JD, with honors, Order of Barristers, Board of Advocates, The University of Texas School of Law, 1981
BS, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Southern Methodist University, 1978

• Texas State Bar

Professional Experience

• 38-year career devoted to the representation of business entities, investors, and entrepreneurs in resolving commercial disputes covering a wide range of substantive areas of the law (including intellectual property, contracts, business torts, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, insurance, securities, products liability, construction, trade regulation, and constitutional issues).
• Represented brand name hotel management companies and hotel owners and investors in litigation and arbitration matters involving operational issues, contractual non-competition and territorial exclusivity provisions, purchasing and procurement practices, branding, design and construction, performance standards, and chain-wide programs and systems (including marketing, reservations, sales, and guest loyalty).  Likely tried as many major cases in the hospitality industry as any lawyer in the United States.
• Handled and tried intellectual property cases involving allegations of trade secret misappropriation and patent and trademark infringement (concerning, among other subject matter, microprocessors and microcontrollers, personal and laptop computers, infrared cameras, web-based technologies, real estate databases, and well-known brand-name service marks and trademarks).
• Represented manufacturers in product liability cases (with subject matter ranging from power plant boiler systems to handguns).
• Tried international arbitrations governed by the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the China International Economic and Trade Commission (CIETAC) Hong Kong Arbitration Center (HRAC), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and JAMS International.
• Prosecuted and defended claims involving general business torts, including unlawful competition, tortious interference, fraud, trade disparagement, and deceptive trade practices.
• Handled and tried cases involving corporate mergers and acquisitions (including matters ranging from telecommunication satellites to the sale of a pharmaceutical business).
• Defended and prosecuted derivative actions and shareholder direct claims against corporate officers and directors.
• Handled cases involving alleged violations of securities laws and alleged breaches of securities contracts.
• Handled cases under federal and state antitrust and trade regulation laws.
• Represented clients in numerous bankruptcy-related matters, including both adversary and core proceedings.
• Handled and tried cases on behalf of owners and developers of office buildings and retail centers involving commercial lease disputes.
• Defended and tried numerous personal injury and property damage cases.
• Sued and defended municipalities and governmental districts in matters involving constitutional issues and civil rights statutes.
• Defended architects, engineers, and insurance agents and brokers against claims of alleged errors and omissions.
• Handled numerous cases involving alleged violations of standards and ethics governing lawyers, accountants, and other professionals.
• Handled lawsuits and arbitrations pending in courts and tribunals located in over half the states.

Representative Trials

• Raytheon Company v. Indigo Systems Corporation and FLIR Systems, Inc., No. 4:07-CV-109 (E.D. Tex. 2014) (lead trial counsel for world's largest manufacturer of infrared detection equipment in 4-week jury trial; defended against Raytheon's claims for over $650 million for alleged misappropriation of 31 alleged trade secrets; succeeded in obtaining take-nothing verdict and judgment).
• Meda AB v. 3M Company, 969 F. Supp. 2d 360 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (lead trial counsel for 3M; defended claims by Swedish-based drug company relating to its acquisition of 3M's European pharmaceutical business; succeeded in obtaining take-nothing judgment and dismissal of claims seeking over $200 million in alleged actual damages).
• P.T. Karang Mas Sejahtera v. Marriott International Inc. and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC, No. 8:05-CV-00787 (D. Md. 2008) (lead counsel for owner of world-renowned Asian resort; prosecuted claims for breach of contract and fiduciary duty against name-brand hotel management company; following 3-week trial, jury found client entitled to actual damages, attorneys' fees, and $10 million in punitive damages).
• Brunswick Bowling & Billiards Corporation v. Shanghai Zhonglu Industrial Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong International Arbitration Center 2005), [2009] HKCU 211, [2011] 1 HKLRD 707 (lead counsel for Brunswick in 8-week international arbitration relating to failed joint venture; obtained tribunal award providing affirmative relief to client and dismissing Chinese company's counterclaims for approximately $60 million; oversaw successful defense of award upon judicial review).
• Hollywood Casino Shreveport v. Lexington Insurance Company, No. CV-00-1597 (W.D. La. 2003) (lead trial counsel for hotel-casino owner in prosecuting claims against insurer for tornado-related property damage and business interruption coverage; after 3-week trial, jury awarded client multiple millions of dollars in actual damages and court entered judgment in that amount, plus interest and attorneys' fees).
• International Insurance Co. v. RSR Corporation, No. 3-00-CV-0250 (N.D. Tex.), aff'd, 426 F.3d 281 (5th Cir. 2005) (lead trial counsel for metal smelting company in case against environmental insurance carrier seeking declaration of right to $40 million of potential coverage for alleged environmental pollution liability; after 3-week jury trial, jury found in client's favor and court entered judgment accordingly, which was affirmed on appeal).
• RockResorts International, LLC v. Cheeca Holdings, LLC, JAMS Case No. 1220034810 (Chicago 2005) (lead counsel for luxury resort management company; prosecuted claims in arbitration against resort owner for wrongful termination of management contract and defended against counterclaims of alleged mismanagement; after 4-week evidentiary hearing, obtained award to client of $8.5 million plus an entitlement to attorneys' fees and dismissal of owner's counterclaim).

