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.
- BNSF Railway Co. as plaintiff in arbitration with an integrated retail and power generation company.
- Venator Materials PLC – counsel in multiple Securities Class Action cases under Securities and Exchange Act in Texas and New York, state and federal courts.
- Warburg Pincus – counsel in state court actions arising out of pipeline explosion.
- American National Insurance Company – lead counsel in state court 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 as plaintiff in multiple lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions to recover, among other damages, more than $100 million fraudulently transferred to Platinum Partners and others.
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 Oct 2022