Brian C. Newby
Chair
Major General (ret) Brian C. Newby is the Managing Partner of Cantey Hanger, LLP, a 130 year old, full-service civil law firm headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Cantey Hanger maintains offices in Fort Worth, Dallas and Austin.
General Newby graduated from Texas Tech University, with a Bachelor of Arts in History and from the University of Texas School Of Law, with a Juris Doctorate. A distinguished graduate of Air Force ROTC, he had a 31 year military career serving as an Active Duty, Reserve and Air National Guard judge advocate (JAG) with assignments as a military prosecutor and defense counsel, a wing staff judge advocate, Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force Inspector General and as an Assistant to both the Director for Operational Law and the Deputy Judge Advocate General, Headquarters, United States Air Force. He is a former Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Texas Air National Guard, where he had responsibility for the headquarters and three flying wings in Texas. His last assignment was as the Air National Guard Assistant to The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Governor George W. Bush appointed him to the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents in 1999, and he served as Vice Chairman of the Board from 2003 to 2005.
General Newby is a former Chief of Staff to Texas Governor Rick Perry and led the State of Texas’ hurricane recovery efforts following the devastating effects of Hurricane Ike. He also served as the General Counsel to the Office of the Governor of Texas.
A distinguished Fort Worth attorney, General Newby has been a partner at Cantey Hanger LLP in their Fort Worth and Austin offices, and formerly with Roan & Autry, P.C. of Austin, Texas and Newby Davis, PLLC of Fort Worth, Texas. He has previously held an Of-Counsel position with the municipal finance law firm of Mahomes Bolden, P.C. of Dallas, Texas and has served as outside General Counsel to the Houston General Insurance Company. His legal practice has concentrated on public and administrative law, commercial litigation and municipal finance.
He is an active trial attorney admitted to practice law in Texas and before the United States District Courts, Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; and United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.
General Newby was elected to the Tarrant Regional Water District Board, where he served from 1999 to 2009. He is on the Board of Trustees of the Air Force JAG School Foundation and the Air Force Museum Foundation. He also serves on the Executive Boards of Cook Children’s Health Foundation, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber, Downtown Fort Worth Inc., Visit Fort Worth and the Real Estate Council. He is a member of the Tarrant County Bar Association, Tarrant County Bar Foundation, Texas Bar Foundation, Defense Research Institute, and a former president of the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Black Bar Association.
General Newby is married to Sandra “Sandy” Conley Newby and the couple reside in Fort Worth, Texas. They have two adult children, Jacob and Samantha.