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Davis & Willms, PLLC: The Houston Estate Boutique Where Both Partners Chaired the State Bar’s Own Probate Section

Mickey R. Davis is a Past Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and former Editor of The ACTEC Law Journal. His partner, Melissa J. Willms, currently serves as President-Elect of that same college and sits on its Board of Regents. Between them, the firm holds two of the highest elected offices available in the national trust-and-estate bar — simultaneously.

Origin and Background

Davis & Willms, PLLC is located at 3555 Timmons Lane, Suite 1250, Houston, TX 77027, confirmed through the firm’s own site and Super Lawyers records. Mickey R. Davis earned his J.D. with High Honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 1982, graduating Chancellors and Order of the Coif, after a B.B.A. with High Distinction from the University of Arizona in 1979. Melissa J. Willms earned dual B.A. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin before her J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in 1992. Both attorneys hold board certification in Estate Planning and Probate Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and are Fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), independently confirmed through the firm’s site, Super Lawyers, and State Bar of Texas records.

Practice Concentration

The boutique firm concentrates on estate planning, estate and trust administration, business planning, charitable planning, and real estate, with more than seventy years of combined estate planning and probate experience between the two named partners. Davis also holds a retired CPA license and previously served 30 years as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston Law Center teaching Income Taxation of Trusts and Estates. See this Houston Estate Planning & Probate directory for how this dual-board-certified boutique compares to other Harris County practices in this category.

Notable Work / Track Record

As is typical for an estate planning and administration boutique, the firm does not publish a table of case verdicts or settlements, and Awesome Attorneys did not identify one — this practice area centers on drafted plans and completed administrations rather than litigated outcomes. What is independently verifiable is Davis’s 2023 REPTL Distinguished Probate Attorney Lifetime Achievement Award, his 2017 Jim D. Bowmer Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Profession from the Texas Bar College, and Willms’s own 2015 TexasBarCLE Standing Ovation Award and past chairmanship of the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section (REPTL), where she helped draft legislation for the Texas Estates Code itself.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify published client reviews for the firm on Avvo, Yelp, Clutch, or Lisnic as of this writing — a genuine gap for a firm this credentialed, which the firm’s boutique, referral-driven, high-net-worth client base may partly explain but does not excuse from disclosure. This absence of independently verifiable client feedback is disclosed rather than papered over.

Beyond the Courtroom

Both partners hold sustained leadership roles inside the profession rather than outside civic work: Davis chairs ACTEC’s Estate and Gift Tax Committee and sits on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity Committee; Willms served on the Board of the ACTEC Foundation as Vice President and Secretary and chaired REPTL’s Decedents’ Estates Committee. Awesome Attorneys did not identify separate non-legal civic or nonprofit board service documented for either attorney.

Recognition for This Houston Estate Planning Boutique

Both Davis and Willms are listed in Best Lawyers in America for Trusts and Estates and have been named Texas Super Lawyers — Davis’s Super Lawyers recognition and Willms’s run from 2015 through 2026. Their dual TBLS board certification and ACTEC fellowships are independently confirmed through the firm’s site, Super Lawyers, and State Bar of Texas records. Awesome Attorneys distinguishes these peer-reviewed, examination-based credentials from self-submitted marketing-directory badges.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Texas has no state estate or inheritance tax, though the federal estate tax may still apply to larger estates depending on the exemption amount in the year of death — the core planning question behind much of this firm’s high-net-worth business and charitable planning work. Texas Estates Code Chapter 401 governs independent administration, letting an executor act with minimal ongoing court supervision once appointed. For estates consisting mainly of real property with no unpaid debts, Texas Estates Code § 257.001 permits probating a will as a muniment of title rather than opening a full administration. None of this is legal advice; a specific estate or business succession plan should be evaluated by a licensed Texas attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Davis & Willms’s clearest differentiator is a depth of national-level credentialing rarely found in a two-partner boutique — a Past Regent and Editor of The ACTEC Law Journal alongside a sitting ACTEC President-Elect and Regent, both TBLS board certified, with a combined role in drafting the actual Texas Estates Code provisions that govern the practice area. The honest trade-off is a near-total absence of public client reviews, and as a genuinely small boutique, capacity is limited compared to larger multi-attorney firms. For a Houston-area client with a complex, high-net-worth estate or business succession plan who wants attorneys whose credentials are verified at the national professional-organization level, that combination is a reasonable basis for a shortlist — with the caveat that a prospective client should ask directly about current client references given the lack of published reviews.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Davis & Willms, PLLC’s official website (daviswillms.com), the REPTL 2023 speaker biography for Mickey Davis, Super Lawyers profiles for both attorneys, State Bar of Texas records, and business-directory listings including Clutch and Lisnic.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Davis & Willms, PLLC prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.