Nationally Recognized Leader

Don O'Bannon, Esq. is a nationally recognized expert on legal matters involving the federal AC/DBE regulations, federal and state procurement laws, the American with Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the judicial standards for race and gender conscious measures. Mr. O’Bannon specializes in providing exceptional legal and consulting services to individual clients, airport concessionaires, contractors and governmental entities on all aspects of minority and women-owned business contracting, including Availability/Disparity Studies. With more than 25 years of experience in business litigation and diversity contracting, Mr. O'Bannon has amassed a wealth of private practice experience and is committed to serving you.

Track Record of Success

Mr. O’Bannon has served as Of Counsel with the Dallas law firms of Bryan Cave, LLP, and Perkins Coie, LLP where he specialized in representing private individuals, companies and governmental entities. During his tenure at Bryan Cave, LLP, Mr. O'Bannon provided exceptional guidance and counsel to concessionaires operating in airports, including counseling on Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (ACDBE) certification issues and structuring joint venture partnerships. In addition he represented airport and transit authorities on the use of race and gender-conscious measures; program development and internal auditing procedures to comply with the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration policies.

Mr. O’Bannon was also formerly with Vial, Hamilton, Koch & Knox and Bell, Nunnally & Martin in Dallas. His areas of practice included civil litigation and counseling in the following: affirmative action, commercial paper, employment discrimination, trademark and trade dress, product liability, personal injury and contracts.

As Division Chief, Business Litigation Section, Mr. O'Bannon led business transactional and litigation trial docket in state and federal court on diverse claims, including construction, employment discrimination, trademark and breach of contracts. He provided legal guidance to the authority on constitutional limits of race and gender conscious measures in government contracting.

Mr. O'Bannon has testified before Congress on diverse, complex issues affecting minority and women-owned businesses, as an expert trial witness and on such topics as "Minority Contracting: Opportunities and Challenges for Current and Future Minority Owned Businesses"; "Business Start Up Hurdles in Under-served Communities"; "Access to Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship Training" and "Minority Entrepreneurship: Assessing the Effectiveness of SBA's Programs on the Minority Business Community".

As the former Vice President of the Business Diversity & Development Department at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Mr. O’Bannon managed the development and administration of all aspects of the airport's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Minority- and Women-Owned Business contracting diversity programs, earning national recognition for his efforts.

Education & Licenses

O’Bannon received his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Virginia after earning his B.A. from Dartmouth College. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and was formerly admitted before the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; the District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas.

Boards & Awards

Mr. O’Bannon has served on numerous boards and commission. He served on the Board of the Airport Minority Advisory Council and as immediate Past Chair Mr. O'Bannon has won countless national and local awards for his service to the minority and women-owned business community. Mr. O’Bannon currently sits on the board of Nova Academy and also served on the State of Texas’ Council of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention.

Fearless Advocate

Today, Mr. O’Bannon continues to fearlessly advocate for his corporate and business clients on a national basis through his private practice, The Law Office of Don T. O’Bannon.

Congressman James E. Clyburn (D-SC) joins Mrs. O'Bannon and Mr. O'Bannon for fundraising event.

In the News

Mr. O’Bannon has written and been featured in numerous publications throughout his tenure. Sampling of publications include:

May 2015. DyNAMC Magazine.

July 2012. Bryan Cave News & Events. 

O'Bannon Joins Bryan Cave's Dallas Airport Concessions Team

 June 2008. Airport Revenue News. 

O'Bannon Elected to Lead AMAC