Credit: Jason Doiy/ALM

Last month, at The American Lawyer Industry Awards in New York, The American Lawyer honored the litigation departments of six law firms for their work in jurisdictions across the country: Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Baker Botts, the winner in Texas, helped overturn an $8 billion punitive damages award against JPMorgan Chase in a dispute arising from the alleged mishandling of the estate of American Airlines executive Max Hopper. The firm also won two unanimous Texas Supreme Court rulings regarding Houston's effort to avoid its statutory pension obligations to city employees.

The following Q&A contains responses from the firm's litigation department:

How would you describe the philosophy of your litigation department in terms of the types of matters you look to handle, the types of clients you look to represent and the way in which you approach cases?

Our litigation department handles high-profile and sensitive bet-the-company matters for our clients, leveraging our strengths in the energy and technology sectors in particular. We bring sound commercial judgment to our clients' most critical legal needs and disputes, along with a deep understanding of the varied legal, technical and policy issues that they face. Clients call upon us to handle matters across the United States and around the globe.

Our lawyers draw on an intimate familiarity of clients' needs and advocacy skills borne of experience. Our teams develop litigation strategies that best achieve our clients' goals and objectives and implement those strategies efficiently. We deploy cutting-edge technology to deliver additional savings to our clients. Our approach begins with early case assessment to map what we internally refer to as the path to victory (i.e., the most direct way to favorably resolve the dispute given our client's objectives). We seek to match the discovery effort needed to the risks presented and the case strategy. This process rests on a clear understanding of the issues in the dispute; substantive, informed and ongoing communication with our client to understand its story and the sources of potentially relevant information; and a thorough knowledge of applicable rules as applied by the jurisdiction in which the dispute is pending.

What cases this submission period best represent that philosophy and what did the firm's litigators do to get the client a successful result in those matters?

All of the cases in this submission represent our litigation department philosophy. Our in-depth understanding of our clients' businesses and the industries, exceptional legal strategic analysis, and extensive courtroom experience help us know what is important to motivate a successful outcome for our clients.

How has the legal landscape in Texas evolved and how has the firm looked to adapt?

Like the legal industry overall, the Texas legal landscape has become more competitive. Our clients face legal issues that have increased in complexity. This plays to our strengths. We are able to differentiate ourselves by assembling interdisciplinary teams with top-flight talent. Our litigation department has led the way to adapt to an increasingly complex and competitive marketplace for legal services by focusing on the retention of our talent; incorporating innovations in technology, staffing, and process improvement so we are continually improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our service delivery; and adapting to meet the needs of our clients as the industries in which they operate evolve.

What are you doing to attract, train and retain new talent in the litigation department?

Our firm offers talent an opportunity to work on cutting-edge matters in rapidly expanding industries in countries around the world. We believe that few other firms can afford its newest talent the same type of opportunities that we routinely do. Our talent does not sit on the bench. We adhere to the principle that if we select talent correctly, we can deploy that talent to take on these opportunities first-hand. In our experience, that model has been the best way to learn. We are extraordinarily proud of the successes of our colleagues at every level. We take the same approach with lateral talent. Our platform offers unique opportunities for our partners to engage the legal world, and we are building strength upon strength as we continue to attract and retain lateral talent. We have a strong alumni network, with a rich tradition of our lawyers joining clients, working in industry, and committing to public service, including the judiciary.

How does pro bono work factor into the litigation department's mission?

Baker Botts has a longstanding commitment to pro bono work. Our litigation department is committed to positively impacting the communities in which we live and work and encourages our lawyers to devote time to pro bono legal work. Pro bono clients are provided the full resources of our firm and the same level of client service afforded to our fee-paying clients. This year, among other matters, we successfully represented a Vietnam-era veteran and Houston native in an adverse possession trial in Harris County district court; secured an emergency stay of deportation for a pro bono client fleeing gang violence in Honduras in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; and obtained a grant of asylum for a 19-year-old transgender woman from Honduras, who suffered severe physical and sexual abuse on account of her gender identity and perceived sexual orientation for more than a decade. In addition, we obtained a major wrongful conviction pro bono case for an innocent man, marking only the second time the  Supreme Court of Virginia has granted a writ of actual innocence opposed by the Office of the Attorney General.

We have been recognized for these efforts. In 2019, Dell selected Baker Botts as the recipient of its 2019 Law Firm Pro Bono Award in recognition of the Firm's work around the world. In 2018, we received the Harris County Bench Bar Pro Bono Award for outstanding pro bono efforts during 2017 in the large firm category. The award recognized the 1,131 pro bono hours that we dedicated to Hurricane Harvey relief, and the 11,000+ pro bono hours we contributed for the year on all pro bono matters. Baker Botts' success is a direct reflection of our commitment to serving the best interests of our clients and our communities.