Gary Speer

Gary Speer is Senior Counsel in Tyson & Mendes’ Lubbock office. His practice focuses on civil litigation and insurance defense, with particular experience involving personal injury, motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, and other tort matters.

Mr. Speer brings more than 20 years of litigation experience from both sides of the docket, criminal and civil, having represented insurance carriers and their insureds as well as injured plaintiffs for the past 10 years. He has served as first-chair counsel in approximately 50 civil jury trials and has tried approximately 100 jury cases over the course of his career, including his earlier work as both a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. His experience also includes depositions, mediations, motion practice, complex discovery disputes, appellate issues, and management of high-volume litigation dockets. Throughout his career, Mr. Speer has focused on finding practical and creative ways to obtain favorable results for his clients. While representing defendants in matters involving Allstate and GEICO, he obtained more than ten jury verdicts which found no negligence on the part of his clients. In one premises liability matter on the plaintiff side, he developed and pursued a novel claim after a vehicle crashed into a movie theater and injured his clients, ultimately obtaining a $70,000 settlement from the theater despite significant comparative-fault and apportionment issues. During his most recent plaintiff-side practice, he helped successfully resolve personal injury matters generating more than $2.1 million in collected attorney fees between January 2024 and August 2026 while managing a docket of approximately 130 active cases. Earlier in his career, while serving as an Assistant District Attorney in Lubbock County, Mr. Speer chaired the county’s Bail Bond Board and helped recover more than $400,000 in bond forfeitures for the county. His experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants gives him a valuable perspective on how cases are evaluated, negotiated, developed for trial, and ultimately presented to juries. Mr. Speer has been licensed to practice law in Texas since 2004 and is a member of the State Bar of Texas.

Mr. Speer obtained his J.D. from Baylor University School of Law, with a concentration in Criminal Practice, in 2003. He obtained his B.A. in Classical Languages from The University of Texas at Austin, where he also completed the Business Foundations Program in 1999.

Outside of the office, Mr. Speer enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters and is an avid sports fan. He is a proud former member of the Texas Longhorn Marching Band and enjoys participating in alumni band events whenever he gets the opportunity. He also enjoys spending time with the family’s spoiled Golden Retriever, Aspen, who participates in Fast CAT (100-yard dash chasing a lure), scent work, and dock diving.