Ms. Miniter is a forceful advocate who has successfully argued and litigated in courts around the country. Her practice focuses on lawsuits and appeals that present difficult issues or high stakes. After graduating with honors from the University of Virginia School of Law, Ms. Miniter deepened her understanding of judicial decision-making by clerking for a federal appeals judge on the Fifth Circuit. She then represented businesses and executives at a litigation boutique and at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, one of the top law firms in the nation. Ms. Miniter loves being in the courtroom, but she brings equal intensity and intellectual firepower to resolving disputes from the earliest stages to trial and all the way up on appeal.

Practice Focus & Experience

Ms. Miniter has extensive appellate experience in federal and state courts. She is a member of the Fifth Circuit’s Pro Bono Panel, has been appointed by the Fifth Circuit to serve as lead counsel in a constitutional appeal, is a member of the Texas State Bar Appellate Section Pro Bono Program, and has presented and written about appellate issues. Representative matters include:

Appeals
  • (U.S. Supreme Court) – Represented amicus in First Amendment appeal
  • (10th Cir.) – Successfully briefed precedent-setting commercial speech rights case, obtaining full affirmance of the trial court’s ruling on the unconstitutionality of a curfew on door-to-door solicitation
  • (Tex. App.—Dallas) – Successfully argued and briefed issues relating to claims of breach of contract, fraud and civil conspiracy, resulting in a favorable unanimous decision
  • (5th Cir.) – Represented national stock exchange in constitutional and administrative law appeal that resulted in a favorable panel ruling
  • (5th Cir.) – Appointed by the Fifth Circuit as lead counsel to argue and brief a challenge of ineffective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment, and obtained a modified opinion on petition for rehearing to correct an erroneous basis for the denial of relief
  • (Texas Supreme Court) – Represented national media company in response to petition for review relating to Texas Citizen Participation Act, resulting in petition being denied
  • (5th Cir.) – Represented railroad in successful appeal of summary judgment and with respect to award of exemplary damages in breach-of- contract dispute
  • (Tex. App.—Dallas) – Represented airline pilots’ union in interlocutory appeal from a plea to the jurisdiction
  • (N.Y. App. 1st Dep’t 2021) – Represented national broadcast television station owner on briefing of interlocutory appeal from grant of motion for leave to amend
Complex Business Litigation & Class Actions

Ms. Miniter has extensive experience litigating complex issues in federal and state courts. She is a past co-editor of the American Bar Association’s Corporate Counsel Newsletter, which focuses on practice issues facing in-house and outside counsel representing corporations, and she has written on various litigation topics. Representative matters include:

  • (D. Del.) – Successfully argued and briefed motions to dismiss on behalf of national retailer against international consulting firm, twice obtaining partial dismissal of breach-of-contract claims under complex issues of Delaware law
  • (Bankr. N.D. Tex.) – Represented former directors and officer of skilled nursing and senior care provider in fiduciary litigation initiated by unsecured creditors’ trustee appointed in large bankruptcy case and seeking in excess of $100 million; successfully argued and briefed a motion to confirm that the automatic bankruptcy stay did not apply to proceeds of D&O insurance policies
  • (Collin County, Tex., Dist. Ct.) – Represented publicly-held bank in lawsuit filed after bankruptcy of a debtor; obtained summary judgment on affirmative breach of guaranty claim and obtained summary judgment on counterclaim for breach of fiduciary duty
  • (N.D. Cal. & E.D.N.Y.) – Represented national beverage company in consumer class actions for mediation purposes
  • (N.D. Tex.) – Represented multi-national personal care corporation in consumer class action in motion-to-dismiss and motion-to-strike briefing
  • (N.Y. Supreme Ct., Commercial Division) – Represented a national broadcast television station company in a contract and fraud dispute with a major content distributor
  • (Federal Arbitration) – Represented petroleum refining company against exploration and production company in contract dispute
  • (Dallas County, Tex., Dist. Ct.) – Represented a global investment firm and individuals in a challenge to personal jurisdiction; case voluntarily non-suited
  • (Dallas County, Tex. Dist. Ct.) – Represented affiliate of major Texas utility in post-winter storm Uri litigation against interstate pipeline companies
  • (Bankr. S.D.T.X & Harris County, Tex., Dist. Ct.) – Represented power and infrastructure company in post-winter storm Uri litigation against interstate pipeline
Publications & Panels
  • “Fifth Circuit Update” with Judge Kyle Duncan, Adv. Civ. App. Prac. Course, Tex. State Bar (Dec. 2021)
  • Advocating for Change and Thought Leadership as In-House Counsel, ABA Corporate Counsel (March 2021)
  • “Protecting Information Provided to the Government,” ABA Corporate Counsel (April 2020)
  • “Tips for a Better Direct Examination,” Dallas Bar Journal (May 2020)
  • “Mandamus in the Fifth Circuit,” Texas Lawbook (2019)
  • “Removal to Federal Court,” Texas Lawbook (2018)
  • “Willa Cather’s My Antonia and Legal Thought in the Late Nineteenth Century,” 51 Creighton L. Rev. 119 (2017)
Admissions
  • United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
  • Northern District of Texas
  • Eastern District of Texas
  • Southern District of Texas
  • Western District of Texas
  • Texas (all courts)
Affiliations
  • Member, Fifth Circuit Pro Bono Panel
  • Member, Texas State Bar Appellate Section Pro Bono Program
  • Co-Editor, American Bar Association Corporate Counsel Newsletter, 2020-2021
  • Associate Member, Higginbotham Inn of Court, 2018-2019
  • Participant, Georgetown Center for the Constitution Originalism Summer Seminar (2017)
  • Member, Federal Bar Association
  • Member, Dallas Bar Association
  • Professional Background:
    • Judicial Clerk to the Honorable Catharina Haynes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2017 – 2018
    • Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, 2021 – 2024
    • Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann LLP, 2018 – 2021
Education

