Glenn Sodd’s skills as a trial lawyer are legendary. A frequent past speaker on eminent domain trial strategy and a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Glenn has testified about eminent domain on invitation from the Texas Legislature. While he has also successfully litigated complex matters involving oil and gas, personal injury, and farm-and-ranch law, Glenn focused primarily on eminent domain litigation throughout Texas for the last 35 years, passionately representing only landowners in condemnation matters. He also played a major role in the eminent domain fight against the Texas Rail Project.
He graduated cum laude with his Juris Doctor in 1972 from Baylor Law School, where he graduated at the top of his class with the highest grades in Baylor history.
In addition to his past law practice, Glenn has been personally involved in several sectors of real estate for many years. He has also been involved in the oil and gas industry since 1973. He owns a 2,200-acre working ranch in Navarro County, known as “The Refuge,” which is one of the top whitetail deer operations in Texas, as well as owning a large working dairy farm. He has owned several convenience stores, office buildings, retail centers, rental properties, and raw land suitable for development. He helped start a bank, worked in the construction industry, and has been a partial owner of two wholesale supply businesses. Glenn’s family was involved in the electrical business, and Glenn worked in that field starting when he was 10 years old and while in college. His personal experiences in business have proven invaluable tools in maximizing value and damages in condemnation cases involving virtually every kind of property. He appreciates the value of land and property to business owners and homeowners alike.
Glenn was licensed to practice law in Texas in 1972. He was also licensed to appear before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Western Districts of Texas, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the United States Tax Court. He has served as a member of the Corsicana Independent School District Board of Trustees, as president of the Corsicana Industrial Foundation, as president of the Corsicana Chamber of Commerce, and on numerous other community boards. Early in his law career he was president of the Navarro County Bar Association. He has taught a Sunday morning Bible class in Corsicana for decades.
Among his numerous awards, Glenn has been named a Super Lawyer in Texas eminent domain law by the Thomson Reuters service for 17 consecutive years. In addition, he was named one of the 100 Best Trial Lawyers in America (one of only three from Texas) by Town & Country magazine in 1985.
Glenn Sodd passed away in November 2023. His legacy will continue under the management of his partners, two of which are his children, Jody Sodd McSpadden and Jason Sodd.
Representative Matters
Glenn has represented landowners against a variety of condemning authorities in a wide range of condemnation cases, including:
- Numerous power line cases
- Numerous pipeline cases
- Numerous highway takings by the State of Texas, TxDOT, North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA), and various cities
- Sport facilities such as Texas Ranger baseball stadium and Dallas Cowboys Stadium
- Numerous Superconducting Super Collider cases
Reported Condemnation Cases
Appellate successes include the following:
- Enbridge Pipeline (East Tex.) L.P. v. Avinger Timber, LLC, 386 S.W.3d 256 (Tex. 2012)
- Enbridge Pipeline (East Tex.) L.P. v. Avinger Timber, LLC, 326 S.W.3d 390 (Tex. App.—Texarkana 2010)
- Dillard v. Texas Electric Cooperative, 157 S.W.3d 429 (Tex. 2005)
- Tarrant Regional Water District v. Gragg, 151 S.W.3d 546 (Tex. 2004)
- Duer Wagner & Co. v. City of Sweetwater, 112 S.W.3d 628 (Tex. App.—Eastland 2003, no pet.)
- Hitzelberger v. Samedan Oil Corp., 948 S.W.2d 497 (Tex. App.—Waco 1997, pet. denied)
- State v. Tamminga, 928 S.W.2d 737 (Tex. App—Waco 1996, no writ)
- J.K. and Susie L. Wadley Research Institute and Blood Bank v. Morris, 776 S.W.2d 271 (Tex. App—Dallas 1989, no writ)
- City of Corsicana v. Herod, 768 S.W.2d 805 (Tex. App.—Waco 1989, no writ)
- Cavazos v. Simmons, 90 B.R. 234 (N.D. Tex. 1988)
- Lowrance v. Whitfield, 752 S.W.2d 129 (Tex. App—Houston [1st Dist.] 1988, writ denied)
- Navarro v. International Business Machines Corp., 70 B.R. 94 (Bankr. N.D.Tex. 1987)
- Staley v. Terns Service Co., 595 S.W.2d 882 (Tex. Civ. App—Waco 1980, writ dism’d)
- Beets v. Malakoff Independent School District, 589 S.W.2d 188 (Tex. Civ. App—Tyler 1979, writ ref’d n.r.e.)
- Schwertner v. Henderson, 575 S.W.2d 358 (Tex. Civ. App—Waco 1978, writ dism’d w.o.j.)
- State ex rel. McKie v. Bullock, 491 S.W.2d 659 (Tex. 1973)
Presentations & Publications
- Presenter, 29th Annual Outlook for Texas Land Markets Conference, 2019
- Condemnation Runs Wild in Texas, published in Summer 2014 issue of Texas Landowners Magazine, issue 4.
Education
- Baylor University School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1972, cum laude
Admitted to Practice
- Texas Courts statewide
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
Professional & Community Involvement
- American Association for Justice
- American College of Trial Lawyers
- Dallas Bar Association
- National Order of Barristers
- Navarro County Bar Association
- President, 1974-75
- State Bar of Texas
- Texas Trial Lawyers Association
- Former member of the Corsicana Independent School District Board of Trustees
- Former President of the Corsicana Industrial Foundation
- Form President of the Corsicana Chamber of Commerce
Awards & Recognition
- Selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list published annually by Thomson Reuters service for eminent domain for seventeen consecutive years, 2003 – 2019.
- 100 Best Trial Lawyers in America, Town & Country magazine, 1985
