Position: Member

TEL: 214.712.9511

FAX: 

Email: Click Here

Website: www.cooperscully.com

Admitted: Texas, 1988

Law School: University Of Texas

College: 

Birth Date and Place: 

Practice Areas: Insurance Defense, Civil Litigation

Additional Information: Appellate law is no longer just the part of the case that occurs after the judgment. Appellate lawyers are now specialists who not only write briefs and make oral arguments, but also provide critical support to litigators during workup of the case and to trial teams during the trial. Michelle’s role as an appellate specialist at Cooper & Scully includes being a “go-to” person for novel research issues and complex pretrial filings, being a “safety net” for purposes of preserving pretrial and trial issues for appeal, and, if the case goes south, being the “cleaner” for purposes of advocating for reversal on appeal. Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law for ten years, Michelle has handled dozens of appeals and original proceedings in a variety of courts including the Texas Supreme Court, all Texas courts of appeals, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and other appellate courts around the nation. Michelle also prepares amicus briefs on important issues being addressed by the Texas Supreme Court. And, she is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Recently, Michelle was part of the team that obtained reversal by the Texas Supreme Court of nearly 50 years of Texas precedent, which prohibited a trial court from changing its mind about a new trial order unless it did so within 75 days of the original judgment. In re Baylor Med. Ctr. of Garland, 280 S.W.3d 227 (Tex. 2008) (orig. proceeding). In a subsequent opinion in this same case and in a companion case also handled by Cooper & Scully, the Texas Supreme Court again changed Texas law by holding that trial courts must give reasons for granting a new trial and that new trial orders are reviewable by mandamus. See In re Baylor Med. Ctr. at Garland, 289 S.W.3d 859 (Tex. 2009) (orig. proceeding); In re Columbia Med. Ctr. of Las Colinas, 290 S.W.3d 204 (Tex. 2009) (orig. proceeding). Her seventeen years in appellate practice has given Michelle experience in many areas of the law, including insurance coverage and bad faith, medical malpractice and health law, construction defects, premises liability, products liability, bankruptcy, legal malpractice, employment, governmental entities, and intellectual property, among others. Michelle also handles insurance coverage matters, prepares opinions on coverage issues under general liability, automobile, and homeowner’s policies, and handles declaratory judgment actions in federal and state courts to resolve coverage issues. Michelle currently serves on the Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee (Volume 3, Malpractice, Premises, Products), with her term continuing through 2011 (previous term from 2001 to 2004). Michelle also sits on the Advisory Council of the Appellate Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association. The Dallas Court of Appeals appointed Michelle to serve as a Briefing Attorney to the Hon. Charles Ben Howell after she graduated from law school at the University of Texas School of Law. Michelle is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Her peers have voted her as one of Texas Monthly’s “Texas Super Lawyers” for the years 2003 to 2009 and as one of the top appellate lawyers in the nation in “Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition” for 2010.

Firm Members: Cynthia Goosen

Firm Members: William Allred

Firm Members: R. Cooper

Firm Members: Darrell Noga

Firm Members: John Scully

Firm Members: Roxanne Ballard

Firm Members: S. Butler

Firm Members: Diana Faust

Firm Members: Amy Agnew

Firm Members: R. Cooper

Firm Members: Lauren Pierce

Firm Members: Kyle Burke

Firm Members: Derek Davis