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James T. (“Jim”) McMillen is a 1975 honor graduate of the Nashville School of Law. He has
practiced in both Texas and Tennessee. He is listed in “Best Lawyers in America”. He is a graudate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, Wyoming
where he serves on the F_Warrior Board of Directors. In addition to his private practice he is an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law School. In
the last five years he has obtained over $90 Million dollar for consumers and over $2 million in Cy Pres awards for public servic organizations. He has been
recognized as the Consumer Hero of the Year by the National Assoication of Consumer Advocates and has been the Trial Warrior of Year for the South East
Region of the United States by the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer College. He holds licenses with the Supreme Court of Texas and Tennessee. He holds licenses the
Supreme Court of the Untied States of America , the Untied States Court of Appeal for the Fifth and Sixth Circuits, the United States District Courts for the
Southern, Northern and Western Districts of Texas and the Middle District of Tennessee. He is Board Certified in both Business and Consumer Bankruptcy Law by
the American Board of Certification and the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Since commencing his practice in 1975 he has concentrated his practice
on, consumer law, bankruptcy law, class action litigation, commercial litigation, civil rights (particularly
on issues affecting women), and medical malpractice. He served for six years as an administrative law
judge on the Tennessee Medical Malpractice Review Board while maintaining a full time law
practice. Since beginning his practice he has been known to handled many difficult and controversial
issues. During the banking and savings & loan crises in the 1980's and 1990's, he has handle
numerous business bankruptcies many of which have involved millions of dollars and large classes of
claims. He has severed as a Chapter 11 Trustee and he frequently represents Trustees in bankruptcy
cases. He along with Cathy Pope Clark represented the Plaintiff in the first jury trial tried in the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division. He is a
nationally known advocate on consumer issues. He has continuously served on the board of directors
and as secretary of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys since 1994. He is
the past Chairman of the Bankruptcy Committee of the State Bar of Texas, an office he held for two
years. He has served on Governing Counsels of both the Consumer Law Section and the Business
Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. He is an active member of the National Association of
Consumer Advocates. He has held numerous offices and served on committees of both the state and
local bars in the states of Texas and in Tennessee. In 1996, he was a witness on behalf of consumers before the National Bankruptcy Review Commission.
At the present time he is involved in the following class action litigation Rodriguez, et al v. Cash Today, Inc., et al, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston
Division; Rodriguez, et al v. Checknet, Inc. et al, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Corpus Christi Division; Pastreck, et al v. Sears, Roebuck & Company
and Sears National Bank, Civil Action No. 99-30206, in the United States District Court for the
District of Massachusetts in Western Division (Boston) with Attorneys Dan Edelman, Chicago, Illinois and Christopher M. LeFebvre of Pawtucket, RI; Swarbrick v. Circuit City Stores, Inc. and
First North American National Bank, Civil Action No. 99-11912JLT, in the United States District
Court for the District of Massachusetts in Eastern Division (Boston) with Attorneys Dan Edelman, Chicago, Illinois and Christopher M. LeFebvre of Pawtucket, RI; and Peper et al v. Blockbuster,
Inc., case No 99 CH08984, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois County, Department, Chancery Division with attorney Lance Raphael of Chicago, Ill.
He has authored and spoke on the following: Class Action Litigation in Bankruptcy Cases, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy
Attorneys (2000), Payday Lending Litigation, National Consumer Law Center/National Association of Consumer Advocates (2000), Computer Trial Exhibit and Computer Document Management in
Complex Litigation, National Consumer Law Center (1999); Computer Trial Exhibits on a Limited
Budget, National Association of Consumer Advocates (1999); Creditor Abuses - High Interest Payday Loans, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (1999); Attorney Web
Pages, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (1999); Litigation with States after Seminole, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (1998); Purposed Changes to
the Bankruptcy Law, State Bar of Texas (1998); Creditor Frauds and Scams in the Mortgage and
Auto Industries, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (1997); Small Business
Chapter 13's, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Association ((1996); Defending against
Dischargeability Cases with Credit Card Lenders, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy
Association (1996); Ethics -The Use and Misuse of Paralegals, Texas State Bar (1996); Counseling Debtors, Texas State Bar (1996); Bankruptcy Litigation, National Association of Consumer
Bankruptcy Attorneys, (1995); Small Business Chapter 13's , National Association of Chapter 13
Trustees (1995); Bankruptcy Practice - Regional Differences, National Association of Chapter 13 Trustees (1995); Bankruptcy and the Family Law Case, Corpus Christi Bar Association (1995);
Ethics, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (1994); What you Always Wanted
to Know About Bankruptcy, Corpus Christi Credit Bureau (1991); Legal Considerations in Regard
to Variable Interest Rate Loans, Small Business Administration of the United States Government National Attorneys Training (1984); Bankruptcy: The Creditors Challenge, Tennessee Bar
Association (1980). He is a "PowerLaw" author for the Texas Lawyer on bankruptcy and consumer
subjects. In the last year he has been quoted on issues involving consumer law in the following publications: Business Week (magazine), the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York
Times, Lawyer's Weekly, Austin Statesman, Cincinnati Post, Seattle Times, and Chicago Sun-Times.
The following are notable cases in which he has been involved: In re: Smithwick; 121 F.3d 211; 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 23646(5th Cir. 1997) - Applicable interest rate in consumer bankruptcy
cases is contract rate. Counsel on Amicus Brief for National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys; In re: Mendoza;
111 F.3d 1264; 1997 U.S. App. LEXIS 10709(5th Cir. 1997) - Established that Debtors can amend Chapter 13 Plans to include post petition mortgage arrears
(Counsel for the Debtor); In re: Carlan, 157 B.R. 324 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 1993) - Set standard of valuation in Fifth Circuit prior to Rash to between the Wholesale and retail on a case by case basis; In
re: Burton Securities; 202 B.R. 411 (Bankr. S.D. Tex. 1996) - Effect of Confirmation of Plan as res adjudicata (Counsel for Trustee), In re: Carlton; 26 B.R. 202 (1982) (Bankr. M.D. Tenn. 1982)
- Established a national standard for dischargeability of embezzlement in bankruptcy cases; Tex. Dep't Public Safety v. Galbreath; 1997 Lexis App. 4603 (13th Ct. App. -Corpus Christi no writ);
Dannell v. Citizen's State Bank; 754 S.W. 2d 407 ((13th Ct. App. - Corpus Christi, no writ). -
Established that the creditor has the proof on commercial reasonableness of a sale under UCC Article 9; and Page v. Wilkinson, 657 S.W.2 d 422 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1983) - Established in Tennessee that
the insured must be made whole before PIP coverage could be surrogated.
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