Our attorneys

8 lawyers with courtroom experience on both sides of the docket — plaintiff and defense, civil and criminal, state and federal, trial and appellate — supported by the assistants who keep matters moving between hearings.

Garrett McMillan

Partner

Garrett McMillan is a partner at McMillan & Black and leads the firm's consumer protection and free-speech litigation work. He regularly litigates under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and currently represents consumers in claims against residential solar panel companies operating across the state.

His practice also concentrates on defamation defense and the Texas Citizens Participation Act, the state's anti-SLAPP statute. That work involves early dispositive motion practice on tight statutory deadlines, and it frequently continues into the appellate courts — an area where the interaction between the TCPA and federal diversity jurisdiction remains unsettled.

Beyond consumer and speech matters, Garrett handles business litigation, enforcement and defense of personal guaranties, and bills of review. He takes both trial and appellate assignments and accepts referrals from other attorneys on anti-SLAPP and DTPA questions.

Focus areasDeceptive Trade Practices Act · Defamation defense · Texas Citizens Participation Act (anti-SLAPP) · Business litigation · Appeals
Court admissionsState courts of Texas · U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas · U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

David Austin Black

Partner

David Austin Black is a partner at McMillan & Black and a native of the Dallas–Fort Worth area. His practice covers real estate, construction, probate, and business matters, and it runs in both directions: he papers the agreement at the outset, and he litigates it when it comes apart.

On the litigation side that means the problems people actually walk in with. A seller who did not disclose what was wrong with the house. A foundation or structural defect that surfaced after closing. A mechanic's lien filed against a project. A cloud on title that has to be cleared by a quiet title or adverse possession suit. An association enforcing a deed restriction, or moving toward foreclosure over assessments. A Deceptive Trade Practices Act claim, or a contract a business partner simply stopped honoring. He carries those matters himself from intake and investigation through pleadings, discovery, depositions, and mediation to trial.

On the transactional side he drafts and negotiates the documents those disputes tend to grow out of — real estate contracts and conveyance instruments, LLC formations, operating agreements, and corporate governance documents — which is also why he is often able to see, early, where an agreement is going to fail. He represents executors, administrators, beneficiaries, and heirs in probate litigation and estate administration as well. Austin earned his law degree at the University of Texas School of Law and began his career in corporate immigration at Berry Appleman & Leiden before building the real estate and probate practice he brought to McMillan & Black.

Focus areasReal estate litigation and transactions · Construction defect and mechanic's lien disputes · HOA and property-owner association matters · Probate litigation and estate administration · Business contracts and entity formation
EducationJ.D., The University of Texas School of Law (2019) · B.A. with honors, Political Science, The University of Texas at Arlington (2016)
AdmissionsState courts of Texas

Jesse Buttery

Senior Associate

Jesse Buttery was born in Dallas and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. He has tried and litigated civil matters in state and federal court on both sides of the docket, which gives him an unusually practical read on how the other side is likely to value and posture a case.

His experience spans medical malpractice, personal injury, business disputes, construction matters, and consumer protection claims. He has also handled school law matters and represented local governments in code enforcement proceedings.

Jesse works across the firm's litigation practice and is often the attorney managing discovery strategy and case development on larger matters.

Focus areasCivil trial law · Personal injury · Medical malpractice · Business and construction disputes · Consumer protection
EducationJ.D., South Texas College of Law Houston
AdmissionsState courts of Texas · U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas · U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas

Michael Sheetz

Of Counsel

Michael Sheetz is a Dallas native, and his practice is devoted to probate. He handles estate administration from the initial application through closing, and the disputes that surface when a will, an heirship, or a fiduciary's conduct is contested.

Much of that work is procedural and, done properly, uneventful — choosing between independent and dependent administration, determining heirship where someone died without a will, muniment of title where a will exists but no administration is needed, and small estate affidavits where the estate is modest enough to avoid a full proceeding. Choosing the wrong path at the start is what turns a straightforward estate into an expensive one.

Michael represents executors, administrators, beneficiaries, and heirs, and he handles the real property problems estates tend to leave behind: a deed that was never recorded, a house with four heirs and no agreement among them, a title company that will not insure until the estate is cleared.

