The Government Law Section of the State Bar of Texas has named William M. “Mick” McKamie its 2026 Outstanding Government Lawyer. The honor recognizes McKamie “for exemplary service to the profession and the public.”
Boerne City Council recognized McKamie for the award, the Section’s highest individual honor, at its Aug. 11 meeting.
As a senior partner in Taylor, Olson, Adkins, Sralla & Elam, LLP, McKamie is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization with more than 40 years of practice. He has handled more than 60 reported appellate decisions shaping Texas municipal law, including the biggest court case in Boerne’s history.
“One of the highlights of my career was in 1992, when then-City Attorney Gordon Holland called and said, ‘Mick, how would you like to represent the City of Boerne to preserve its historic district?’” McKamie said.
The case, City of Boerne v. Flores, made its way to the United States Supreme Court, which ultimately upheld the City’s historic district and prevented St. Peter’s Catholic Church from tearing down a majority of its 1920s sanctuary that faces historic Main Street.
For several years afterward, McKamie assisted the City at various times, and in 2021, he came on as the City’s full-time City Attorney.
“Mick has had an extraordinary municipal career. He is solution-oriented and works with the City to help us best serve our residents,” City Manager Ben Thatcher said. “He goes beyond a typical attorney and helps us solve problems while appropriately managing risk.”
The Section’s recognition reflects the range of that service. McKamie has defended cities and other local governments in state and federal courts against constitutional, civil rights, employment, and takings claims, and he has argued the appeals that followed, several of which established or clarified the law that Texas local governments rely on today.
Alongside his professional work, McKamie has spent decades teaching what he learned. He has written papers and spoken repeatedly at the Advanced Government Law Course, at the Texas Municipal League, and at the International Municipal Lawyers Association, and he has trained and mentored a generation of younger city attorneys and other public lawyers across the state.
McKamie is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and of the Texas Tech University School of Law. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Texas Tech. He is an Army veteran. He is also a novelist and essayist, the author of the Gus Cordell Series and the Lights Trilogy.
