After finishing first in his class at Harvard Law School and clerking for Justice Stephen Breyer on the U.S. Supreme Court, Shackelford knew he wanted to pursue a career as a stand-up trial lawyer. Litigation is his specialty—taking on and winning complex, high-stakes cases on both sides of the “v” across many different practice areas.
In 2012, a year after Shackelford became a Susman Godfrey partner, he was hired to serve as Special Counsel to the General Counsel at the General Electric. Shackelford’s three-year stint working at one of the world’s greatest in-house legal departments yielded an invaluable education on what the most sophisticated and discerning clients look for in outside counsel.
Recent wins:
- Dominion v. Fox. Secured a historic $787.5 million settlement to resolve Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News Network, on the very day a jury trial was to commence in Delaware Superior Court. The milestone deal has made media waves, receiving coverage from The New York Times (who called the settlement, “the latest extraordinary twist in a case that has been full of remarkable disclosures”), The Washington Post (who called the matter, “one of the most highly-anticipated media trials in decades), Wall Street Journal (who said, “the case was set to test the contours of modern media law”).
- GE v. Nebraska Investment Finance Authority. Won a jury verdict from which General Electric received relief valued at over $100 million in a dispute with the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority over an investment contract involving payments at substantially above-market interest rates.
- Sabre, Inc. v. The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania et al. Hired months before trial to represent the worldwide travel technology leader in a $100 million insurance coverage dispute. Successfully settled the case on the eve of trial.
- United States ex rel. Lutz et al. v. Laboratory Corp. of America. Secured $19 million settlement with Laboratory Corp. on behalf of two whistleblower clients. In this FCA case, clients alleged that the lab testing giant was part of a conspiracy to pay kickbacks to doctors, in order to induce the doctors to order blood tests from two other companies.
- Bank of New York Mellon solely as Trustee for GE-WMC Mortgage Securities Trust 2006-1 v. WMC Mortgage and GE Mortgage Holding. Defended GE Mortgage Holding in a subprime lending lawsuit where the plaintiff claimed nearly $1 billion in damages. Co-wrote key pretrial motions that the judge granted, which decimated the plaintiff ’s damages case and led to a confidential settlement a week before trial.
- Swiss Re v. GE. Represented GE in a lawsuit in New York State Court concerning a highly complex dispute over a tax indemnification agreement signed as part of Swiss Re’s $6.8 billion purchase of GE’s reinsurance business in 2005.
Updated Sep 2023