Focus areasEstate administration · Heirship determinations · Muniment of title · Will contests and probate litigation · Real property title problems arising from estates
EducationJ.D., SMU Dedman School of Law (2015) · B.A., Political Science, Southern Methodist University (2011), summa cum laude
AdmissionsState courts of Texas

Braden Burleson

Associate

Braden Burleson is a trial attorney whose practice focuses on personal injury and civil litigation, particularly matters arising from vehicle and commercial trucking collisions.

Licensed since 2022, he has tried thirteen cases as first chair — an unusual amount of courtroom time for a lawyer at his stage, and the reason he is often the attorney who takes a case into the courtroom rather than settling it on the courthouse steps.

Before joining the firm's civil practice, Braden handled criminal defense matters and federal habeas corpus work.

Focus areasPersonal injury · Commercial vehicle and trucking collisions · Civil trial litigation
Trial experienceThirteen cases tried as first chair
EducationJ.D., SMU Dedman School of Law
AdmissionsState courts of Texas (2022)

Sarah Walsh

Of Counsel

Sarah Walsh represents governmental entities and municipalities across Texas in legal and policy matters. She appears in municipal courts in several counties and advises city officials on day-to-day legal questions.

Her work includes drafting ordinances and resolutions, preparing motions and appellate briefs, and advising on the procedural requirements that govern municipal decision-making.

Sarah also brings criminal defense experience in municipal, county, and district courts, which informs her work on enforcement and prosecution questions for the entities she represents.

Focus areasMunicipal and governmental representation · Ordinance and policy drafting · Municipal court practice · Appellate briefing
EducationJ.D., Cumberland School of Law, Samford University · B.A., History, Lee University
AdmissionsState courts of Texas (2020)

Austin Nalaboff

Of Counsel & Head of Firm Operations

Austin Nalaboff is licensed in Texas, New York, and New Jersey, and brings a practical, solutions-oriented approach to client service. He represents clients in complex legal matters and takes the view that the useful question is usually not what can be argued but what will actually move the matter toward resolution.

He also serves as Head of Firm Operations. Over his career he has led teams and rebuilt legal operations to improve how work moves through a firm — intake, staffing, deadline management, and the systems that decide whether a client's call gets returned the same day. That is unglamorous work, and it is a large part of why the firm can make the commitments about cost and communication set out elsewhere on this site.

Austin earned his B.A., cum laude, from The George Washington University and his J.D., summa cum laude, from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. He provides responsive, strategic counsel tailored to each client's goals and constraints.

Focus areasComplex civil matters · Legal operations and firm management · Multi-state coordination
EducationJ.D., summa cum laude, Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University · B.A., cum laude, The George Washington University
AdmissionsState courts of Texas · New York · New Jersey

Jon Hill

Of Counsel

Jon Hill has practiced law in Texas for more than thirty years, across a range unusual for a civil practitioner: real estate and title litigation, landlord representation and evictions, business disputes, and the collection and post-judgment work that decides whether a judgment is worth anything.

He has run his own litigation practice since 2015, handling foreclosures, adverse possession and declaratory judgment actions to clear clouds on title, garnishments, receiverships, and writs of execution and possession. His landlord-tenant practice is high-volume, which means the procedural traps in Texas eviction practice are familiar rather than researched.

Jon has also served as general counsel in industry — to a fiber optic provider, where he handled employment, ERISA, Department of Labor, DOT compliance, and trade secret matters, and to an oilfield equipment company, where his work ran from patent freedom-to-operate review to international commercial arbitration. Earlier in his career he was in-house counsel and a Certified Professional Landman, doing transactional due diligence and asset management on oil and gas prospects in five states. He served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1989 to 1999.

Focus areasReal estate and title litigation · Landlord-tenant and evictions · Collections and post-judgment remedies · Business litigation · Oil, gas, and energy
EducationJ.D., South Texas College of Law Houston (1993), top 20%; Order of the Lytae · M.P.A., Texas A&M University (1989) · B.S., Economics, Texas A&M University (1988)
AlsoCertified Professional Landman · 1st Lt., U.S. Army Reserve, 1989–1999
AdmissionsState courts of Texas

No attorney listed on this page is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization unless expressly stated. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter. Every case is different and must be judged on its own facts.

Legal assistants

The people you will actually reach

Most of what happens on a matter between hearings happens here — scheduling, filings, records, and returning your call when the attorney is in court.

Daniella Rendon

Legal Assistant

Kira Longden

Legal Assistant

Ella Stone

Legal Assistant

Tiffany Lomax

Legal Assistant

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