Susman Godfrey

Since its founding in 1980, Susman Godfrey has established itself as the nation’s premiere litigation firm. Susman Godfrey has more than 150 partners and associates across four offices—its original Houston location as well as offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Seattle. The firm handles huge cases across the country for both plaintiffs and defendants. 

Susman Godfrey boasts blue-chip clients, such as Walmart, Chevron, KKR, NBC Universal, and General Electric, and has also won historic plaintiffs’ verdicts in class actions and for smaller entities, such as the historic $787.5 million settlement for Dominion Voting Systems in its defamation case against Fox News in 2023.

Contingency Pioneers

In 1980, Steve Susman formed a Houston firm following his success in the Corrugated Containers case, which produced the largest verdict in antitrust history at the time. Susman was soon joined by Lee Godfrey in 1982. The two had a vision of trying commercial cases on contingency and other alternative fee arrangements. The firm has reaped the benefits of this high-risk/high-return model by carefully selecting its cases and winning some of the largest jury verdicts in the United States. The firm’s contingency-fee model has since expanded into an entire spectrum of risk-sharing fee arrangements, from reverse contingent fees on the defense side to flat fees and hybrids with both fixed or hourly and contingent components.

Lean Mean Litigation Machine

Susman punches far above its size, taking on massive disputes with leanly-staffed teams. The firm deploys its resources efficiently—covering most depositions and hearings with a single attorney. The firm seeks candidates with stellar grades from top schools. Most Susman Godfrey attorneys were members of their schools’ law reviews, and nearly all clerked for federal judges (including 10 for justices of the U.S. Supreme Court). 

Stand-Up & Then Relax

Associates at most firms wonder what they can do to gain standup experience; at Susman Godfrey, standup opportunities start on day one and are part of associates’ day-to-day lives. Associates regularly handle trial examinations, hearings, depositions, and client meetings. The firm celebrates its victories with extravagant dinner celebrations. To maintain a close-knit atmosphere, the firm also hosts annual attorney retreats as well as “mini-retreats” to give its lawyers much-needed time to de-stress and bond over activities like skiing, scuba diving, hiking, and rafting.

• Fox News to pay $787.5 million to settle defamation claims brought by Susman Godfrey client, Dominion Voting Systems—Susman Godfrey client, Dominion Voting Systems, and Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement to resolve Dominion’s massive defamation suit against Fox, just before jury trial was to commence in Delaware Superior Court.
• Susman Godfrey obtained a $166.3 million jury verdict on behalf of client Finesse Wireless LLC on January 13, 2023, against AT&T Mobility LLC and Nokia Corporation of America over patent infringement claims relating to wireless networks. The jury delivered the verdict after three hours of deliberation following a week-long trial in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Susman Godfrey secured a landmark win for Flutter Entertainment in a multi-billion-dollar arbitration against FOX Corporation—a team of Susman Godfrey attorneys secured a favorable award for client, Flutter Entertainment PLC, when an arbitrator nearly doubled the exercise price of FOX Corporation’s option to acquire 18.6% of Flutter’s portfolio company, FanDuel Group. 
• In a single year, Susman Godfrey recovered over $210 million for policyholders from three major insurance carriers who were accused of unlawfully raising insurance costs in breach of contract. In each of these instances (and in many current insurance cases), SG is serving as lead counsel to plaintiffs, fighting for justice and righting the wrongs of large corporations that have transgressed.

• Commercial Litigation Firm of the Year, Texas Firm of the Year, 2023—Benchmark Litigation 
• Susman Godfrey Leads Litigation Firms on Lawdragon’s Top 500 for the Eighth Year in a Row, 2023—Lawdragon
• #1 Litigation Boutique for the 12th Year in a Row, 2022—Vault
• Trial Firm of the Year, 2022—Benchmark Litigation
• Twelve Partners Named Among The Nation’s 40 And Under Hot List—Benchmark Litigation