Eric Nichols

Practice Areas

White Collar, Compliance, and Government Investigation; Commercial Litigation; Government Relation: Labor and Employment; Tort, Transportation & Specialized Litigation; Pharmaceutical, Medical Device and Healthcare

Career

Eric Nichols practices both civil trial and criminal law and joined the Austin office of Butler Snow LLP in 2019. His background includes not only many years representing companies and individuals in private practice but also experience in both Texas state government and the federal government, having served as Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice for the Office of the Texas Attorney General, as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, and a law clerk to a federal judge. In addition to his practice with Butler Snow, Eric serves as the Presiding Officer of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice. That Board oversees the operation of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and serves as the board of trustees for the Windham School District, which provides educational and vocational programming for the TDCJ prison population. Eric is Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Professional Memberships

Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; Member, American Board of Trial Advocates; Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers; American Inns of Courts, Barbara Jordan Inn (Founding Member); Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation; Fellow, Austin Bar Foundation; Austin Bar Association; Texas Board of Criminal Justice; Texas Association of Defense Counsel; Texas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Association; National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

Local Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation; The Best Lawyers in America ® (Lawyer of the Year: Bet-the-Company Litigation, Lawyer of the Year, Criminal Defense: White Collar, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation and/or Criminal Defense: White Collar); Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers® (Business Litigation); Member Texas Board of Criminal Justin: Lawyer of the Year – Texas, Wall Street Journal, 2017; Lawyer of the Year – Austin and San Antonio, Austin Monthly, 2017.

Personal

University of Texas School of Law, J.D. with Honors, 1989; University of Virginia, B.A. with Honors, 1985.

Publications

Co-Author, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Chapter 34 Jury Selection, Thomson Reuters Publishing (5th ed. 2022) (1st ed. 1998).

Co-Author, ESI Discovery in Texas Criminal Practice, Essentials of E-Discovery, State Bar of Texas Publications (1st ed. 2014, 2d ed. 2022).

Speaker and Author, White Collar Crime: Criminal Side of Business, State Bar of Texas CLE Business Disputes Course, Houston (September 2014).

Speaker and Author, Lessons from the YFZ Ranch, State Bar of Texas CLE Advanced Criminal Law Seminar, San Antonio (July 2012).

Speaker and Author, Perspectives from the YFZ Ranch: A Crossroads for the Constitution and Criminal Law, State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting; Houston (June 2012).