Geoffrey Harrison is a powerhouse litigator … He is absolutely fantastic and one of the rockstars at the firm. A go-to for us.” – Client quote from 2021
Described as “relentless in the courtroom,” powerhouse litigator Geoffrey L. Harrison handles high stakes jury trials, arbitrations, and appeals across the nation. Harrison joined Susman Godfrey in 1993, made partner in record time in 1996, and has served on the firm’s Executive Committee for years. Harrison leads cases from start to finish, running the litigation, first chairing trials, and arguing appeals. Harrison operates across a broad array of complex legal areas and has secured big wins for clients across various industries in a wide of cases over the past few years. Harrison was the lead trial and appellate lawyer in the cases below.
- Harrison won a nearly $50 million judgment in favor of Apache Deepwater LLC against W&T Offshore for W&T’s failure to pay its share of costs to plug and abandon three deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico. Harrison then argued and won a 3-0 decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirming the judgment.
- Harrison secured a $40 million settlement for the City of Houston from Towers Watson & Co. in an actuarial negligence lawsuit based on pension benefits.
- Harrison defended several oil and gas limited partnerships and certain of their owners against limited partner plaintiffs’ Texas state court lawsuit for alleged breaches of a partnership agreement, breaches of fiduciary duty, and demand for over $100 million in damages. Harrison’s clients paid $0 in damages.
- Harrison won a high-profile jury trial and judgment upholding Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance in the face of a statutory repeal challenge. The Texas Lawyer called Harrison “Houston’s HERO.”
- Harrison won a federal court summary judgment for national leasing company Winthrop Resources Corporation against healthcare company Prospect ECHN, Inc. in a case with millions of dollars in competing claims and counterclaims.
- Harrison won a multi-million-dollar award—100% of damages sought plus fees, costs, and interest—in a confidential technology and construction industry arbitration involving obligations under a written agreement.
- For client SunPower Corporation Systems, Harrison achieved an excellent settlement in a $75 million lawsuit against a major energy company arising out of a construction and financing agreement for the development of a large-scale solar energy power plant.
- Harrison served as KBR, Inc.’s lead trial lawyer and won a federal court summary judgment against all claims asserted in multiple jurisdictions by over 160 national guard combat troops who sought over $1 billion in damages based on alleged chemical exposure during the Iraq War while deployed by the U.S. Army to provide force protection at an Iraq-owned water treatment plant.
Updated Sep 2023
