Niles Illich, Ph.D.
“I believe that my first role as an attorney is to find a solution to my client’s problem. When the obvious answers are no longer available, I will work the problem until I find a solution that works for my client. Sometimes this is an entirely unexpected approach and we have to look at the problem in an entirely new way, but I believe that if given enough thought, every client's problem has a solution.”
Bio
Niles attended Good Shephard before going on to graduate from Jesuit College Preparatory School. Niles found his place in academics when he left for college and earned a BA (history), MA (history), and a Ph.D. (nineteenth-century German history) before getting serious and enrolling in law school.
Niles graduated from the University of Houston Law Center in the top quarter of his law school class. Niles served as an editor on the Houston Journal of International Law and worked in the law library as an assistant to the reference librarians.
Upon graduation, Niles accepted a prestigious and much sought-after clerkship with the Honorable Evelyn V. Keyes of the First Court of Appeals. It was during this clerkship that Niles learned to be an appellate attorney.
Niles takes a very limited number of habeas cases. Generally, these involve claims that a trial or appellate attorney failed to provide constitutionally effective representation. He has also represented clients in election disputes, sales tax contests, and mandamus proceedings.
Niles is board certified in criminal appellate law and represents clients in criminal and select civil appeals in all federal appeals courts, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the fourteen intermediate-appellate courts in Texas.
Awards
Credentials
Memberships
- Board Certified in Texas for Criminal Appellate Law
- Co-Chair Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Amicus Committee
- Editor, Federal Bar Association, Federal Lawyer (national magazine with circulation of nearly 20,000)
- Jesuit Legal Society
Education
J.D.
University of Houston Law Center
- Graduated in top quarter of class
- Upon graduation, clerked for the Honorable Evelyn Keyes on the First Court of Appeals, Editor Houston Journal of International Law
Ph.D.
Texas A&M University
- German Imperialism in the Ottoman Empire: A Comparative Study
M.A.
Clemson University
- The Vicissitudes of Fortune: An Analysis of the Life of William Rhodes Davis
B.A.
Texas A&M University
Licenses
- Texas Bar: All state courts in Texas including the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the fourteen intermediate appellate courts.
- Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas
- Northern District of Illinois
- Federal District Court of Maryland
- Fifth Circuit: Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi federal appeals.
- Seventh Circuit: Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin federal appeals.
- Ninth Circuit: California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii federal appeals.
- Tenth Circuit: Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming federal appeals
Publications
- The Thirteenth Amendment And One Hundred And Fifty Years Of Struggle To Criminalize Slavery: A First Amendment Challenge To The Forced Labor Act (18 U.S.C. § 1589)St. Mary’s Law Journal.2021 - Visit Publication
- Juvenile Certifications: Post-Moon and Thomas, where are we?The Voice for the Defense2021 - Visit Publication
- A First Amendment Challenge to the Forced Labor Act (18 U.S.C.§ 1589) and the Need for Reform-Page 37The Federal Lawyer2021 - Visit Publication
- A Call for Harmonization Between the Rules of Criminal and Civil ProcedureIssuu2021 - Visit Publication