University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., Order of the Coif (2016)

  • Editor, Virginia Journal of International Law

Skidmore College, M.A. (2011)

University of Texas at Austin, Bachelor of Journalism, Summa Cum Laude (2002)

  • Columnist, The Daily Texan
Honors
  • Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch,” Appellate Practice (2022-2025)
  • Best Lawyers “Ones to Watch,” Commercial Litigation (2021-2025)
  • Super Lawyers “Texas Rising Stars,” Business Litigation (2023-2024)
Community

Ms. Miniter enjoys using her legal practice to provide pro bono representation for those who otherwise might not have access to counsel, as she believes that doing so aids the development of the law and justice system. Her pro bono work has included:

  • Appointment by the Fifth Circuit to brief and argue as lead counsel for a federal prisoner a challenge of ineffective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amendment
  • Representation of amicus at the United States Supreme Court in opposition to constitutionalizing a right to send online messages that a recipient would reasonably perceive to be a violent threat
  • Represented a pregnancy crisis center in responding to a state investigative subpoena and interrogatories
  • Represented refugee and asylum applicants for the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas as a participant in the Pro Bono Scholars Program for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Ms. Miniter also serves in various capacities outside of the legal profession:

  • Board Member, New Friends New Life, March 2019-Present
  • Member, Orchid Giving Circle, Jan. 2019-Aug. 2022
  • Mentor, UVA Lone Star Lawyers 1L Mentorship Program, Fall 2021-Present
  • Member, UVA Rotunda Society, 2021-Present
  • Participant, Business Council for the Arts Leadership Arts Institute, Sept. 2023-Present

I draw a lot of inspiration from art. Hamilton is a great example and holds one of my favorite gems: Don’t throw away your shot.

We named our daughter after my husband’s grandmother, and this key is to her hutch of books and letters in our daughter’s room. It’s a reminder to always keep family close.

This dictionary from my childhood encapsulates to me so much of the immigrant and first-generation experience. Words, ironically, can’t fully explain!


More About Paulette Miniter

Paulette is the daughter of war refugees from Vietnam. Born in Tennessee, she spent her childhood outside of New Orleans before her family moved to Cleburne, Texas. Her family was fortunate that American sponsors helped them adjust to their new country. She also witnessed firsthand the importance of education and hard work: Her father—an engineer and graduate of the University of Canterbury in New Zealand—went to graduate school at night at Tulane University, while her mother obtained a nursing degree. After college, Paulette embarked on a journalism career that took her from the rural northwest to the nation’s capital and New York City. Today, she and her husband have a daughter and a large Hovawart, and they enjoy cross-country skiing and hiking outside their mountain house in Angel Fire, New Mexico. They are members of Christ the King Catholic Church in Dallas.

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