Michael Heidler

Practice Areas

Mike Heidler is an accomplished appellate litigator who regularly appears in Texas appellate courts, the Fifth Circuit, and federal and state trial courts in Texas.

Mike has appeared in over 35 Texas Supreme Court cases, including Anadarko’s insurance-coverage appeal from the Deepwater Horizon incident and the case that determined the proper method for calculating royalties in CO2 tertiary recovery operations. In 2023, Mike argued and won two significant cases in the Texas Supreme Court, including the case that defined the governance practices that parent companies can follow without undertaking tort duties owed by subsidiary companies.

Mike’s Fifth Circuit work includes arguing and winning a $14 billion, bet-the-company DMCA and Copyright Act appeal for Petrolink Services, Inc. in 2020. In 2017, Mike argued and won a Fifth Circuit appeal under the Endangered Species Act, obtaining reversal of an injunction that had shut down the business of Mike’s client. Mike clerked for Judge Priscilla Owen (now Chief Judge Richman) on the Fifth Circuit from 2007–2008.

Mike has served as appellate counsel in the trial court in many cases. He has experience drafting jury charges, managing error preservation, delivering oral argument, and preparing motions and briefs. Mike regularly gives CLE presentations on error preservation.

Mike has earned recognition by multiple publications, including Chambers USA, where one client said, “he strikes a great balance in communication with his clients, making sure they are aware of developments and have opportunity to review filings, while knowing they can trust him on a day-to-day basis to represent them (2023).”

Career

Admitted to practice - Texas; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; and U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas

Personal

Yale Law School, J.D., 2007 (Editor, The Yale Law Journal; Chair of the Pocket Part Committee; Managing Editor, Yale Law & Policy Review)

The University of Texas, B.B.A., 2000 (First in class)