Biography
Danica Milios is a litigator with Jackson Walker’s appellate practice group with over 20 years of appellate experience. Danica came to Jackson Walker after 16 years at the Texas Attorney General’s Office, where she began her career as a trial lawyer before ultimately moving to an appellate practice in the Office of the Solicitor General. There, Danica served 3 years as Deputy Solicitor General.
In her state practice, Danica handled several important and high-profile appeals, including the 2011 challenge to the State’s franchise tax system and the 2005 school finance case. Danica also tried cases defending state agencies in contract disputes, medical malpractice, and other personal injury cases.
Danica has represented clients before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits, the Texas Supreme Court, and many of the State’s intermediate courts of appeals.
Danica often begins her involvement in cases at the trial stage of proceedings to ensure proper error preservation and presentation of legal issues. Since moving into private practice, she has handled appeals in a diverse range of areas, including arbitration awards, bill of review procedure, business disparagement, tortious interference with contracts, oil and gas matters, free exercise of speech and religion, wrongful death, and the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act.
Education
B.S., magna cum laude, Texas A&M University
J.D., with honors, University of Texas School of Law
- Intern, Honorable John Cornyn of the Supreme Court of Texas
- Legal Research Board
Bar Admissions
Texas
Court Admissions
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- Top Attorneys in Austin, Appellate Law, Austin Monthly Magazine, 2019
- Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2016-2020
- The Top Women Attorneys in Texas, Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2019
- Texas State Bar, Appellate Section
- Austin Bar Association, Civil Appellate Section
- Texas Aggie Bar Association
- Travis County Women Lawyers’ Foundation, Board Member, 2017-present
- Texas Law Aggie Society, Board Member, 2018-present
May 19, 2023
Client ResultsJackson Walker Secures Landmark Victory at Texas Supreme Court for Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 3
A Jackson Walker team led by Jennifer Caughey, Brad Anderson, and Danica Milios secured a major appellate victory for the Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 3 in an important eminent domain and immunity dispute before the Supreme Court of Texas. The central issue was whether a land-owning governmental entity could unilaterally stop an authorized condemnation by asserting governmental immunity from suit.
March 7, 2023
Client ResultsRobert Soza, Jennifer Caughey, and Danica Milios Secure Texas Supreme Court Victory in Important Causation Precedent
The Supreme Court of Texas ruled unanimously in favor of Jackson Walker client Helena Chemical Company. In doing so, the Court reinstated a summary judgment in favor of Helena in a lawsuit alleging that an aerial application of herbicide damaged cotton fields in Mitchell County, Texas. This appeal addressed critical issues of causation and expert testimony and set important precedent.
December 6, 2022
Client ResultsJackson Walker Secures Texas Supreme Court Grant of Petition to Review Eminent Domain Dispute Between Hidalgo County Water Districts
The Supreme Court of Texas granted Jackson Walker client Hidalgo County Water Improvement District No. 3’s petition for review on an important eminent domain appeal, which addresses what happens when one condemning authority seeks to use another public entity’s land. The Court is set to hear oral argument in this case on January 12, 2023.
November 8, 2022
Client ResultsNinth Circuit Upholds $18M Default Judgment for Energy Client
Jennifer Caughey and Peter Hansen, along with Chris Thompson and Dan Vineyard, obtained a unanimous appellate victory in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. That victory preserves an $18 million default judgment.
August 1, 2022
NewslettersJW Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter – August 2022
View Jackson Walker’s August 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Newsletter, Perspectives.
July 11, 2022
Client ResultsJackson Walker Obtains Supreme Court Dismissal of Case Involving Coleman County Jail
On June 30, 2022, the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari in a case involving qualified immunity for the Coleman County sheriff, jailer, and jail administrator. Jon Mark Hogg and Amanda Crouch led the Firm’s representation of the Texas Association of Counties in the Coleman County case.
June 24, 2022
Client ResultsPaving the Way for High-Speed Rail, Texas Supreme Court Rules in Favor Of Jackson Walker Client Texas Central, Agreeing that Texas Central Has Eminent Domain Authority
In a 5-3 decision on June 24, 2022, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Texas Central Railroad & Infrastructure Inc. has eminent domain authority, greenlighting its proposed high-speed rail project.
February 18, 2022
Client ResultsJackson Walker Appellate Team Secures Precedent-Setting Victory in Texas Supreme Court for Major Texas Mine
On February 11, 2022, the Texas Supreme Court established critical precedent on administrative law principles and the faithful application of the law. Texas mine owner and operator Dos Repúblicas, represented by Appellate Practice Chair Jennifer Caughey and her team, prevailed.
October 19, 2020
Attorney NewsJackson Walker Congratulates Its 54 “Texas Super Lawyers” of 2020
Spanning five offices, 19 practice areas, and experience ranging from 12 to 52 years, Jackson Walker’s 2020 “Texas Super Lawyers” have been nominated by peers within and outside the Firm.
June 16, 2020
InsightsTexas Supreme Court Clarifies Standard for Qualifying for Workers’ Compensation Act’s Intentional-Injury Exception
The Texas Supreme Court recently clarified that the Workers’ Compensation Act’s intentional-injury exception applies only to situations where the employer purposefully causes injury or when the employer believes “that its actions are substantially certain to result in a particular injury to a particular employee, not merely highly likely to increase overall risks to employees in the workplace.”