Partner

717 Texas Ave, Suite 2800
Houston, TX 77002

+1 713 221 2330

Litigation Star


Jurisdiction:

Texas

Practice area:

Commercial
Personal injury


Craig Smyser tries and appeals a broad range of complex business and personal injury cases. 

  • Mr. Smyser has tried more than 50 cases to a jury verdict, with trials in both state and federal courts. 
  • Mr. Smyser has arbitrated dozens of cases, domestic and international. 


Mr. Smyser’s Current Representations include: 

  • McKesson Corporation – Lead counsel, Texas MDL opioid litigation; liaison counsel for Distributor Defendants’ group. 
  • American National Insurance Company – Lead counsel in state court dispute involving claims of breach of fiduciary duty. 
  • Schlumberger Technology Corp – Counsel in intellectual property dispute in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. 
  • Black Elk Litigation Trustee – Counsel to plaintiff trustee in multiple lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions to recover, among other damages, more than $100 million fraudulently transferred to Platinum Partners and others. 
  • B3 Risk Solutions and Seyth Boardman – Lead counsel, Texas MDL litigation related to the Astroworld Festival. 
  • Texas Sigma Partners – Lead counsel in public and private nuisance case in Winnsboro, Texas. 


Mr. Smyser has been lead counsel in some of Houston’s – and the nation’s – largest, most important, and heavily publicized matters. 

  • Lead counsel for former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow in more than 100 civil cases around the country. In re ENRON COPORATION SECURITIES LITIGATION; MDL 1446, Mark Newby, et al v. Enron Corp, et al., C.A. No. H-01-3624, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division and other matters. 
  • Lead counsel for Yukos International UK B.V., the international arm of the former Russian oil company, Yukos Oil, dismantled by the Russian Government after Yukos’ CEO Mikhail Khodorovsky became a political opponent of Vladimir Putin, in various matters in the United States. In re Yukos International UK B.V.; David Godfrey v. Lewis M. Linn, Civ. Action No. H-07-26, and other matters. 
  • Lead trial counsel for Schlumberger Technology Corp in action against former in-house counsel for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, misuse of confidential information, and breach of fiduciary duty. Schlumberger Limited et al v. Rutherford, 472 S.W.3d 881 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2015). 


Updated Sep 2023