Representative Appeals

• Board of Regents of the University of Texas System v. Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Co., 414 F.3d 1358 (Fed. Cir. 1995), 478 F.3d 274 (5th Cir. 2007) (represented UT System and Hydro-Quebec in obtaining transfer of NTT's appeal from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to the Fifth Circuit, and an ultimate denial of NTT's claim to foreign-sovereign status and remand of removed trade secret misappropriation case to Texas state court; case thereafter settled).
• Eternity Global Master Fund, Ltd. v. Morgan Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, 375 F.3d 168 (2d Cir. 2004) (represented investment fund in assertion of claims against counter-party to credit default swap contracts; obtained reversal and remand of district court's dismissal of contract claim; case thereafter settled).
• Bell Communications Research, Inc. v. Vitalink Communications Corp., 55 F.3d 615 (Fed. Cir. 1995) (represented Bellcore in its first patent infringement suit; obtained reversal of judgment of noninfringement; case thereafter settled).
• Whitaker v. City of Garland, 869 F.2d 1485 (5th Cir. 1989) (per curiam) (represented municipality; succeeded in obtaining and affirming judgment dismissing civil rights claims).
• ECC Parkway J.V. v. Baldwin, 765 S.W.2d 504 (Tex. App. – Dallas 1989) (represented real estate developer in prosecuting claims against seller and broker of commercial property; obtained reversal of judgment dismissing client's claims relating to undisclosed height restriction).
• S.O.C. Homeowners Assoc. v. City of Sachse, 741 S.W.2d 542 (Tex. App. – Dallas 1987) (represented municipality in dispute between two Texas cities regarding competing claims to extraterritorial jurisdiction; obtained affirmance of trial court's severance of association's claims in intervention).
• Transportation Ins. Co. v. George E. Failing Co., 691 S.W.2d 71 (Tex. App. – Austin 1985) (represented insurer in defending against claim by truck manufacturer seeking products liability coverage under its motor vehicle liability policy; obtained reversal of judgment holding plaintiff to be an omnibus insured under policy).
• Delesmo v. City of Dallas and the State Fair of Texas, 770 F.2d 1334 (5th Cir. 1985) (obtained affirmance of district court's dismissal of surviving children's wrongful death and civil rights claims; suit barred on res judicata grounds due to prior take-nothing judgment in victim's separate suit for negligence and battery).

Other Representative Cases Handled

• Lincoln Nat'l Life Ins. Co. v. Cowboy Athletics, 934 F. Supp. 2d 884 (N.D. Tex. 2012), aff'd per curiam (5th Cir. 2013) (represented insurance agent-brokers in defense of claims relating to planned charitable program funded by life insurance proceeds; obtained dismissal of claims against clients, which was affirmed on appeal).
• Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, 577 F. Supp. 2d 858 (N.D. Tex. 2008); Villas at Parkside Partners v. City of Farmers Branch, 701 F. Supp. 2d 835 (N.D. Tex. 2010); aff'd per curiam, 726 F.3d 524 (5th Cir. 2013), cert. denied, 134 S. Ct. 1491 (2014) (led pro bono challenge to invalidate two successive municipal ordinances designed to regulate rental housing of undocumented immigrants within city; succeeded in obtaining judgments declaring each ordinance unconstitutional).
• St. Joe v. Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., 774 F. Supp. 2d 596 (D. Del. 2011) (represented major Florida landowner and developer in case involving the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; succeeded in remanding removed case to state court prior to multi-district transfer, and defeating defendant's claims to federal jurisdiction under the Oil Pollution Act and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act).
• Blue Tree Hotels Investment (Canada), Ltd. v. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., 369 F.3d 12 (2d Cir. 2004) (represented major hotel management company in defending against claims by owner of multiple Westin-branded properties for alleged violations of the Robinson-Patman Act relating to hotel purchasing rebates; succeeded in obtaining dismissal of those claims and affirmance on appeal).
• Texas Instruments Inc. v. Daewoo Corp., No. 3:90-CV-01673 (N.D. Tex.) (defended personal computer maker against claims of alleged patent infringement; negotiated favorable license agreement for client).
• Bayou Steel Corp. v. United Steelworkers of America, 1996 WL 2987784 (D. Del. Jan. 11, 1996) (represented steel company in prosecuting RICO claims arising from labor union's "corporate campaign" against client; succeeded in defeating motion to dismiss, which led to settlement).
• Martin Pollner, Litigation Trustee of the Lomas Financial Corporation/Lomas Mortgage USA Joint Litigation Trust v. Jess Hay, et al., in the State District Court of Dallas County, Texas (represented litigation trustee of bankrupt national mortgage service company in prosecuting claims against former officers and directors; succeeded in obtaining substantial settlement for distribution to creditors).
• Motorola, Inc. v. Hitachi, Ltd., 750 F. Supp. 1319 (W.D. Tex. 1990) (member of Motorola trial team responsible for proving that Hitachi's accused microprocessors and microcontrollers were not licensed and thus infringed Motorola patents; worked with inventor of first microprocessor to provide expert testimony that Hitachi's accused products executed "substantially the same instruction set" as Motorola's products and therefore were not within the scope of the parties' license agreement).

• Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers, 2011 - 2016, 2018 - 2021
• Best Lawyers - Commercial Litigation, Best Lawyers, 2022 - 2024
• Texas Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2003 - 2020, 2022
• Chambers, Nationwide, Leisure & Hospitality, Chambers & Partners, 2016

•    Supreme Court of the United States
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
•    United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit