Susman Godfrey obtained what appears to be the largest jury verdict handed down in Texas in 2018: In March of last year, the firm obtained a $706.2 million verdict for its client HouseCanary in a misappropriation of trade secret and breach of contract case related to HouseCanary's valuation, appraisal and real estate analytics technology. Following a seven-week trial, a jury found unanimously in favor of HouseCanary and against Title Source, an affiliate of Quicken Loans. Then, in October 2018, a judge finalized the award by adding prejudgment interest and attorney fees, bringing the total to nearly $740 million. The verdict appeared at number 4 on Texas Lawyer affiliate The National Law Journal's "Top 100 Verdicts of 2018″ list. 

Last June, the firm also obtained a $25.3 million award in Los Angeles state court for its client Steven Lamar in a case against Beats, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine alleging the defendants breached a written royalty agreement related to the design of the popular Beats headphones. 

The firm in 2018 also continued to take on weighty issues on a pro bono basis. In O'Donnell v. Harris County, Susman Godfrey represented a class of indigent arrestees, challenging the system of secured money bail for misdemeanor arrestees in Harris County. In February 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sided with the firm and its clients, upholding a landmark 2017 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that found the Harris County bail system was unconstitutional  and disproportionately affected indigent people. 

The following responses were provided by Houston-based Susman Godfrey partner Ryan Caughey.

A prospective client in crisis calls and asks why your team should be retained—what is your answer?

 For more than 40 years, Susman Godfrey has focused its nationally recognized practice on just one thing: high-stakes commercial trial litigation. Plaintiffs and defendants call onSusman Godfrey to handle their most significant and complex matters. And when called,Susman Godfrey deploys teams of the nation's highest qualified and most experienced litigators. Nearly every Susman Godfrey attorney has completed a federal judicial clerkship, and Susman Godfrey attorneys at all levels of seniority go to trial and handle critical stand-up tasks. And the firm's results speak for itself. The firm has won some of the largest verdicts in the United States—billions of dollars overall for plaintiffs—and has been equally successful on the defense side.

It's a challenging litigation market, with increasing competition not only from other law firms but from alternative legal services providers. From a business perspective, what does it take for a litigation team to succeed in this environment?  

 Commercial litigation firms must provide value to their clients. How can they do that? Foremost, a litigation firm must provide exceptional service and results. There is nothing more costly than ineffective legal representation. Susman Godfrey provides its clients with unparalleled service: the firm hires the best of the best, deploys them on the most complex and vexing matters, and prepares every case as if it will be tried to verdict. AndSusman Godfrey does it in a cost-effective way. In the past several years, commercial clients have focused more on alternative fee arrangements as a superior way to pay for legal services. Alternative fee arrangements have been a halmark of Susman Godfrey's business for nearly four decades. No firm has more experience in working with clients to tailor the fee arrangement to meet the economic needs of the client, and to align the client's interests with those of its outside counsel.

An awards ceremony will be held on Sept. 18 at the Belo Mansion in Dallas. The Attorney of the Year award winner will be announced at the ceremony.

Click here for booking information. For information about sponsoring the event, contact Andre Sutton at 757-721-9020 or email [email protected].