Sharon S. Millians

BIOGRAPHY

Sharon S. Millians represents clients in transactions in all areas of real estate ownership, real estate-based financing, and development of various real estate products, including office, hotel, resort, retail, ranch land, industrial and multi-family uses. She also has represented various clients in the acquisition of millions of dollars of troubled asset portfolios consisting of real estate, loans, and other assets. Additionally, Ms. Millians’ practice includes representation of clients in the acquisition of technology, as well as in commercial contract matters, including strategic alliances and licensing and technology agreements. 

Ms. Millians has been a member of the firm’s Executive Committee since 1998. U.S. News and World Reports included Ms. Millians on The Best Lawyers in America® ranking every year since 1992. From 2003 through 2024, Thomson Reuters named her a Texas Super Lawyer. She has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Women Texas Super Lawyers and Top 100 Super Lawyers in the Dallas/Fort Worth region. Her peers also voted Ms. Millians among the city’s best attorneys in Fort Worth Magazine and 360 West polls. She has also been recognized nationally by being elected to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, the premier national organization of distinguished real estate practitioners and scholars. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, the Tarrant County Women’s Bar Association, and a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. 

In addition to her professional career, Ms. Millians has served on the board of directors for a number of nonprofit organizations, including the Women’s Center of Tarrant County. She is a former chair of the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Child Study Center and on the board of the Chiapas Project, a global microfinance initiative to support women in poverty.

EXPERIENCE AND HIGHLIGHTS

• Represented a partnership that purchased the largest insolvent thrift in the U.S.
• Represented a real estate development company in selling a portfolio of eight retail-related properties located in Texas and Mississippi for approximately $160 million
• Assisted an investor group in acquiring approximately 140 acres of improved and unimproved property located near downtown Dallas
• Represented clients in the acquisition and disposition of various ranch properties throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado
• Represented clients in the purchase and development of a 450-acre site in Gaithersburg, MD, with a mix of product types: apartments, condominiums, townhouses and single-family homes
• Assisted clients in the development of a 900-acre project, including preparing the filings required under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and addressing other legal considerations in connection with the marketing and sale of lots in the development
• Negotiated the acquisition of a multi-million dollar office complex under construction in Irvine, California
• Represented clients in their purchase, financing, refinancing, and sale of the Plaza Hotel in New York City
• Represented clients in both the sales and purchases of office buildings and apartment complexes in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
• Represented an international company providing healthcare communication and educational materials and services, including the negotiation of various strategic alliances and licensing and technology agreements

AFFILIATIONS

• Tarrant County Bar Association, Director
• Texas Bar Foundation, Past Chair, Sustaining Life Fellow
• Tarrant County Bar Foundation, Sustaining Life Fellow
• The Women’s Center of Tarrant County Foundation, Board Member
• The Women’s Center of Tarrant County, Inc., Past Chair
• TCU Board of Visitors, AddRan College of Liberal Arts, 2014-Present
  • Executive Committee, Present
• Texas Wesleyan University
  • Board of Trustees, 2014-2017
  • Executive Committee, 2015-2017
  • Chair, Academic Affairs and Student Life, 2016-2017
• American College of Real Estate Lawyers, 2001-Present
• Leadership Fort Worth, Class of 1992
• Forum Fort Worth

HONORS

• Best Lawyers in America®, U.S. News & World Report, 1992-2025
  • Real Estate Law
• Best Lawyers in America®, Women in the Law, Business Edition, 2020-2025
• Top 50 Women Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2009, 2010, 2014-2016, 2020
• Top Attorney, 360 West magazine, 2017-2018, 2020-2024
  • Real Estate Law
• Top Attorney, Fort Worth Magazine, 2001-2023
  • Real Estate Law
• Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2003-2024
  • Real Estate Law
• Attorney of Excellence, Fort Worth Business Press, multi-year recognition
• Professionalism Award, Tarrant County Bar Association Law Day, 2015
• Outstanding Woman in the Workplace, Fort Worth Commission for Women, 2013
• Top 100 Dallas/Fort Worth Super Lawyers, Thompson Reuters, 2010
• Power Attorney, Fort Worth Business Press, 2010
• Great Woman of Texas, Fort Worth Business Press, 2003

EDUCATION

• Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, J.D.
  • Southwestern Law Journal, Leading Articles Editor
  • Phi Delta Phi
• Texas Christian University, M.A.
  • Fellowship, English Department
• Texas Christian University, B.A., summa cum laude
  • Alpha Lambda Delta
  • Phi Sigma Iota

ADMISSIONS

• State Bar of Texas, 1981

SPEECHES & PUBLICATIONS

• Featured Speaker at Texas Wall Street Women’s C-Suite Event, 2018
• Author and Lecturer, “Due Diligence in Pooled Loan Sales,” Real Estate in Capital Markets: The Refinancing of America, presented March 31, 1995 to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, San Diego, California
• Author, “Standing to Sue Under Section 812 of the Fair Housing Act: Gladstone, Realtors v. Village of Bellwood,” 33 Southwestern Law Journal 917, 1979
• Co-Author, “Regulation of Land Sales Marketing – A Practical Approach,” Advanced Real Estate Short Course and ABA Annual Meeting, 1997
• Co-Author and Lecturer, “Negotiating an RTC Purchase and Sales Agreement,” Real Estate in Capital Markets: the Refinancing of America, presented March 31, 1995 to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, San Diego, California
• Co-Author, “A Compliance Guide to Land Sales Marketing Regulation, Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law,” American Bar Association (with forms), 1992
• Co-Author, “Helping a Lender Develop an Environmental Risk Program,” The Practical Real Estate Lawyer, Vol. 8, No. 4, July, 1992
• Co-Author, “Marketing of Real Estate in Texas (State and Federal Considerations),” State Bar of Texas Advanced Real Estate Course, 1984
• Co-Author, “Title and Survey Examination,” State Bar of Texas Institute, 1983
• Contributing Author, Texas Environmental Law, “Environmental Compliance and Risk Reduction Programs,” Texas Practice, Vol. 46, Chapter 24, 1-20, 1997