MIKE FARRIS joined Tipton Jones in 2007, where his practice includes complex commercial litigation as well as entertainment law, focusing on the movie and publishing industries. He is much in demand as a presenter at writers conferences around the country, speaking on topics ranging from legal issues for writers and understanding publishing contracts to how to get published. He created and taught a seminar sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association's Sports & Entertainment Law Section entitled Beyond Briefs: Other Forms of Fiction Writing for Lawyers, and has presented at the State Bar of Texas's Entertainment Law Institute.
Mike graduated cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1983, where he served as an associate editor on the Texas Tech Law Review and was inducted into the prestigious Order of the Coif. He then practiced law for fifteen years with one of the largest law firms in Dallas and was named a partner after six years. Specializing in commercial litigation, his practice focused on contract surety bonds, financial institution and commercial dishonesty bonds, antitrust, state and federal securities laws, and appeals in both state and federal courts.
In 1998, Mike left the law firm to pursue personal interests, primarily writing and free-lance editing. In 2002, Mike and his wife, Susan, also an attorney, formed Farris Literary Agency, Inc., in Dallas, Texas. As an agent, Mike placed several award-winning novels for publication, including Balaam Gimble's Gumption by Mike Nichols, winner of the 2004 Texas Institute of Letters John Bloom Humor Award, and Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush by Sheldon Russell, winner of the 2006 Langum Prize for Excellence in American Historical Fiction. Mike represents various university presses and has successfully placed subsidiary rights to their published books, including negotiating the sale of movie rights to producers and Hollywood studios.
Mike is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas in its Sports & Entertainment Management MBA program, and he has taught trial advocacy as an adjunct professor at Texas Wesleyan University Law School and creative writing at Richland College in Dallas. Mike is also an award-winning screenwriter and a ghostwriter for non-fiction book projects. In 2003, he collaborated with former ABC-TV anchorman Murphy Martin on Martin's memoir of his years in journalism, entitled Front Row Seat: A Veteran Reporter Relives the Four Decades That Reshaped America (Eakin Press 2003). He recently collaborated with Bob Hinkle to write Bob's memoir, Call Me Lucky: A Texan in Hollywood, which will be released in September 2009 by the University of Oklahoma Press.
Mike is AV® Peer Review Rated by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.
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Representative Cases
Performance HR, Ltd., Inc. v. Archway Insurance Services LLC, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86683 (E.D. Pa. 2008)
Porcari v. OMDA Oil & Gas, Inc., 2007 Tex. App. LEXIS 8360 (Tex. App. – Dallas 2007)
Pinnacle Oil Co. v. Triumph Oklahoma Limited Partnership, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8985 (SDNY 1997)
Federal Deposit Ins. Co. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 956 F. Supp. 701 (ND Tex. 1996)
Federal Deposit Ins. Co. v. United States Fire Ins. Co., 50 F.3d 1304 (5th Cir. 1995)
First Texas Sav. Ass'n. v. Reliance Ins. Co., 950 F.2d 1171 (5th Cir. 1992)
T.M.S. Mechanical Contractors v. Millers Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 942 F.2d 946 (5th Cir. 1991)
Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Murchison, 937 F.2d 204 (5th Cir. 1991)
Neeley v. Bankers Trust Co. of Texas, 848 F. 2d 658 (5th Cir. 1988)
Marcus Stowell & Beye Gov't Sec., Inc. v. Jefferson Investment Corp., 797 F.2d 227 (5th Cir. 1986)
Western Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Spears, 730 S.W.2d 821 (Tex. App. - San Antonio 1987, no writ)
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Speaking Appearances
Women Writing the West Conference, San Antonio, Texas, October 23-26, 2008
East Texas Christian Writers Conference, East Texas Baptist University, Marshall, Texas, June 6-7, 2008
Tony Hillerman Writers Conference: Focus on Mystery, Albuquerque, New Mexico, November 1-4, 2007
East Texas Christian Writer's Conference, East Texas Baptist University, Marshall, Texas, June 1-2, 2007
The Brazos Writers Spring 2007 Mini-Conference, P. David Romei Arts Center, 2275 Dartmouth Street, College Station, Texas, May 26, 2007
Writer's Inspiration Conference, sponsored by the Oklahoma Writer's Federation, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 4-5, 2007
Writer's League of Texas 13th Annual Agents and Editors Conference, Austin, Texas, June 23-25, 2006
East Texas Christian Writer's Conference, East Texas Baptist University, Marshall, Texas, June 3, 2006
Writer's Inspiration Conference, sponsored by the Oklahoma Writer's Federation, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 3-4, 2006
Sleuthfest, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, March 2-5, 2006
Women Writing the West Conference, Fort Worth, Texas, October 21-23, 2005
ConMisterio Mystery Writers Conference, Austin, Texas, July 22-24, 2005
Women Writing the West Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 22-24, 2004
21st Annual Colorado Gold Conference, Denver, Colorado, September 10-12, 2004
Dallas Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section, July 23, 2004
The Screenwriting Conference in Santa Fe, The Institute of American Indian Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, June 2-6, 2004
Writer's Quest 2004, sponsored by the Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, April 30-May 1, 2004
Dallas Bar Association Sports & Entertainment Law Section, January 28, 2004
State Bar of Texas 13th Annual Entertainment Law Institute: Legal and Business Aspects of the Film and Music Industries, Austin, Texas, October 10-11, 2003
Black Hills Writers Conference, Rapid City, South Dakota, September 19-21, 2003
Ozark Writers League, College of the Ozarks, Hollister, Missouri, August 16, 2003
The Screenwriting Conference in Santa Fe, The College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 28-June 1, 2003
Pike's Peak Writers Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 25-27, 2003
Texans . . . Writing to the World 2002 Conference, Hurst, Texas, September 27-28, 2002
Bay Area Writers League Conference, University of Houston – Clearlake, May 10-11, 2002
Writer's Journey 2002, sponsored by the Oklahoma Writer's Federation, Inc, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 3-4, 2002
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Authors, Agents, and Publishers: Who, What, Where, When, and How, State Bar of Texas 13th Annual Entertainment Law Institute: Legal and Business Aspects of the Film and Music Industries
