About Chip
Chip Wagar has practiced law across decades and across state lines. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from George Washington University’s Virginia campus in 1972. Four years later he took a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law, entering a legal landscape that would shape the rest of his career.
He began his professional life in-house. From 1979 to 1982 he worked in litigation for Exxon Corporation, handling disputes for one of the largest companies in the energy sector. That early exposure to complex commercial and corporate litigation set a practical tone for the work that followed.
In 1982 he moved into private practice as a partner at Hailey McNamara Hall Larmann & Papale, LLP. He remained there until 1996. That stretch included trials, pretrial strategy and work across several jurisdictions. In 1996 he joined what would become Wagar Richard Kutcher Tygier & Luminais, LLP as a partner and stayed with that firm for more than two decades. In 2018 he left to help form Wagar Hickman, LLC, where he serves as a partner.
His professional affiliations track the arc of a trial lawyer’s career. He became a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel in 1982. He gained membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates in 2014 and was recognized by the Million Dollar Advocates Forum in 2015. SuperLawyer Magazine included him in its listings in 2012. These affiliations indicate long-standing engagement with peer organizations that center on trial work and defense practice.
Wagar is licensed to practice in both Texas and Louisiana. That dual jurisdictional standing has allowed him to handle matters that cross state lines and to work for clients with interests in multiple forums. Over time his work has split between trial preparation, courtroom advocacy and counseling clients on litigation strategy.
Colleagues describe a lawyer who combines courtroom experience with institutional knowledge from his time in-house and in private firms. He has moved from corporate litigation at Exxon into sustained private practice, carrying forward the procedural skills demanded by complex civil disputes. He has spent years in partner roles shaping case strategy, taking depositions, and trying cases before juries and judges.
He currently practices at Wagar Hickman, LLC, handling civil litigation and trial work in Texas and Louisiana.
