Jim Southwick is a partner in Susman Godfrey’s Houston office and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Based in Texas, Southwick represents plaintiffs and defendants in commercial trials throughout the country. His clients include public and private entities from the United States, Canada, Mexico, and South America.
Southwick regularly takes on–and wins against–industry titans such as News Corp., Microsoft, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and Willis Towers Watson. Over the past three decades, Southwick has secured over one billion dollars for the plaintiff clients he represents and has protected his defendant clients against hundreds of millions of dollars in potential exposure.
Precedent-Setting Wins:
Southwick is responsible for some of the country’s most significant rulings in the past 20 years.
In Brand et al v. Promega, Southwick represented a group of minority shareholders against privately held Promega Corporation and its founder, CEO, and majority owner on a claim of shareholder oppression. Southwick was first chair in a four-week bench trial and forced a post-trial settlement and $300 million+ buyout in one of the largest shareholder oppression recoveries on record.
In Dial Corporation et al v. News Corp. et al., Southwick took on industry giant, News Corp., when he served as co-lead counsel in this class action alleging federal monopolization claims. A settlement agreement was signed on the first day of trial requiring the defendants to pay $250 million to a class of packaged goods manufacturers.
In Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, Southwick secured a $54.1 million jury verdict in an antitrust price-fixing class action brought on behalf of direct purchasers of vitamin C against two Chinese vitamin C manufacturers in the first-ever case in which mainland Chinese companies were successfully sued under US antitrust law. The verdict was tripled as required by law and, after adjusting for $32.5 million in settlements with other defendants, a final judgment of $147 million was entered against the defendants. This antitrust price-fixing class action was later reviewed by the United States Supreme Court, which issued a unanimous 9-0 decision in favor of the plaintiffs. Following more proceedings before the Second Circuit, the case is currently back before the Supreme Court on a second round of certiorari petitions.
Community Involvement and Recognition:
Southwick spends a good amount of time each year litigating matters pro bono. For Houston’s historic Alley Theater, the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third-oldest resident theatre in the country, Southwick represented Alley pro bono in insurance litigation related to Hurricane Harvey-caused business interruption. Southwick helped secure a partial summary judgment ruling on behalf of Alley and a few months later the team again scored a victory for the theater when they settled the final piece of the litigation–terms of this settlement are confidential.
Southwick is also a member of the Board of Advisors of the Syracuse University College of law. plant.
Updated Sep 2023
