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 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 the gold standard, still the best,” opines a Texas peer. “They started as a boutique but [they are] not one boutique anymore – they are 140 lawyers in
three states! They are kicking ass and taking names.”
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.”
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 (who a peer calls a “super sharp lawyer and strategist), 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 Newsmax, the latter of which the Susman team won partial summary judgment against in 2024. Trial
is scheduled for 2025.
The firm’s groundbreaking courtroom action for the year certainly doesn’t end with Dominion. New York’s
Jacob Buchdahl scored a $1.6 billion judgment in April 2025 after an 11-day bench trial in New York state court on behalf of BML Properties in a long-running fraud lawsuit against China Construction America (CCA) arising from the development of the proposed Bahamian luxury resort Baha Mar, which failed to open on time and eventually faced bankruptcy. The client developed the multibillion-dollar resort complex and hired CCA in 2011 as the construction manager and general contractor for the project. However, beginning in May 2014, CCA deliberately misled the client about its intentions and ability to complete and open the resort to paying guests by March 2015, as planned and agreed to by both parties.
Steven Shepard is praised by a client for “identifying the right issues at hand and finding the most appropriate legal solution. Steven's work is always of impeccable quality, and his advocate skills are absolutely brilliant.” Trial evergreen
Bill Carmodyand Houston future star Sy Polky secured a $266 million verdict in November 2024 on behalf of the City of Baltimore against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen in the City’s nearly seven-year lawsuit against the opioid distributors and manufacturers that fueled what is purportedly the worst opioid epidemic in the nation. Carmody also led a team that served as lead trial counsel for a class of Direct TV subscribers, the plaintiffs in a case against the NFL concerning Sunday Ticket games, which are no longer available to residential subscribers and must be viewed in a commercial venue or by a YouTube account. The team obtained a victory after three weeks of trial, with a jury finding the NFL engaged in a conspiracy and violated antitrust laws. The jury awarded more than $4.7 billion in damages.
Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, Marc Seltzer is championed by a client as “a
‘lawyer's lawyer’ –logical, with an encyclopedic knowledge of law in his areas of specialization as well as litigation generally.”Kalpana Srinivasan is hailed as someone who has “done a tremendous job building out that office, particularly in IP and plaintiff work, and has had really stand-up roles in trial.” A team composed of Srinivasan, Seltzer, Carmody,
Amanda Bonn (another Los Angeles partner) and Houston’s
Max Tribble won a $65.7 million jury verdict in September 2024 after a four-day trial on behalf of Paltalk Holdings, a global communications software innovator, in a patent-infringement lawsuit against Cisco Systems in the Western District of Texas. Paltalk initially filed the lawsuit in 2021 based on infringement of its patent related to hybrid audio servers by Cisco’s Webex products.
