Reagan M. Brown
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Reagan Brown has been a partner in the Houston office since 1990. He has extensive jury trial and appellate advocacy experience in federal and state courts. His practice is concentrated in the areas of trial, arbitration, and appellate litigation, and handles a broad range of cases including complex commercial litigation, royalty litigation, and serious personal injury and wrongful death litigation. He has tried over 90 cases and arbitration proceedings with over 80 jury cases to verdict. He has argued over 40 appeals to state and federal courts.
Reagan is a frequent national lecturer for various organizations on the subjects of complex litigation. He has been the author of numerous articles published nationally.
Reagan currently serves as the Chair of the Litigation Training and Mentoring Committee and is the Director of the our Trial Training Program. In that position, he is responsible for managing the litigation training for all first-year attorneys.
Reagan represents various companies in pending trial and appellate cases in royalty and class-action litigation.
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, with honors, The University of Texas Law School, 1981
BS and a BA, summa cum laude, Southern Methodist University, 1978
Reagan is admitted to practice in Texas before the United States Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, U. S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of New York, United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas.
- Texas State Bar
Significant Cases in which Mr. Brown served as Lead Counsel for the Prevailing Party:
- Represented energy company in an indemnity lawsuit in Texas involving multi-million dollar settlements of environmental lawsuits in Louisiana. Obtained jury verdict that client was entitled to indemnity. Obtained judgment in favor of client.
- Defended international arbitration proceeding involving breach of contract for services rendered by contractor to energy company-client. Arbitration resulted in no liability against client and $3.7 million award to client for client's counterclaim.
- Defended lawsuit in Hidalgo County, Texas involving underlying personal injury judgment of $77 million in favor of parties who subsequently sued client for bad faith and breach of contract. Obtained instructed verdict and take nothing judgment in favor of client.
- Defended insurance/securities fraud suit by company involved in automobile sub-prime financing in which plaintiff sought in excess of $70,000,000 in damages. Jury trial resulted in verdict in favor of client with no damages awarded. Judgment affirmed on appeal.
- Defended suit by executives of energy company seeking deferred compensation and survivor plan benefits under ERISA. Executives sought in excess of $4,000,000 in damages. Federal district court rendered summary judgment for client.
- Defended suit by energy company executive asserting loss of incentive stock options, wrongful termination and defamation. Executive sought in excess of $2,000,000 in damages. Jury trial resulted in verdict in favor of client on all liability theories and no award of damages against client.
- Defended arbitration proceeding involving calculation of offshore day rates for $300,000,000 drilling rig contract. Arbitration resulted in favorable findings to client.
Representative Appeals in which Mr. Brown served as Lead Counsel for the Prevailing Party:
- Obtained ruling in 2018 from Houston appeals court dismissing on forum non conveniens grounds two multi-million dollar personal injury lawsuits against energy company client.
- Defended energy company in suit involving claim for $4 million in deferred compensation sought by four former high-level executives under "top-hat" plan. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed district court's take-nothing judgment in favor of client.
- Defended a national law firm in $100,000,000 legal malpractice suit relating to the creation and handling of offshore trusts. Jury trial resulted in verdict in favor of law firm. Trial court entered take-nothing judgment in favor of law firm. Judgment affirmed by Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston. Texas Supreme Court denied review.
- Obtained ruling from Texas Supreme Court that Texas Personal Auto Policy excludes coverage for first-party diminished value claims.
- Argued en banc to the entire Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and obtained significant ruling on the abuse of discretion standard in ERISA cases in favor of client's position.
- Obtained ruling from Texas Supreme Court that insurance policy provision limiting coverage for sexual misconduct claims was not against public policy.
- Obtained judgment from Texas Supreme Court upholding constitutionality of Texas Tort Claims Act's damages limitation in maritime case.
- Obtained rendition of judgment from Texas Supreme Court in favor of client with ruling that reversed the lower courts' judgments awarding in excess of $7,000,000 damages from loss of business due to denial of insurance benefit claim.
- Texas Top Rated Lawyer, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell, 2013 – 2014
- Chambers USA, Texas, Litigation: Trial Lawyers: Spotlight table, Chambers and Partners, 2022
- Chambers USA, Texas: Houston and Surrounds, Litigation: General Commercial, Chambers and Partners, 2022 - 2023
- Chambers USA, Texas: Litigation: Trial Lawyers, Chambers and Partners, 2019 – 2023
- Chambers USA, Nationwide, Oil and Gas Litigation, Chambers and Partners, 2021 – 2023
- Chambers USA, Texas: Litigation: General Commercial, Chambers and Partners, 2003 – 2021
- Chambers USA, Texas: Insurance, Chambers and Partners, 2003 – 2017
- Texas Super Lawyer, Civil litigation defense, Thomson Reuters, 2003 – 2020, 2022
- Texas Super Lawyer, Top 100 attorneys in Houston, Thomson Reuters, 2009 – 2014, 2017 – 2018
- Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation, 2023
- Local Litigation Star - General Commercial, Benchmark Litigation, Euromoney PLC, 2018 – 2020
- Texas Super Lawyer, Top 100 attorneys in Texas, Thomson Reuters, 2011 – 2012
- Legal 500 US, Recommended Lawyer, Energy Litigation - Oil and Gas, The Legal 500, 2017, 2020 – 2021, 2023
- Lawyer of the Year, Insurance Law, Best Lawyers, 2020
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, Lawdragon, Inc., 2022 - 2024
- Best Lawyers - Bet-the-Company Litigation, Best Lawyers, 2022 - 2024
- Best Lawyers - Commercial Litigation, Best Lawyers, 2022 - 2024
- Best Lawyers - Energy Law, Best Lawyers, 2022 - 2024
- Best Lawyers - Oil and Gas Law, Best Lawyers, 2022 - 2024
- Best Lawyers - Insurance Law, Best Lawyers, 2022 - 2024
- Best Lawyers - Product Liability Litigation – Defendants, Best Lawyers, 2022, 2024
- The Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers, 2006 – 2021
- Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyer, Expert Guides, 2011, 2013 – 2014, 2020
- Go-To-Guide, top five Texas personal injury defense lawyers, Texas Lawyer, 2007
- AV Rated Lawyer, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
- Star of Justice Award from Texas Access to Justice Commission, 2011
- "Risks of Attorney Disqualification in the Handling of First-Party and Third-Party Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation," 2004 Inaugural Federation Forums, Chicago Bar Association, Chicago, Illinois, October 14, 2004
- "Class Action Trends in Energy, Environmental and Enron Litigation," American Bar Association, 10th Section Fall Meeting, Portland, Oregon, October 11, 2002
- "Defending Against The Hordes: Class Action Practice in Texas," TADC 1999 Fall Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, September 29 - October 3, 1999
- "Common Law and Statutory Insurance Bad Faith," Advanced Insurance Seminar, Austin, Texas, September 25, 1998
- "Insurance Policies: What's There and What's Missing," 20th Annual Corporate Counsel Institute, Houston, Texas, March 26 - 27, 1998; Dallas, Texas, April 2 - 3, 1998
- "Damages in DTPA/Insurance Code Litigation," 9th Annual DTPA Conference, University of Texas School of Law, December 18 - 19, 1997
- "Theories of Professional Liability," Attorneys' Advantage Seminar, San Antonio, Texas, May 21, 1997
- Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
- American Board of Trial Advocates
- Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
- Certified in Civil Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1988)
- Certified in Civil Appellate Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1991)
- Certified in Personal Injury Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization (1988)