Brian C. Miller

Mr. Miller is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. His practice is focused on prosecuting and defending appeals, preparing legal strategies for trial court litigation, and preparing and arguing motions in state and federal trial courts.

Mr. Miller’s experience spans a wide variety of civil litigation, including, for example, industrial and oilfield accident, product liability, civil rights, employment, administrative law, commercial and maritime cases.

Mr. Miller was elected in 2009 by the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors to serve as a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, the policy-setting body of the ABA. Mr. Miller has further served the ABA House of Delegates as a member of its Committee on Issues of Concern to the Profession. Mr. Miller also serves as a vice-chair of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Appellate Advocacy Committee, and he is an active member of the ABA Judicial Division’s Council of Appellate Lawyers.

Mr. Miller created and led the implementation of the Kids Law Library at Los Encinos Elementary School. The Kids Law Library was selected over numerous state and local submissions to receive the American Bar Endowment Outstanding Public Service Project Award at the 2007 ABA Annual Meeting.

Mr. Miller has been inducted as a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation in recognition of his professional and public service efforts. Mr. Miller was selected as the 2009 Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Corpus Christi Young Lawyers Association. Mr. Miller has also been named a 2011 Texas Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine.

Mr. Miller joined Royston Rayzor in July 2008.

Bar and Court Admissions

• 1997, Texas
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
• Registered patent attorney, United States Patent and Trademark Office

Education

• J.D. 1997, University of Texas School of Law, with honors. Member of Board of Advocates litigation honor society.
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, B.A. Economics, 1994, Rice University, magna cum laude. Member of Phi Beta Kappa (liberal arts), Tau Beta Pi (engineering), Phi Lambda Upsilon (chemistry), and Omicron Delta Epsilon (economics) honor societies.

Representative Matters

• Obtained reversal of judgment against client, when Fifth Circuit agreed that investors’ dispute fell outside admiralty jurisdiction and ordered the dismissal of plaintiffs’ suit.
• Obtained summary judgment awarding indemnity to retailer in wrongful death suit and affirmance by state Court of Appeals, despite manufacturer’s efforts to structure settlement to prejudice retailer’s indemnity right.
• Obtained reversal by state Court of Appeals of trial court’s temporary injunction against client in international business dispute.
• Acting as appellate counsel for a local prosecutor, obtained affirmance by state Court of Appeals of assault conviction and vindication of trial counsel over claim of prosecutorial wrongdoing.
• Obtained affirmance by state Court of Appeals of take-nothing judgment against client in oilfield personal injury case, with co-defendant eventually agreeing to settle dispute without contribution by client.
• Prepared initial appellate briefs in case in which Supreme Court of Texas agreed with interpretation of tort reform statute, requiring plaintiff’s counsel to conduct reasonable investigation of each allegation in pleadings, and upheld trial court’s decision to impose sanction for violation of that standard.
  

Memberships

• American Bar Association: House of Delegates, 2009-2011. Member, House of Delegates Committee on Issues of Concern to the Profession, 2010-2011. Vice-Chair, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Appellate Advocacy Committee, 2009-2011. Member, Judicial Division, Council of Appellate Lawyers. (Member, Appellate Judges Education Institute Planning Committee, 2010-2011.)
• State Bar of Texas: Member, College of the State Bar of Texas (honorary society recognizing lawyers who far exceed minimum continuing education requirements), 2007-2011. Member, Pro Bono College, 2002-2003, 2010. Selected and inducted as a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, 2007.
• Texas Young Lawyers Association: Member, Board of Directors, 2006-2008. Co-chair, Consumer Information Committee, 2006-2007, Marketing/Public Relations Committee, 2007-2008. Vice-chair, Family Law Committee, 2006-2007, Community Education Committee, 2007-2008.
• Corpus Christi Bar Association
• Corpus Christi Young Lawyers Association: Member, Board of Directors, 1999-2000, 2003-2009. Secretary, 1999-2000, 2004-2005. Vice-president, 2005-2006, 2008-2009.