Attorney Micah Dortch is a partner at Dortch Lindstrom Livingston. He was born in Longview, Texas, where he lived until his adolescent years and where most of his family lives today. Micah attended grade school in the small town of Llano, Texas, where his mother was a Spanish teacher and high school debate coach. When you grow up in a small town, you are taught to work hard, value your family and community, help those in need and always rely on your instincts. Micah carries these values with him through his life.
At a young age, Micah began achieving immense success in the courtroom. Prior to his 40th birthday, Micah served as lead trial counsel in more than 1,000 federal and state court matters. In his mid-30s, Micah became a member of the prestigious Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Membership in the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum is limited to attorneys whose hard work and advocacy have resulted in multimillion-dollar verdicts and/or settlements for their clients. Micah began achieving this level of results in the early years of his career and has done so every year thereafter. Presently, less than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members of the forum.
Micah was named to the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list by Thomson Reuters in 2010 and 2012-2018 and has also been named a Texas Super Lawyer since 2019. Micah was chosen by the National Trial Lawyers Association as one of the top 100 plaintiff lawyers in America for 2018 through 2023 and was named to the 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list by Lawdragon in 2022.
When he is not working, Micah enjoys spending time with his friends and family, competing in barbecue cookoffs with his team the “BBQ Barristers” and his barbeque pit, which he named “Eleanor.” Micah is also quite entrepreneurial and owns businesses outside of the legal profession, including a lending company in North Texas, an oil-and-gas-related business in Ohio and a credit card payment business in Dallas. Micah and his wife are dog lovers and donate time and money to helping rescue and treating animals in need.
Honors and Awards
- Best Lawyers in America – Personal Injury Litigation, 2020-2023; featured in The Wall Street Journal, 2020
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers in America, 2020-2022
- Texas Super Lawyers (a Thomson Reuters service), 2019-2024
- Super Lawyers Rising Star in Texas (a Thomson Reuters service), 2010, 2012-2018
- Top 100 by The National Trial Lawyers, 2018-2023
Notable Cases
- In 2014, Micah was awarded the Fraud “Verdict of the Year” for his role as lead trial counsel in C.A. No. 4:11-cv-3700; Rodney Tow vs. John H. Speer, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, which resulted in a return to creditors of millions of dollars in fraudulently taken assets of the debtor.
- Micah served as class counsel in the ERISA class action Diebold, et al. v. Northern Trust Investments, N.A. et al., 09-Civ-1934 (Diebold), in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois where the court approved a collective settlement of $36 million for class representatives, resulting in millions of dollars returned to investors.
- Micah served as special litigation counsel for the Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee in the multibillion-dollar bankruptcy of ATP Oil & Gas Corp., U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, No. 12-36187, wherein Micah was lead counsel in a multitude of litigation resulting in millions of dollars returned to creditors of the oil and gas company
- Adelmira Chavezet al v. Atmos Energy Corporation et al., No. 92375- Ellis County 40th State District Court, 2015; representation of the victims of the 2015 natural gas explosion in Waxahachie, Texas.
- Micah served as lead counsel for the family of Roy Aguilar, who was tragically killed on October 11, 2011, at the Texas Instruments plant in Dallas, Texas. Micah filed suit against the employer of Mr. Aguilar and the manufacturer of the product involved in Mr. Aguilar’s death. Ultimately, the case was resolved and the family was able to comfortably grieve for its patriarch.
- Micah served as lead counsel for the family of Kook Oh, who was killed by an 18-wheeler in Alvarado, Texas. Micah sued the driver of the 18-wheeler and his employer. Following a week-long jury trial, Micah’s client received a verdict awarding more than $1 million in damages and a finding of punitive liability on the part of each of the defendants. In addition, the jury found gross negligence on the part of the defendants. Ultimately, the case resolved without the family having to undergo the second half of the trial.
- In 2014, Micah was awarded the Fraud “Verdict of the Year” for his role as lead trial counsel in the Royce Homes litigation, which resulted in a return to creditors of millions of dollars in fraudulently taken assets of the debtor. In addition, Micah served as class counsel in Diebold v. Northern Trust Investments, N.A., where the court approved a settlement of $36 million to the class. Micah has also served as lead counsel in countless other matters resulting in verdicts or settlements that paid his clients tens of millions of dollars.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- The Top Trial Lawyers In America Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Bar Admissions
- State Bar of Texas, 2006
- Oklahoma Bar Association, 2015
- Arkansas Bar Association, 2020
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Education
- J.D., South Texas College of Law, 2005
- B.A., Texas A&M University, 2001
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