Biography

George Hittner brings a unique combination of legal, legislative, political and corporate experience to his leadership role at The Hittner Group. Mr. Hittner is a seasoned general counsel and attorney who has marshaled and supervised skilled legal teams to take on a broad range of tasks often handled by corporate legal departments. He is also an experienced litigator who has managed hundreds of lawsuits, including several that have been favorably resolved by various state supreme courts and U.S. courts of appeal.

Before founding The Hittner Group, Mr. Hittner worked as general counsel, corporate secretary and senior vice president for governmental relations at Mesa, Arizona-based American Traffic Solutions Inc. (ATS), the North American market leader in traffic photo enforcement safety equipment. At ATS, Mr. Hittner managed the company’s full spectrum of legal and legislative affairs, including supervising more than 40 external law firms and 75 external consultants and lobbyists across numerous states, territories and Canadian provinces. He also established and managed the company’s in-house legal and legislative teams. Mr. Hittner expanded legal doctrines in the area of photo enforcement traffic safety law, successfully defended state and local programs against constitutional challenges and helped defeat challenges to numerous improper municipal elections regarding traffic cameras, including several in Texas. He is also credited with establishing a legal database identifying all major red-light and speeding cases in the U.S. involving camera monitoring technology.  His many achievements at ATS resulted in Mr. Hittner being named “Litigator of the Year” in 2013 by the Arizona chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Prior to joining ATS, Mr. Hittner worked as a White House appointee to the U.S. Department of Labor, serving as a special assistant in the Office of Administration and Management (OAM) and a Senior Advisor to the Employment Standards Administration (ESA).  The OAM provides guidance directly to the Secretary of Labor in the areas of budget, human resources, procurement, information technology, facilities and management, and the civil rights program. The ESA administers and enforces the laws and regulations of Labor Department’s largest agency.

Mr. Hittner also worked for a major Texas-based law firm as an associate in the business litigation and employment and labor law sections.

In the political arena, Mr. Hittner served as the statewide campaign manager for the 2002 successful re-election campaign of then-Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips. He also worked on then-Gov. George W. Bush’s successful 1998 re-election campaign and ran for a Houston City Council seat, in addition to serving as an analyst and attorney in the Texas Legislature for a state senator.

A native Texan, Mr. Hittner is an Eagle Scout who is active on both the local and national levels with the Boy Scouts of America. He is the founder and a member of the board of the Houston Firefighters Foundation, and he was a founding member of the Houston Police Foundation.

In addition to being named “Litigator of the Year,” he has been recognized on the “Texas Rising Stars” list. Mr. Hittner also has been a lecturer on the subjects of American government and politics.

Professional Experience

President/Managing Shareholder, 2016-Present
The Hittner Group – Houston

Trial practice - complex commercial litigation, election litigation, general litigation; Appellate practice - state and federal supreme and intermediate courts; general representation before government agencies; outside general counsel services.

General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Senior Vice President of Governmental Relations, 2008 – 2016
American Traffic Solutions, Inc. – Mesa, Arizona

Managed the company’s full spectrum of legal and legislative affairs, including supervising more than 40 external law firms and 75 external consultants and lobbyists across numerous states, territories and Canadian provinces.

Special Assistant, Office of Administration and Management, 2007-2008
U.S. Department of Labor - Washington, D.C.

Duties included presenting the views of the Assistant Secretary to agency managers and program officials throughout the department; representing the Assistant Secretary in negotiations and meeting with senior legal Labor Department, White House and other federal agency officials; recommending administrative policies and proposed revisions to government regulations; and serving as liaison to the staffs of other federal agencies, Capitol Hill and national labor organizations.

Senior Advisor, Employment Standards Administration, 2006 – 2007
U.S. Department of Labor - Washington, D.C.

Duties included leading efforts pertaining to Contingency of Operation Planning (preparations for terrorist attack, pandemic influenza, etc.)’ administering Freedom of Information Act requests’ drafting proposed legislation’ preparing materials for White House and Secretary of Labor briefings, overseeing website “hacker” response team’ conducting senior executive staff performance evaluations and serving on Family and Medical Leave Act senior evaluation and strategy team.

Associate, Business Litigation Section, 2005 – 2006;
Employment and Labor Law Section, 2003-2005
Haynes and Boone L.L.P. – Houston

Texas-based Haynes and Boone consists of more than 500 attorneys with national and international offices.

Policy Analyst and Assistant Staff Counsel, 2003
Texas Legislature, Office of State Sen. Kyle Janek - Austin, Texas

Also served as liaison to Senate Jurisprudence, State Affairs and International Relations and Trade committees.

Campaign Manager, 2002
Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips Campaign

Honors

• Chosen as “Litigator of the Year” in 2013 by the Arizona chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel
• Who’s Who in America
• Named to Texas Rising Stars list – 2006

Education

University of Virginia - Darden Graduate School of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration, 2007 – 2009

LBJ School of Public Affairs - The University of Texas at Austin
Master of Public Affairs, 2000 – 2002

The University of Texas School of Law
Juris Doctorate, 1999 – 2002

Texas A&M University
BS, Political Science, 1997 – 1999

Wentworth Military Academy
Associate of Arts (AA), 1990 – 1997

Bar and Court Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• State Bar of Arizona
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• United States District Court for the District of Arizona