Butler Snow attorney Eric J.R. Nichols has been reappointed to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice by Texas Governor Greg Abbott for a term set to expire February 1, 2027. The nine-member board is appointed by the Governor to oversee the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, a Texas state agency that operates the state’s prison system; administers programs that provide for supervision, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the state’s convicted felons; and provides crime victims services. The board also oversees the Windham School District, which provides educational, vocational, and training opportunities for those incarcerated in the Texas prison system. The board is also responsible for hiring the executive director of the department and setting rules and policies that guide the agency.
Nichols focuses his practice in the areas of civil and criminal litigation with a special emphasis on representing companies and individuals in business and commercial disputes, including pre-litigation counseling, the prosecution and defense of civil cases filed in court, the defense of civil claims pursued by government agencies, and trials in courts and arbitrations. He also focuses his practice on representing companies and individuals during white-collar criminal investigations and proceedings in both federal and state criminal justice systems. Nichols is a former deputy attorney general for criminal justice for the office of the Texas Attorney General and a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
Nichols is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the Texas Bar Foundation and the Austin Bar Foundation. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Barbara Jordan American Inns of Court, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, the Texas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Austin Bar Association, and the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Nichols received his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia and his Juris Doctor, with honors, from The University of Texas School of Law.
