Stephanie Cagniart

Biography

Stephanie Cagniart teaches Legal Analysis and Communication, and Persuasive Writing and Advocacy. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia, from which she earned a J.D. and M.A. in History, and the University of Texas at Austin, from which she earned a B.A.

After law school, Ms. Cagniart served as a law clerk to Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before joining the full-time faculty in 2023, Ms. Cagniart was a partner at Baker Botts LLP, where she remains of Counsel, and a Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law. Ms. Cagniart’s private practice focuses on appellate law and she represents clients in a broad range of complex litigation matters, including statutory issues, constitutional law, and general commercial litigation. She also has extensive experience in a variety of state and federal trial courts.

Ms. Cagniart is an elected member of the American Law Institute. In her law practice, Ms. Cagniart has been recognized as "Up and Coming" in Texas-Litigation-Appellate by Chambers USA, a "Rising Star" in appellate litigation by Texas Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters), and a "Next Generation Partner" by The Legal 500 U.S. She completed her master's thesis in legal and political history, Disunion and Party Politics in the Early Republic: James Madison, the Embargo, and the Election of 1808, under advisors Peter Onuf and Charles McCurdy at the University of Virginia. As an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin, Ms. Cagniart won four national championships in public speaking.

Ms. Cagniart currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, is a Foundation Fellow of the Austin Bar Association and a board member of its Civil Litigation Section, and is a member of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society.