Photo of Mike Northrup

Mike Northrup is the chair of the appellate practice group at Cowles & Thompson, P.C. He is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and is a former Chair of the Appellate Law Section of the Dallas Bar Association. He is also a former briefing attorney for the Supreme Court of Texas.

Practice Areas

  • Civil Appeals
  • Labor and Employment Law
  • Insurance Law
  • Municipal Law

Professional Associations

  • Dallas Bar Association, Appellate Law Section
  • Defense Research Institute
  • College of the State Bar of Texas
  • State Bar of Texas, Appellate Section
  • Texas Aggie Bar Association

Education

  • JD, Texas Tech University School of Law (1988)
  • B.S., (Political Science), Texas A&M University (1985)

Bar Admissions

  • State Bar of Texas
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • United States District Court, Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas

I am late in getting these statistics from the 2023 calendar year posted, but as they say, better late than never.

Unanimity. One statistic that I have tracked in recent years is the number of unanimous opinions authored by a justice. This statistic may be an indicator that a justice works with his or

I have done the number crunching for Texas Supreme Court cause disposition for the calendar year beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2023. The broader statistics are set out below. I will provide additional numbers and calculations in the coming weeks.

  • During the 2023 calendar year, the Texas Supreme Court disposed of 100

I continue to track the statistics on the number of petitions for review granted by the Texas Supreme Court where the court of appeals wrote an “Opinion,” versus those where the court of appeals wrote a “Memorandum Opinion.” My prior years’ statistical analysis have dispelled the notion that if the court of appeals writes a

I have completed the statistical calculations for the Texas Supreme Court’s cause disposition for the calendar year beginning January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022. The breakdown of broader statistics is shown below. Additional calculations and numbers will be posted in the coming weeks.

  • During the 2022 calendar year, the Court disposed of 95 causes,

I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking to the Dallas Bar Association Appellate Law Section on the subject of superseding judgments in Texas state courts. In connection with that continuing legal education presentation, I prepared a written paper and a powerpoint presentation.  I am making those resources publicly available here:

Supersedeas Paper 2022

Supersedeas

Parties (and their counsel) to a court of appeals’ disposition of an appeal sometimes worry that if the court disposed of the appeal by issuing a “Memorandum Opinion” instead of an “Opinion,” the chances of obtaining review by the Texas Supreme Court will be diminished.  Statistics in recent years have helped to dispel this concern.