K. Nicole Mitchell


K. Nicole Mitchell is currently a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Education

Mitchell was born and raised in Victoria, Texas and graduated from St. Joseph High School, participating in 4-H while growing up and receiving a 4-H scholarship. Mitchell received a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Texas A&M University. At Texas A&M, Mitchell served as a director of the Aggie Orientation Leader Program that helped over 10,000 new students transition to the university. In 2001, after receiving her master's degree, Baylor University hired Mitchell as its first coordinator of New Student Programs as part of its "Baylor 2012" vision.
Mitchell then received her Juris Doctor degree from Baylor Law School in 2006, where she graduated near the top of her class, served as Senior Executive Editor of the Baylor Law Review and the Managing Editor of Baylor Law Review's Texas Practice Edition, and was active on various moot court and mock trial teams.

Career

After graduating from law school, Mitchell served as a judicial law clerk to then Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the Honorable Leonard Davis from 2006-2007. After clerking for Judge Davis, Mitchell joined the Houston office of the law firm Fulbright & Jaworski, working primarily in the healthcare litigation or Health law litigation section, but also working on patent litigation and patent prosecution as a registered patent attorney before the United States Patent & Trademark Office. After working for three years at Fulbright, Mitchell returned to the chambers of Judge Leonard Davis and served as his Chief Staff Attorney.
Mitchell was sworn in as a U.S. Magistrate Judge on August 16, 2013.
By virtue of being one of the two U.S. Magistrate Judges in Tyler, Texas, Judge Mitchell has heard numerous patent cases and also serves as a volunteer mediator with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.