Stephen Susman

Stephen Susman
Born Stephen Daily Susman
(1941-01-20) January 20, 1941[1]
Houston, Texas
Alma mater University of Texas School of Law (J.D.)
Yale University (B.A.)
Children Harry Susman, Stacy Susman Kuhn

Stephen Daily Susman (born January 20, 1941) is a plaintiffs attorney and a founding partner of Susman Godfrey LLP. He has been described as "the dean of the plaintiffs bar."[2]

Early life

Susman was born in Houston, Texas. His father, a graduate of Yale University Law School, practiced law in Houston until his death at the age of 50. His mother, a 1934 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, returned to her law practice and raised Susman and his brother after the death of their father when Susman was eight years old.[3]

Education

Susman attended Yale University where he earned a bachelor's degree in English. Susman then received his J.D. at the University of Texas School of Law. While attending law school, he was editor-in-chief of the Law Review and graduated first in his class with the highest grade point average in the school's history.[4]

He also clerked for the Honorable John R. Brown of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and for Justice Hugo Black at the Supreme Court of the United States.[5]

Susman founded Susman Godfrey LLP in 1980.[6] The firm specializes in representing plaintiffs in antitrust and securities class actions on a contingent fee basis.[7] It has been cited as the nation's top litigation boutique law firm in the Vault Rankings every year since 2012.[8]

Susman has won some of the largest cases in U.S. history. In Samsung Electronics v. Texas Instruments, Inc., he won a $1.1 billion settlement on behalf of Texas Instruments. He secured a $536 million jury verdict on counterclaim in El Paso Natural Gas Co., et al., v. GHR Energy Corp. and in the Corrugated Container Antitrust case, he won a verdict for the plaintiffs and the case eventually settled for $500 million.[9]

An advocate for better management of the trial process, Susman has developed trial agreements with the purpose of reducing litigation costs for both sides and bringing cases to trial more efficiently.[10] As a result of Susman's belief in a contingency-fee model and the law firm efficiency necessary to make it work, in 2012 he launched Trial by Agreement as a repository of pre-trial and trial agreements that lawyers can use to reduce the expense of unwarranted discovery and associated motions.[11]

In 2010, he was among a team of attorneys that represented Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt in his divorce trial.[12]

Among his numerous professional affiliations (2013-2016) are State Bar of Texas (Chairman, Section on Antitrust and Trade Regulation, 1976-77); the American Board of Trial Advocates; American Bar Association, member of the Commission on the Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Profession and Legal Needs, Section of Antitrust Law; Director of Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists; MD Anderson University Cancer Foundation Board of Visitors; and Charter Member of the Institute for Responsible Dispute Resolution.[13]

Professional recognition

In 2015, the fiftieth anniversary of Susman's election as Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Law Review, the Texas Law Review Association established a scholarship in his name.[14]

In 2016, Susman was one of six lawyers recognized by the American Lawyer for his lifetime achievements as a trial lawyer.[15]

Susman is Executive Director of the Civil Jury Project at the New York University School of Law and an adjunct faculty member, occasionally teaching the course, "How to Try a Jury Case Intelligently."[16][17]

Charitable giving

In December 2011, Yale University announced an $11 million gift from alumnus Susman in support of new exhibition space at the Yale University Art Gallery. The newly renovated art gallery re-opened on December 12, 2012.[18]

In May 2010, the University of Texas announced a $5 million gift from alumnus Susman in support of the university's law school. In recognition of this gift, the Board of Regents, the governing body for The University of Texas System, established the Stephen D. Susman Academic Center, which opened in August of the same year[19] and which Dean Lawrence G. Sager described the center as "the heart of the UT Law Enterprise."

Along with his wife Ellen Susman, Stephen Susman has sat on the boards of many arts organizations, including the 2015-2016 National Leadership Board of the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas.[20] Through the Susman Family Foundation, the couple has made financial gifts to The Aspen Institute,[21] and other programs and non-profit organizations related to the arts, justice, and the environment.[22]

Personal life

Susman's marriage in 1965 to attorney Karen Hyman Susman ended in 1997, upon her death. He married his current wife, journalist Ellen Susman, in 1999. They currently live in New York City and Houston, Texas.

References

  1. ↑ "Texas Law News Menu". The University of Texas at Austin Texas Law. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Chambers and Partners. Retrieved 08 January 2013. Chambers and Partners
  3. ↑ Curtis, Tom, "On the Defensive," Texas Monthly, July 1989. Retrieved 08 January 2013. https://books.google.com/books?id=RC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA121
  4. ↑ Global Justice Forum Speaker Biography http://www.globaljusticeforum.com/speakers/ssusman.htm Archived 2011-03-17 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ "Leading Commercial Litigator to Discuss Case Against Texas Utility", Yale News, 03 October 2008. Retrieved on 08 January 2013. http://news.yale.edu/2008/10/03/leading-commercial-litigator-discuss-case-against-texas-utility
  6. ↑ "About the firm". Susman Godfrey. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  7. ↑ Mcallister, Jimbo. "The Joy of Lawyering: Stephen D. Susman delivers 2012 Segal Lecture". University of Pennsylvania Law School. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "2018 Rankings". Vault. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Walsh, James, "Stephen Susman – The Laundryman Cleans Up," Texas Super Lawyers, October 2005. Retrieved 08 January 2013. http://www.susmangodfrey.com/content/inline-images/attorneys/Documents/Susman_LaundryManCleansUp.pdf
  10. ↑ Fisher, Daniel, "Litigator Pushes Mutual-Disarmament Pacts To Cut Costs," Forbes, 7 March 2012. Retrieved 08 January 2013. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2012/03/07/litigator-pushes-mutual-disarmament-pacts-to-cut-costs/
  11. ↑ Susman, Stephen D. and Carter, Johnny W., "Better Litigation through Pre-Trial Agreements", Fall 2011, ABA Journal of Section of Litigation. Retrieved 08 January 2013. http://www.americanbar.org/publications/litigation_journal/2011_12/fall/better_litigating_pretrial_agreements.html
  12. ↑ Shaikan, Bill, "Frank McCourt adds to his team -- of lawyers," Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2010. Retrieved 08 January 2013. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/26/sports/la-sp-dodgers-mccourt-20100626
  13. ↑ "Stephen Susman". University of Texas Law School Foundation. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  14. ↑ "Texas Law Review Creates Scholarship in Honor of Susman Godfrey Founder Stephen Susman". Susman Godfrey. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  15. ↑ "Faculty/Author Profile=Stephen D. Susman". PLI - Practising Law Institute. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "Faculty". NYU School of Law. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  17. ↑ "LAWYER LIMELIGHT: STEPHEN SUSMAN ON NYU LAW'S CIVIL JURY PROJECT". Law Dragon. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  18. ↑ Grayce West, Melanie, "Gallery Gift Inspired by Free Drinks," The Wall Street Journal, 06 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203513604577143131822052566.html
  19. ↑ "Stephen Susman, '65, gives $5 million to University of Texas School of Law". The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  20. ↑ "Blanton Museum of Art - National Leadership Board". Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  21. ↑ "2015 Transparency Report" (PDF). Aspen Institute. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  22. ↑ "Ellen Susman: Stand By Your Man". Free Beacon. Retrieved 15 December 2017.


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