Texas lawyer no-shows jerk judge’s order to appear in court after critiquing him for berating IT worker

The Texas attorney who called out the viral judge caught on tape tearing into an IT worker and demanding he apologize for his behavior, was a no-show in court after being ordered to appear before the magistrate.

Attorney James Stafford did not appear before Harris County Judge Nathan Milliron on Thursday, but instead about a dozen lawyers from the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association packed the courtroom in a show of solidarity for their colleague, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Milliron accused Stafford of “ex parte” communication — contacting a judge in a legal proceeding without the other parties’ knowledge — after the longtime attorney demanded he apologize for berating an IT worker who came to help him with a computer issue.

Stafford, who had never appeared before the judge in any legal proceedings before the incident, rebutted the claim and ignored the order because no legitimate court order had ever been issued to him.

Brent Mayr, head of the association and a vocal supporter of Stafford, said he and the other attorneys waited nearly an hour and a half for Milliron’s bailiff to call for their colleague.

Instead, Milliron proceeded with the morning’s scheduled docket and never called for Stafford to appear before him.

“The judge is not taking any further illegal action,” Mayr told the outlet.

Mayr and other association members have not filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, despite concerns over Milliron’s treatment of Stafford.

While the beef between Stafford and Milliron appears to have fizzled out, defense attorney Wade Smith, who was among the attorneys present Thursday, said the judge’s behavior during court proceedings was “very pleasant” — but suspects it may have been influenced by the recent criticism Milliron has received.

“That doesn’t surprise me when he’s got a lot of eyeballs on him,” Smith told the outlet outside Milliron’s courtroom.

Milliron landed in hot water earlier this year after a viral video showed him losing his cool on an IT staffer who was trying to help him fix an audio problem in his courtroom.

As the first video went viral, a second clip emerged showing Milliron losing his temper with a defense attorney mid-hearing in another tense courtroom exchange where he instructed his deputy to remove her from the courtroom and threatened to have her “cuffed.”

A series of emails also emerged showing Milliron demanding respect as a “duly elected judge” and ordering a staff member he referred to as a “subordinate” to do their job.

Despite the mountain of backlash, Milliron has never publicly commented on his behavior, and has since deactivated his Facebook account, which he previously used to livestream court proceedings, the Houston Chronicle reported.

While it appears Milliron has dialed back his courtroom behavior, Mayr said the judge should still apologize to Stafford, the IT worker and others affected by his conduct.

“I think he owes an apology to the people of Harris County to say that, ‘Look, I am not going to act like this anymore in the future,'” Mayr told the outlet.

Milliron has served on the bench in the 215th District Court since January 2025.

His status as an elected judge shields him from disciplinary action by local court administrators — though the State Commission on Judicial Conduct retains the authority to investigate complaints against sitting judges.