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 graduate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College, Dubois, Wyoming. He is an adjunct professor of consumer law and litigation at the University of Houston Law School. He currently serves on the Alumni Board of Directors of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer College. He has obtained judgments and settlements for consumer in excess of $90 Million dollar in the last five years alone. 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 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(5^th 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(5^th 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 (13^th Ct. App. -Corpus Christi no writ); Dannell v. Citizen's State Bank; 754 S.W. 2d 407 ((1^3th 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.