Michael J. Black
Michael J. Black
Michael J. Black is the managing partner of Burns & Black PLLC, whose service to clients, the Bench and the Bar is truly a Calling for Michael. He is a very accomplished and distinguished attorney who had been in the private practice of law since 1983. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Fifth Circuits as well as several Federal District Courts. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association – San Antonio Chapter. His practice includes complex federal and state court litigation, mediations/arbitrations, commercial litigation, construction lawsuits, insurance defense matters, real estate, probate, business law, and consumer law matters.
Michael graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1980. Prior to entering the legal profession, he had a distinguished career in radio broadcasting. After graduating from law school, he served as a briefing attorney for United States Magistrate Judge Jamie C. Boyd from 1981 to 1983 and as an Assistant Bexar County Criminal District Attorney in the Civil Section in 1983. During this time he worked on complex civil litigation and related matters for the State. He served as an associate attorney for an insurance defense practice in the Law Offices of Joe Meador, Inc. in San Antonio from 1983 to 1986, when he joined the predecessor to his present firm Burns & Black PLLC. He is a Past President of the San Antonio Bar Association (2000-2001), a Past Chair of the San Antonio Bar Foundation (1999-2000), and in 1996 received a President’s Award for Outstanding Service to SABA. He is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and the San Antonio Bar Foundation. He received two Presidential Citations from the State Bar of Texas (1995 and 1999) for outstanding service to the Bar and the public. He served for six years as a member of the State Bar of Texas’ Grievance Committees and served the maximum term of two years as Chair of the District 10-C Grievance Committee. He served as a member of the Supreme Court of Texas task force revising the Rules of Civil Procedure in Texas justice courts and as a member of the State Bar of Texas Committee on the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct. He was a member of the State Bar’s public affairs and unauthorized practice of law committees, served as Co-Chair of the 1995 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio, and Chair of the 1994 Investiture of United States District Judges Fred Biery and (now Chief Judge) Orlando L. Garcia. He is an A-V-rated attorney (the highest possible peer review ratings on legal abilities and ethics) by Martindale-Hubbell and has received many awards for his distinguished service as an attorney.