1 Week, 2 Big Verdicts: Steve Susman's Better Mousetrap Continues to Work
HOUSTON, May 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1980 when Steve Susman opened his litigation boutique in Houston, he proclaimed that he and his lawyers would not specialize in any substantive area, but instead would specialize in trying cases—any type, anywhere. In more than 30 years since, the firm has grown to 90 lawyers and expanded to Dallas, New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, but Susman's philosophy has never changed. "I wanted us to be the brain surgeons, who could be brought into any type of case, figure out how to try it, then win it in front of a jury," says Susman, still practicing full time at age 70. Expanding to the other offices made Susman worry that the firm's lawyers would lose the extraordinary collegiality and cohesion that was its trademark in its early years, so he imposed a seemingly odd requirement: trial teams would not be based on geography, since all the firm's lawyers are trained to try any case anywhere. "When lawyers try a big case together, especially an out-of-town case, they form bonds of friendship, respect and admiration that are unique in our profession," Susman says. "I didn't want there to be Los Angeles trial teams or New York trial teams. I wanted Susman Godfrey trial teams."
If last week put those unusual ideas to the test, Susman passed the test 2-0. In federal district court in Tyler, Texas, a team of Susman Godfrey lawyers from Los Angeles, Houston and Seattle represented the plaintiffs in Fractus v. Samsung et al. The firm's clients were inventors and patent holders who sued 10 cell phone manufacturers for infringing patents relating to multiband internal cell phone antennas. By the time of trial, RIM, LG, Kyocera, Pantech and other defendants had settled for millions, and the extremely complex case went to trial only against Samsung. Susman marveled at how the lawyers were able to make the complicated technical issues understandable to a jury. "That's the key to what our lawyers do," he says. "It doesn't matter how well a lawyer understands the facts if she can't explain them to jurors in a way that is persuasive." After a week of trial, the jury returned a big verdict on Monday in favor of Susman Godfrey's clients, awarding $23 million in past damages and the possibility of more.
But even before the trial in Tyler had started, another team of Susman Godfrey lawyers were underway in a major trial in a state court in rural Kentucky. This time the firm represented the defendant, in what apparently is the first employment class action ever tried in the state. In Johnston v. The Rawlings Company, hundreds of former and current medical claims auditors had sued Rawlings, based in La Grange, Kentucky, alleging that for more than 7 years they had been misclassified as exempt from Kentucky's overtime laws and were entitled to more than $12 million in back pay and penalties. "Rawlings could have picked from among many great law firms in Kentucky," noted Susman, "but they hired us and trusted our lawyers to persuade a Kentucky jury that Rawlings had not violated the Kentucky wage and hour statute." This time the firm's trial team was drawn from lawyers in New York, Houston and Los Angeles, who tried the case for nearly 3 weeks in Oldham County, KY. A smiling Susman described the scene. "Our trial team rented an old frame house on the town square across the street from the court house. They had picnic lunches there each day at the lunch break."
Susman is especially proud that young female partners played such major roles in both cases, which he says has become almost the rule at the firm. In the Fractus case, Los Angeles partner Victoria Cook presented the plaintiffs' damages case to the jury. Cook, who has tried cases in New Orleans, Oakland, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Los Angeles, teamed with Susman last fall to represent Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in his high-profile trial over ownership of the baseball franchise. "Victoria is a natural," Susman says as he beams with pride. "At just 36, she already is a very polished and experienced trial lawyer." Meanwhile in Rawlings, Kalpana Srinivasan, also 36, was wowing the Kentucky jury. "She has incredible poise in the court room," says an awed Susman, "and a special ability to put witnesses and jurors at ease. Sometimes it seems like she owns the court room."
So what happened in the Kentucky class action? On Friday the jury returned a defense verdict for Rawlings, Susman Godfrey's client, rejecting the class action claims. As the Susman Godfrey team prepared to say goodbye to each other until the next trial, they celebrated with more than a little Kentucky bourbon.
One week, two major verdicts. One in a federal court, the other in a state court. One for plaintiffs, the other for defendants. Neither one in a city where the firm even has an office. Both cases tried by trial teams drawn from various Susman Godfrey offices around the country without regard to geography. The newest two sets of firm lawyers to share the special bond of winning a big trial victory together. "This is what I imagined 31 years ago," muses Susman. "This is what I knew our firm could be."
SOURCE Susman Godfrey L.L.P.
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