As a Chambers-ranked appellate lawyer with substantial courtroom experience in both trial and appellate courts, Andrew is dedicated to ensuring that Arnold & Itkin’s clients get the highest level of legal support. With Andrew's help, we make sure clients get the strategic assistance that can stand up against the massive corporate law firms that large companies pay.
Andrew Gould leads Arnold & Itkin's appellate practice. He oversees the firm's cases on appeal, while providing sophisticated legal support to the firm's trial lawyers at all phases of trial.
An experienced appellate advocate, Andrew has served as lead counsel in approximately 200 appeals before various federal and state appellate courts. He has conducted nearly 30 oral arguments, including over 20 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That experience has led to his recognition by Chambers & Partners as one of the top appellate practitioners in Texas. That publication describes him as having cultivated “a rising profile for his sterling appellate practice, which features particular expertise in handling high-stakes personal injury, product liability and negligence disputes on behalf of plaintiffs.”
Andrew began his legal career as a law clerk to two federal judges: first to the Honorable Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and then to the Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. These clerkships not only improved his skills as a legal writer, but they also provided him with unique insights into the ways that judges approach cases at the trial and appellate levels.
Following his clerkships, Andrew embarked on a career as an appellate litigator. He first practiced complex commercial litigation at the trial and appellate levels with a large corporate law firm in Washington, D.C. He then returned to Houston to join the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, where he served as a federal appellate prosecutor for nearly seven years. In addition to his daily work before the Fifth Circuit, trial prosecutors regularly called upon him to assist at the trial level with the most complex legal issues affecting important prosecutions. While at the U.S. Attorney's Office, Andrew was honored to win awards for his work on multiple cases, and at all stages of prosecution: trial, appeal, and postconviction.
In 2021, Arnold & Itkin approached Andrew with an idea: to create an appellate section that would rival any law firm’s appellate practice. Andrew, who strongly believes that corporations aren’t the only ones who deserve sophisticated appellate support, had a simple response: “I’m all in.”
He proudly continues his pursuit of justice, now for individual victims harmed by the wrongdoing of others. Protecting the futures of Arnold & Itkin’s clients is personal to Andrew, and he is dedicated to ensuring that the firm’s clients have the highest level of legal representation, both at trial and on appeal. As one person noted, “he has helped even the playing field in disputes against big companies.”
Andrew is active in the Houston legal community, which allows him to closely interact with the city’s talented bench and bar. He serves as Vice President of the Federal Bar Association’s Southern District of Texas Chapter, where he helps lead the chapter’s programming. He is also a member of the Garland Walker American Inn of Court, the Houston Bar Association, and the State Bar of Texas’s Appellate Section. Outside of Houston, Andrew has served on the Vanderbilt Law Review’s Alumni Advisory Committee since its foundation in 2014.
Andrew regularly writes and speaks outside of his day-to-day work. His written works appear in the Vanderbilt Law Review and Duke Law Journal Online. He also serves on the editorial board for Bearings’ Texas Civil Litigation: Rules & Commentaries. And he has given numerous CLE presentations on various topics, ranging from appellate litigation to the Fourth Amendment.
Andrew graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University Law School, where he served as Executive Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and was selected to Order of the Coif. His undergraduate thesis at Michigan received the History Department's Arthur Fondiler Award, while his student note at Vanderbilt received the Law Review's Morgan Prize.
Andrew and his wife, Rebecca, are proud supporters of Rice University and the Houston Symphony. When Andrew isn’t reading or writing a legal brief, you can usually find him cooking, running or spinning, watching college football or basketball, or chasing one of his two young sons.
