Tyler Milton joined the firm as a Partner in October 2010. He previously practiced condemnation law as an attorney for the Law Office of Joe H. Staley, Jr., P.C. He has represented both condemnors and landowners, but since joining Dawson & Sodd, he has focused exclusively on the defense of property owners and their rights. He has successfully represented clients against condemning authorities at the local, county, and state levels involving various types of takings from residential, commercial, industrial, and rural properties, including takings for highway expansions, sanitary sewer lift stations, water transmission lines, natural gas transmission and gathering pipelines, and overhead electric transmission power lines.
Tyler received his undergraduate degree in 2003 from The College of William and Mary, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in History. During college, he spent his summers interning in Washington, D.C. at The White House and on Capitol Hill. In 2006, he earned his law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law and was admitted to practice in Texas in November of 2006. During law school, Tyler clerked in the Counterterrorism Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., served as Associate Editor of the St. Mary’s Law Journal, and was selected to the Order of Barristers.
In addition to his law practice, Tyler is an active member of the Salesmanship Club of Dallas, and he teaches eminent domain law as an Adjunct Professor at the SMU Dedman School of Law. In the past, he has volunteered as a mentor through the Mercy Street West Dallas mentoring program, tutored students at G.W. Carver Elementary in West Dallas, and has served on the fundraising committee, the Touchdown Club, for the Rise School of Dallas.
The Thomson Reuters service has recognized Tyler with inclusion on the Texas Super Lawyers list in the area of eminent domain in 2023 & 2024, and the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in eminent domain from 2014 to 2020.
Cases and Results
- Lead counsel for a property owner in a jury trial concerning the taking of permanent and temporary easements for a natural gas pipeline from a vacant commercial property in Tarrant County, resulting in a net recovery of $1,000,000, on an offer of $154,700.
- Co-counsel for a property owner in a jury trial and appeal for the taking of a natural gas pipeline easement in Denton County, resulting in a net recovery of $600,000, on an offer of $44,955.
- Settlement for a property owner of three billboard easements on a major interstate in Dallas, Texas in a condemnation case filed for a highway expansion, resulting in a net recovery of $1,260,662 to the client after the State contended the property owner was entitled to $2,925.
- Settlement for a property owner of a 29 building apartment complex located on LBJ Freeway in Dallas, Texas in a partial taking of 1 of the buildings for a highway expansion, resulting in a net recovery to the client of $7,705,834 on an offer by the State/TxDOT of $6,270,819.
- Settlement for a property in a partial taking for an overhead electrical transmission line across a large residential development in Fort Worth, Texas, resulting in a net recovery to the client of $1,598,047 after an initial offer of $410,000 by the condemnor.
- Settlement for a property owner in a partial taking for a high pressure natural gas pipeline easement across a large ranch in Central Texas, resulting in a net recovery of $1.5 million to the client, on an offer of $199,507.
- Settlement for a property owner of vacant commercial corner in Arlington, Texas in a partial taking case for an interstate widening, resulting in a net recovery of $3.3 million to the client, on an offer of $1,624,995.
- Settlement for a Dallas County property owner in a partial taking for a gas pipeline easement across a vacant commercial property, resulting in a net recovery of $190,000 to the client, on an offer of $10,527.
- Settlement for a Dallas non-profit property owner of a building in Downtown Dallas in a partial taking of the property’s parking lot for a road expansion resulting in a net recovery of $4,405,963 on an offer of $346,432.
- Settlement for a small business owner in South Dallas in a total taking of its property and buildings for a floodway improvement project resulting in a net recovery of $7,149,842 on an offer of $4,120,104.
Reported Condemnation Opinions
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Crosstex DC Gathering Co., J.V. v. Button, 2013 WL 257355 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth, no pet.)
- State v. Central Expressway Sign Assocs., 302 S.W.2d 866 (Tex. 2009)
Presentations & Publications
- The Infrastructure Boom: Pre-Condemnation Procedures, published in June 2022 issue of Headnotes for the Dallas Bar Association, co-authored with Clint Schumacher
- The “Unable to Agree” Requirement and Texas Condemnation Law: A Critical Analysis of Hubenak v. San Jacinto Gas Trans. Co., published in Vol. 37, Issue 2 of the St. Mary’s Law Journal
- Improving the Landowner’s Odds in Eminent Domain Cases, published in April 2015 issue of Headnotes for the Dallas Bar Association, co-authored with Matt Hurt and Jody McSpadden
Education
- St. Mary’s University School of Law, Juris Doctor, 2006
- The College of William and Mary, Bachelor of Arts in History, 2003
Admitted to Practice
- Texas Courts statewide
Professional & Community Involvement
- American Bar Association
- Dallas Bar Association
- Real Property Section
- Dallas Association of Young Lawyers
- DAYL Leadership Class 2015
- State Bar of Texas
- Texas Bar Foundation – Fellow
- Mercy Street West Dallas mentoring program
- Project Opportunity Foundation – Board Member
Awards & Recognition
- Selected to the Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars list published annually by Thomson Reuters in the area of eminent domain for 2014 through 2021.
- Selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list published annually by Thomson Reuters in the area of eminent domain for 2023 and 2024.
