Eliot Turner

Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

Houston
United States
T:+1 713 651 5113
Houston
United States
T:+1 713 651 5113
Eliot Turner

Eliot Turner

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Biography

Eliot Turner is a partner in the firm's antitrust disputes group and he represents clients in defending and prosecuting claims under Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, as well as claims under Section 7 of the Clayton Act and state antitrust laws. Eliot regularly counsels clients on antitrust issues, including the requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, and represents them in government investigations. Eliot frequently counsels clients about matters regarding trade secrets and has represented companies in litigation to protect their trade secret information and enforce non-compete agreements, particularly in the energy sector. Eliot also has broad experience representing clients in other complex litigation matters. Eliot has appeared in courts throughout the country and has experience in all phases of litigation from trial to appeal. 

Eliot clerked for Judge Phyllis Kravitch of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta and Chief Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. 

Eliot is the former editor-in-chief of Litigation, the journal of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation. He is also a council member of the State Bar of Texas's Antitrust Section and is the former chair of the Houston Bar Association's Antitrust Section.

Eliot is a member of the Texas and District of Columbia bars. He is admitted to practice before the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, the US District Court for the District of Columbia, and the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and has appeared in various federal courts throughout the country.


Professional experience

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JD, with Honors, The University of Texas School of Law, 2008
BA, History, Rice University, 2005 

While at The University of Texas, Eliot was an Articles Editor of the Texas Law Review and a member of the school's Supreme Court Clinic, in which he co-authored petitions for certiorari, merits briefs, and amicus briefs filed with the US Supreme Court.

In the spring of 2004, Eliot took courses in Mexican politics and history at the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. At Rice University, Eliot studied history and was a captain of the Rice men's soccer team. 

  • District of Columbia Bar
  • Texas State Bar
  • Counsel for real estate company in class action multidistrict litigation alleging price fixing in violation of Sherman Act through defendants' use of software program's pricing algorithm
  • Counsel for alcohol beverage distributor in antitrust litigation alleging that the distributor, along with its competitor, conspired to restrain trade and monopolized or attempted to monopolize various markets for online distribution of wine and spirits in violation of the Sherman Act and state antitrust and other laws
  • Counsel for supermajor in antitrust litigation challenging divestiture of refinery assets to joint venture partner under Section 7 of the Clayton Act; case was voluntarily dismissed following defeat of plaintiffs' request for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to enjoin transaction
  • Counsel for alcohol beverage distributor in antitrust litigation alleging a per se group boycott, monopolization, and attempted monopolization in 
    violation of the Sherman Act
  • Counsel for golf entertainment company in antitrust action alleging refusal to guarantee access to technology to potential competitor violated Sherman and Clayton Acts; after obtaining dismissal of plaintiff's claims, the judgment was affirmed on appeal by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • Counsel for national quick service oil change franchisor in putative antitrust class action where plaintiff alleges employment restrictions in franchise agreements violate Sherman Act; after obtaining dismissal of plaintiff's claims, the judgment was affirmed on appeal by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • Counsel for disposable contact lens manufacturer in antitrust class actions (consolidated in a multidistrict litigation) where plaintiffs allege horizontal price fixing and vertical resale price maintenance claims
  • Counsel for hospital system in antitrust action alleging merger-based claims under Sherman and Clayton Acts
  • Counsel for independent exploration and production company in action seeking to prevent misappropriation of trade secrets by former employee
  • Counsel for international power tool manufacturer in antitrust action alleging a group boycott of plaintiff's patented technology; after successfully obtaining summary judgment, the judgment was affirmed on appeal by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • Counsel for national steel service center in antitrust action alleging group boycott of competitor
  • Counsel for several financial institutions in opt-out litigation related to alleged price fixing in credit card industry
  • Counsel for defendant international energy company in fraudulent transfer litigation arising out of former subsidiary's bankruptcy, in which litigation trustee sought more than $1.5 billion; after obtaining summary judgment on primary claims; case settled on favorable terms
  • Counsel for defendant international energy company in one of the first Dodd-Frank whistleblower retaliation cases; after successfully obtaining dismissal of the case in the district court because the statute was held not to apply extraterritorially, the judgment was affirmed on appeal in the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on the alternative ground presented to the district court that the plaintiff did not meet the statutory definition of "whistleblower"
  • Counsel for international manufacturing company in case brought under the Alien Tort Statute; case was voluntarily dismissed after hearing on defendant's motion to dismiss
  • Counsel for international energy company in qui tam case regarding company's offshore production platform where total damages claimed were more than $250 billion; obtained summary judgment on all claims
  • Co-counsel for hospital system in antitrust action alleging group boycott brought in Texas state court by physicians investors in physician-owner hospital; case resulted in defense verdict
  • Counsel for directors of publicly traded company in multi-jurisdictional criminal investigation and prosecution; negotiated favorable plea bargain to misdemeanor charges
  • Authored amicus brief in support of CDC's COVID eviction moratorium in US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • Co-authored amicus briefs filed in US Supreme Court in support of respondents in Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 cases
  • Chambers USA, Texas, Antitrust: Up and Coming, Chambers and Partners, 2022 - 2023
  • Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, Lawdragon, Inc., 2022 - 2024
  • Top Lawyer, Houstonia Magazine, 2022
  • Legal 500 US, Recommended Lawyer, Civil Litigation / Class Actions: Defense, The Legal 500, 2020 – 2021, 2023
  • Texas Rising Star, Antitrust Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2015 – 2023
  • "Cite Seeing," Litigation (Fall 2021)
  • Co-author, "Collaboration and catastrophe: antitrust laws in face of COVID-19," Norton Rose Fulbright Legal Update and International Law Office, April 1, 2020
  • "Associates: Here's How to Make Me Happy," Litigation (Fall 2019)
  • Co-author, "United States: Energy," The Antitrust Review of the Americas 2019, Global Competition Reivew, September 2018
  • "Caught in Traffic: Learning Judgment on the Fly," Litigation (Fall 2015)
  • Co-author, "New Antitrust Confidentiality Waiver: Proceed With Caution," Law360, October 25, 2013
  • Co-author with Don DeGabrielle, "Ethics, Justice, and Prosecution," 32 The Review of Litigation 279 (2013)
  • Co-author, "Fulbright Team Files Amici Curiae Briefs on Behalf of Over 60 Public Interest Organizations in DOMA and Proposition 8 Cases," Fulbright Briefing, March 6, 2013
  • Co-author with Don DeGabrielle and Darryl Anderson, "Government's Burden to Prove Facts Underlying Criminal Fines Is Heightened," Fulbright Briefing, June 25, 2012
  • Assistant Editor, Bryan A. Garner, Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage (3d ed. 2011)
  • Contributor, ABA Energy Antitrust Handbook (Darryl W. Anderson, ed., 2d ed. 2009)
  • Co-author with Marc R. Rosenblum, "Solving the Unauthorized Migrant Problem: Proposed Legislation in the United States," Migration Information Source, September 2005
  • State Bar of Texas
  • District of Columbia Bar
  • American Bar Foundation, Fellows
  • Texas Bar Fellows
  • Spanish