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Amanda G. Taylor

Amanda G. Taylor
  • Practice Group Leader, Appellate Group

Contact

​(737) 802-1811 Email Me Download vCard

Practice Areas

Amanda serves as Practice Group Leader for the Appellate Group. As a Board-Certified Civil Appellate specialist, Amanda helps to shape successful case strategy from the outset of litigation through the end of an appeal.  Amanda is a detail-oriented lawyer who represents her clients with passion, stays current on emerging trends and issues, and brings a practical perspective to problem solving.  She has experience handling complex civil disputes regarding contracts, fraud, tax, insurance, products, employment, real property, and trust and estates.  Amanda provides pro bono appellate services each year and is committed to community service through her State and Local Bar Associations.

Biography – View PDF Bio

Narrative Bio

Amanda has served as appellate counsel in over 100 matters before the Texas Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, and appellate courts across Texas and other jurisdictions. She also regularly appears in district court to assist with dispositive motions, legal issues, and preservation of error.

She has developed an expertise related to the Texas Citizens Participation Act (a/k/a, anti-SLAPP statute). She frequently represents clients, writes, and presents legal education on this topic, and other topics related to Texas appellate law. She has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer® in Appellate practice every year since 2014.

Amanda is involved in a number of professional organizations including the Austin Bar Association, where she served as a member of the Board of Directors (2015-2018), Chair and Council Member of the Civil Appellate Section (2014-2019), Foundation Fellow (2016-Present), and Lawyer Well-Being Committee Co-Chair (2019-2020), as well as holding numerous other leadership positions.  She served as the President and as a Board Member of the Travis County Women Lawyers Association (2008-2013) and has been actively involved in the organization as a Fellow and mentor for many years.  She also dedicates professional service to the State Bar of Texas Grievance Committee (Dist. 9 Panel Member, 2020-Present), Foundation (Fellow, 2014-Present), and Civil Appellate and Litigation Sections (Member, 2008-Present). She is a member of the Baylor Law School Alumni Association, where she served on the Austin Steering Committee (2016-2018), volunteered for the Mentorship Program (2016-2018), and was an Assistant Coach to Texas Young Lawyers Moot Court Competition (2017).  Additionally, she is a program mentor for The Appellate Project, which empowers law students of color to thrive in appellate law.

Amanda completed her undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University and earned her Juris Doctor from Baylor University. She previously served as a law clerk to Justice Jan Patterson and staff attorney to Chief Justice Kenneth Law, both of the Texas Third District of Appeals. She is admitted to the State Bar of Texas, the Western District of the U.S. District Court of Texas and the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Associations

Bar Admissions

  • Texas, 2004
  • U.S. District Courts
    • Texas: Western, Southern
  • U.S. Court of Appeals
    • 5th Circuit
    • 9th Circuit

Civic Involvement

  • The Appellate Project
    • Program Mentor (Mission: Empower law students of color to thrive in appellate law), 2020-Present

Distinctions

  • Board Certified in Civil Appeals, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Chambers USA, America's Leading Lawyers for Business
    • Litigation: Appellate (Texas), 2022
  • Litigation/Appellate Attorney Award, Travis County Women Lawyers' Association (TCWLA), 2019
  • BL Rankings, The Best Lawyers in America®
    • Appellate Practice, 2021-2023
    • Commercial Litigation, 2021-2023
  • Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers®
    • Texas Super Lawyer, Appellate, 2014-2021
    • Top 50 Central/West Texas Lawyer, 2018-2021
    • Top 50 Women Texas Super Lawyer, 2021
    • Texas Rising Star, Civil Appeals, 2012-2014
  • Austin Monthly
  • Larry F. York Mentoring Award, Austin Bar Foundation, 2021

Education & Honors

  • Baylor University, J.D., cum laude, 2004
    • Associate Editor, Law Review
    • Administrative Law Moot Court Team – Winner: Best Brief
  • Vanderbilt University, B.A., Political Science and Sociology, cum laude, 2001
    • Kappa Delta Sorority 
  • Texas Third District of Appeals
    • Law Clerk to Justice Jan Patterson, 2004-2005
    • Staff Attorney to Chief Justice Kenneth Law, 2005-2007

Experience

  • Amanda has served as appellate counsel in over 100 matters before the Texas Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Ninth Circuits, and appellate courts across Texas and other jurisdictions. 
  • She also regularly appears in district court to assist with dispositive motions, legal issues, and preservation of error. 
  • Successfully represented a municipality on appeal in pursuit of multi-million dollar fraud and conspiracy claims against commercial construction entities that organized an elaborate bribery scheme to be awarded lucrative contracts for the construction of water-treatment facilities.
  • Successfully represented a multi-state company in an employment dispute brought by a terminated employee who claimed he was retaliated against for filing a worker’s compensation claim.  In an issue of first impression, the court of appeals held that the state’s anti-SLAPP statute applied to the claims at issue, resulting in a complete dismissal of the plaintiff’s suit and an order that the plaintiff pay the company’s legal fees.
  • Successfully represented a South Korean-based insurance company on appeal to uphold a $4.2+ million judgment against re-insurers who engaged in an international scheme to fraudulently induce the payment of premiums on a ship-building “refund guarantee” policy and the eventual issuance of a release agreement, without any intent to refund the amount invested.  The court found that our client was justified in relying on the defendants’ representations and that the damages were correctly calculated.
  • Successfully represented a Fortune 500 waste services company in defending against class certification of claims regarding allegedly unauthorized service fees charged over a fourteen-year period.  The court of appeals held that the first proposed subclass was legally defective based on its lack of actual damages and that the second proposed subclass failed to satisfy the predominance requirement.
  • Successfully represented a global oil-and-gas-industry training company in a franchise tax protest suit seeking a costs-of-goods-sold deduction and a reduced apportionment of state tax liability.  After the trial court dismissed the suit for a lack of jurisdiction, the court of appeals reversed because the state comptroller was not conclusively insulated from suit by sovereign immunity.

In the News

Papers, Presentations, & Publications

  • Presenter, “Remedy: Remand, Render, or Retreat?” UT Law CLE’s 32nd Annual Conference on State and Federal Appeals, June 17, 2022.
  • Presenter, “Top 10 Appellate Mistakes Made in Trial Court, Amarillo Bar Association, March 10, 2022.
  • ​Panelist, "Law Specialization Panel," Phi Alpha Delta, Vanderbilt Law School, February 3, 2022. 
  • ​Course Director, Texas Bar, 13th Annual Business Disputes Conference, September 2-3, 2021. 
  • ​Presenter, “Anti-SLAPP, Is this Still a Thing?” Harris County Civil District Judge Retreat, July 28, 2021.
  • Presenter, "Three Pack Update on TRAP Amendments, the TCPA, and Sufficiency Standards of Review," UT Law Conference on State and Federal Appeals, June 10, 2021.
  • Quoted, "As Clients' Challenges Continue, Client Service Is More Important Than Ever," Texas Lawyer, May 5, 2021.
  • Presenter, “The Ides of March CLE: Top Ten Appellate Errors Made by Trial Lawyers,” Austin Bar Association, Civil Litigation Section and Civil Appellate Section Joint Remote CLE, March 15, 2021.
  • Author and Presenter, "Update on the TCPA and Rule 91a," Texas Bar, Advanced Business Law Conference, November 5, 2020.
    • More...

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