his family and community that shaped him.
Raised in a close-knit household, his childhood experience of working in his family’s bakery, both before and after school hours, instilled in him the discipline, work ethic, and resilience that would later serve as the foundation for his success at Harvard Law School. The values passed down to him by his parents and the enduring lessons he learned at Holy Cross High School laid the groundwork for his achievements as a trial lawyer. Throughout his legal career, he has upheld and defended what he believes to be a sacred principle: the right to be heard, the right to be judged by one’s peers – the right to a trial by jury.
Ricardo originally practiced insurance defense when he started at Groce, Locke & Hebdon in 1979 but transitioned primarily into commercial litigation by the time he left in 1986 and started his own firm in San Antonio with J. Russell Davis and Norman Davis (now Davis, Cedillo & Mendoza, Inc.). Over the course of more than 45 years practicing in federal and state courts across Texas and nationwide, Ricardo has built a reputation for skillfully and successfully representing a diverse array of clients on both sides of the docket, from the high profile mired in controversy to the marginalized who are quietly and courageously fighting against the odds.
Among many accolades, Ricardo was named in The Best Lawyers in America® for commercial and “bet-the-company” litigation in 2025, was awarded the 2023 Ronald D. Secrest Outstanding Trial Lawyer Award by the Texas Bar Foundation, and was named by Texas Lawyer in 2010 as one of “The 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century.” Beyond the courtroom, Ricardo is a man deeply devoted to his family, including his five children, and has demonstrated a profound commitment to supporting underserved communities through his pro bono work and participation on the board of Texas Appleseed and other nonprofits.
Ricardo’s life and work echoes the ideals of St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers. As the prayer to St. Thomas More poignantly states: “Read with me in my library and stand always beside me so that today I shall not, to win a point, lose my soul.” In a world that often rushes to settle, to silence, or to thwart the hard work of democracy, Ricardo remains an unwavering advocate, trusted legal mind, and respected peer and mentor…
…and he still keeps bakery hours.”