Eric Nichols

Practice Areas

White Collar, Compliance, and Government Investigation; Commercial Litigation; Government Relation: Labor and Employment; Tort, Transportation & Specialized Litigation; Mass Torts; 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.

Eric’s work for clients in civil and criminal cases has been profiled in and on, among other places, 60 Minutes, CNN, A&E, truTV, the National Law Journal, Texas Monthly, the Texas Lawyer, and local newspapers from across the country.

Eric has authored a number of publications on civil and criminal trial practice and procedure for treatises, legal journals, and law reviews, and he actively writes and lectures for various legal education programs and seminars throughout the United States. His publications include a co-authored chapter on jury selection for the Thomson/Reuters treatise Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, now in its fifth edition.

Professional Memberships

Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers; Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers; Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business; Litigation: General Commercial (Texas), 2019-2025; Martindale-Hubbell®; AV® -Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated; Top Rated Lawyer, White Collar Criminal Defense, 2013; Austin Monthly; Top Attorney in Civil Litigation, 2024-2025; Benchmark Litigation; Local Litigation Star, 2018, 2025; BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America®; Lawyer of the Year: Bet-the-Company Litigation (Austin), 2018; Lawyer of the Year, Criminal Defense: White Collar (Austin), 2014-2015, 2017; Bet-the-Company Litigation, 2016-2026; Commercial Litigation, 2006-2026; Criminal Defense: White Collar, 2014-2026; Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers®; Business Litigation, 2003-2009, 2014-2022, 2024; “40 Under 40” 2001; Chair, Texas Board of Criminal Justice; Appointed by Governor Greg Abbott, 2020-2027; Lawyer of the Year - Texas, Wall Street Journal, 2017; Lawyer of the Year - Austin and San Antonio, Austin Monthly, 2017; Top Rated Lawyer in Criminal Defense, American Lawyer Media, 2013; Lone Star Prosecutor Award (for service to the state of Texas), Texas District and County Attorneys Association, 2010.

Personal

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

Bar Admissions:

- Texas (1989)

- U.S. District Courts: Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western Districts of Texas

- U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

- U.S. Supreme Court

Publications

Co-Author, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Chapter 34 “Jury Selection,” Thomson Reuters (1st ed. 1998; 4th ed. 2017; 5th ed. 2022)

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

Speaker, “Perspectives From the YFZ Ranch: Seven Years Later,” Texas Attorney General’s Office, Austin, Texas, October 2015.

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

Speaker and Author, “Lessons from the YFZ Ranch,” State Bar of Texas CLE Advanced Criminal Law Seminar, San Antonio, Texas, 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, Texas, June 2012.