Cheryl E. Diaz

Cheryl Diaz is a trial lawyer with more than three decades of experience handling complex commercial disputes before juries, judges, and arbitrators. She represents businesses and their owners in a wide range of disputes, including partnership, shareholder, and LLC disputes; commercial real estate and development disputes; and franchisor/franchisee disputes. She prosecutes and defends claims for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent transfer, theft, tortious interference with contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, and violations of non-competes and other restrictive covenants.

Cheryl regularly obtains emergency injunctive relief to protect clients from potentially devastating business attacks. She has obtained injunctions to enforce non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements; to prevent interference with start-up company funding; and to compel a service provider to restore critical services cut off during a payment dispute. In these fast-moving matters, she quickly identifies what matters to decision-makers and distills complex facts into a clear and persuasive story, often on just days’ notice.

Cheryl has tried a significant number of cases to verdict as lead counsel in state and federal courts and before arbitrators. Drawing on her trial experience, she quickly assesses each matter, identifies the issues that will drive its outcome, and builds each case from the outset to avoid legal pitfalls and minimize the impact of unfavorable evidence. At trial, she responds in real time to unexpected testimony, rulings, and other developments, often turning them to her client’s advantage.

Cheryl partners with her clients to develop creative, cost-effective strategies for resolving disputes consistent with their business objectives, focusing on business solutions as well as legal ones. She works closely with clients to identify takeaways from every case that lead to better business practices that reduce the risk and cost of future litigation.

Representative Matters

• Obtained a jury verdict for a company on shareholder derivative claims against a shareholder who misappropriated company funds.
• Obtained an injunction for a franchisor barring a franchisee from operating a competing business in violation of the non-compete and other covenants in its franchise agreement.
• Defeated a request for injunctive relief sought against an online retailer based on allegations of trademark infringement and unfair competition.
• Obtained an order dissolving a writ of garnishment within days of service, quickly restoring a client’s access to operating accounts that had been frozen by the writ.
• Won an arbitration award in favor of an investor who brought fraud claims against a venture capital fund and its managers for misrepresenting the nature of an investment.
• Defeated all claims brought in arbitration against the seller of commercial property by a prospective purchaser that terminated the purchase contract, and obtained an attorneys’ fee award for the seller.
• Prevailed for a foreign corporation in an international arbitration against a U.S. distributor for breach of contract and violations of the U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
• Represented a company in pursuing claims against a former employee for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and embezzlement of company funds.
• Secured dismissal of all claims against a corporation and its CEO, including Title VII discrimination, retaliation, and harassment claims and related claims for defamation, conspiracy, and tortious interference with contract asserted against the CEO and company employees.

Awards & Recognitions

• AV Preeminent® Rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory
• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation, 2023-2026

Select Presentations & Teaching

• Adjunct Professor, SMU Dedman School of Law, Fall 2026
• “Defending a Claim Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act,” DRI Business Litigation and Intellectual Property Seminar, 2010
• Instructor, National Institute for Trial Advocacy Southern Regional Deposition Program, 2001, 2002, 2008
• “Ethical Traps for the Unwary: Dealing with Experts, Opposing Counsel, and Other Things That Go Bump in the Night,” DRI and other CLE programs, 2006–2007
• Demonstration Trial Faculty (selected nationally), DRI Becoming a Preeminent Trial Lawyer Program, 2005
• “Obtaining and Enforcing Injunctions in Texas,” Dallas Bar Association Franchise Section, 2003
• “Obtaining Injunctions in Texas: Procedural and Practical Pointers,” Dallas Bar Association Franchise Section, 2002
• “The Pros and Cons of Arbitration,” SMU Dedman School of Law, 2002
• “Non-Compete Agreements, Non-Solicitation Agreements, and the Protection of Trade Secrets in the Franchise Arena,” Dallas Bar Association Franchise Section, 2001