Historically known as an “old-line Houston firm” (and still a dominant force in that metropolis), within fairly short order Susman Godfrey has reinvented itself as a litigation juggernaut with national ambitions, which it has fulfilled through its offices in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. These offices, while newer, have quickly become key players in their respective markets due to each being populated by high-level trial talent juggling a hybrid of plaintiff and defense commercial, antitrust, securities and intellectual property litigation with exceptionally high stakes.
Susman is universally revered for its dedication to a prized culture – developed and fostered by founding partner and (since-deceased) trial lawyer extraordinaire Stephen Susman – that grooms the “elite corps” of litigation. Peers acknowledge the firm’s strategic expansion with typical admiration. “Susman Godfrey is a like a litigation boutique that has gone haywire - in a good way! They didn’t just grow for the sake of adding headcount. They put fabulous people in all stations.” Eschewing market trends, the firm marches to the beat of its own drum. One peer marvels: “Susman Godfrey is so
innovative! They really bring the best of breed in terms of skills, and it’s top-to-bottom. It’s not just a bunch of old guys. Their younger people are every bit as impressive.” Another confirms, “It’s always fun litigating against Susman Godfrey. Then it’s real, then it’s more traditional court work, more hand-to-hand combat, as opposed to the paper pushing and procedural distractions you get from other firms.” Clients are equally effusive in their praise for the firm. One testifies: “They prepared for trial from day one and [they] dedicate a team of exceptionally talented and highly intelligent attorneys to each matter. They achieved greater success [in our case] than anyone could have predicted at the outset.” Another cheers the firm’s “strong understanding of relevant cases that supported our case to be able to leverage research; strong customer service; great depo[sition] prep so I always felt comfortable going in front of a judge or in my depositions, and great relations within the courthouse.”
No stranger to high-profile, newsworthy cases that regularly log headlines in the legal publications, Susman Godfrey landed front-and-center in the middle of a case few could ignore even outside the legal community: the representation of Dominion Voting Systems as trial counsel against Fox News in a defamation lawsuit, initially valued at $1.6 billion, alleging that Fox and the other defendants gave life to a manufactured storyline about election fraud to boost ratings and propagate the lie that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged, among a series of other false statements about Dominion. The Susman team, composed of New York’s
Stephen Shackelford, Houston’s Justin Nelson, and Los Angeles’s
Davida Brook, landed a milestone victory in April 2023, securing a $787 million settlement on Dominion’s behalf. This win proved a watershed moment for defamation cases of this variety, sending shockwaves throughout the legal, political and news and entertainment landscapes. The case follows similar matters filed against other figures alleged to have played a role in these fraudulent election claims, such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell (MyPillow CEO), and others.
The firm’s groundbreaking courtroom action for the year certainly doesn’t end with Dominion. New York trial evergreen
Bill Carmody is co-lead counsel representing a class that filed a massive action against Google for misrepresenting its privacy settings when users employ “incognito mode.” This lawsuit, valued at more than $5 billion, cleared a major hurdle in 2021 when a judge denied Google’s motion to dismiss. The case is ongoing, with a jury trial set to begin in November 2023. Houston’s
Vineet Bhatiasecured a favorable award for the client, Flutter Entertainment, in November 2022 when an arbitrator nearly doubled the exercise price of Fox Corporation’s option to acquire 18.6% of Flutter’s portfolio company, FanDuel Group. This high-stakes arbitration resulted from Fox’s assertion that it should be entitled to the same purchase price as Flutter paid for its share of FanDuel in December 2020, which would have come out to $2.1 billion, with an implied company valuation of $11.2 billion. The arbitration took place over several weeks in the summer of 2022, with the arbitrator finding that Fox’s payment must be based on a substantially higher FanDuel valuation of $20 billion as of December 2020, plus an additional 5% interest per year. At the time of the decision, this equated to a valuation for FanDuel of $22 billion and an option exercise price of $4.1 billion for Fox – nearly twice the amount that Fox argued it should be required to pay. New York’s
Jacob Buchdahl is lauded by one client as “exceptionally smart and innovative, great on his feet in court. [He] Exudes confidence, is trustworthy, [and is] a great team leader.” Buchdahl represented an initial seed investor in a case that has been described as one of “stock theft” involving the unicorn South American start-up Rappi. The client was allegedly all but denied his ownership of more than 600,000 shares, valued at tens of millions of dollars, and was prevented from participating in a lucrative 2019 tender offer. Buchdahl filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking a declaratory judgment that the client was the true owner of shares of Rappi in dispute. After obtaining a denial of the defendants’ motions to dismiss, Buchdahl then overcame a motion for summary judgment and prepared to go to trial in September 2022. The case settled on the weekend before trial was scheduled to commence, with the client receiving the bulk of his shares.
Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, Kalpana Srinivasan is hailed as someone who has “done a tremendous job building out that office, particularly in IP and plaintiff work.” Srinivasan represents Caltech – the California Institute of Technology – in pursuing its seminal wi-fi patents for infringement against Samsung’s mobile and other devices. The case is scheduled to be tried in September 2023 in the Eastern District of Texas. “I’ve seen Kalpana quite a bit,” confirms a peer. “She is very good on her feet.”
