Richard Mithoff

In naming Mr. Mithoff the “Best Civil Lawyer” in Houston in 1998 and again in 2004, the Houston Press described his courtroom style as “dazzling his opposition with pretrial maneuvers and connecting emotionally with any juror he needs,” while noting that he has “earned a reputation for honesty and forthrightness with clients, judges, and the media.” Practicing in the area of general civil litigation, the Mithoff Law has focused on personal injury and commercial litigation, including medical malpractice, products liability, aviation, and admiralty cases. Mr. Mithoff and the firm have recovered more than $1 million by verdict or settlement in several hundred personal injury and commercial cases, and has successfully defended a number of clients in commercial cases involving claims of several hundred million dollars in the areas of breach of contract, antitrust, trade secrets, and patent infringement. His diverse list of clients has included San Diego Padres owner John Moores, Conoco-Phillips, Texas Heart Institute, shareholders of BP stock following the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, singer Willie Nelson, the Berry children orphaned after a car accident which killed their parents, the family of former Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams, the family of police-shooting victim Pedro Oregon, the Democratic Party of Texas, J.P. Morgan Chase in the Enron litigation, Momentum Operating Co. in the Texas Panhandle oil and gas dispute, the families of five men killed in the 2005 BP Texas City explosion and the families of six elderly people burned to death in the 2005 Hurricane Rita evacuation bus fire. A native of Lufkin and reared in El Paso, Mr. Mithoff attended the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in business administration. After graduating in 1968, he enrolled in the UT Law School, graduating in 1971. He was Project Editor of the Texas Law Review in his final year at UT. Following graduation, he clerked for U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice. In 1974, he went into practice with legendary trial attorney Joe Jamail with the firm that later became Jamail, Kolius & Mithoff. In 1984 he established the Mithoff Law Firm. He and his wife, Ginni, have two grown children, Michael and Caroline, and five grandchildren: Mia, daughter of Michael and his wife, Melissa and their twin sons, Max and Matthew, and Isabella and Alex, children of Caroline Mithoff and her husband Scott Perez. University of Texas at Austin, JD, 1971 University of Texas at Austin, BBA, 1968