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Legal Marketing Consultant: Jessica Bughman
Quick facts
Partners

102

Other qualified practitioners

86

Total number of lawyers

188

Practitioners (worldwide)

188

Key practice areas
Intellectual property
Patent disputes
Trade mark
Patent
Dispute resolution
Firm overview

THE SUSMAN GODFREY DIFFERENCE

Susman Godfrey is America’s premier litigation boutique. Our talented group of lawyers handle high-stakes litigation for plaintiffs and defendants nationwide. With over 180 trial lawyers in four offices from coast to coast, we handle the most challenging cases throughout the country. We offer a broad range of creative, flexible fee structures which align our and our clients’ interests. Traditional hourly billing accounts for a small percentage of our work. Because we often share risk with our clients, we are committed to their success.

At Susman Godfrey, we approach each case as if it is headed for trial. Everything that we do is designed to prepare our attorneys to persuade a jury. When you are represented by Susman Godfrey, the opposing party will know that you are willing to take the case all the way to a verdict if necessary—this fact alone can make a good settlement possible.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE

Susman Godfrey has a longstanding reputation as one of the premier firms of trial lawyers in the US. We have been named the nation’s best litigation boutique by Vault 13 years in a row (every year since they started ranking). Benchmark Litigation named us Trial Firm of the Year in 2022 and Commercial Litigation Firm of the Year in 2023. The American Lawyer named us Boutique Litigation Firm of the Year in 2019 and 2023. Our lawyers are regularly recognized by legal media and researchers as leaders in their field.

UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE

Susman Godfrey represents both plaintiffs and defendants. We thrive on variety, flexibility, and creativity. Clients appreciate the insights that our broad experience brings. Our dual perspective informs not just our trial tactics, but also our approach to settlement negotiations and mediation presentations. We are successful in court because we understand our opponent’s case as well as our own.

UNPARALLELED TALENT

Susman Godfrey prides itself on a talent pool as deep as any firm in the country. Clerking for a judge in the federal court system is considered to be the best training for a young trial attorney. Over 96% of our lawyers served in these highly sought-after clerkships after law school. Ten of our trial lawyers have clerked at the highest level—for Justices of the United States Supreme Court.

A RECORD OF WINNING

No matter the practice area or side of the courtroom, our lawyers are adept at becoming experts on the relevant subject matter, committing to the client’s ultimate goal, and working tirelessly to exceed expectations. Major victories include:

  • Secured a landmark settlement requiring Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to rightsholders whose books were downloaded by Anthropic from the notorious pirated databases “Library Genesis” (“LibGen”) and “Pirate Library Mirror” (“PiLiMi”). This is believed to be the largest publicly reported recovery in the history of US copyright litigation

  • Won a $425 million jury verdict for a class of millions of Plaintiffs who allege that Google collects users’ Internet and application activity even when users turn Google’s “Web & App Activity” button off.

  • Secured historic $787.5 million deal with Fox News Network to resolve defamation claims brought by client, Dominion Voting Systems.

  • Secured landmark win for Flutter Entertainment in multi-billion dollar arbitration against Fox Sports Group.

  • Achieved a groundbreaking $418 million joint settlement on behalf of a nationwide class of home sellers with the National Association of Realtors that resolveD claims in four antitrust class actions against NAR.

  • Secure a first-of-its-kind dismissal of the FTC’s federal and administrative antitrust challenges to client ICE’s proposed $11+ billion acquisition of Black Knight, Inc.

  • Won a $341 million jury verdict on behalf of Dutch telecommunications company Koninklijke KPN N.V. (KPN) in a breach of contract dispute with Samsung Electronics.

  • Secured a $600 million settlement for residents of Flint, Michigan in the nationally followed Flint Water Crisis litigation.

  • Serve as National Trial Counsel for Walmart in many high stakes legal matters.

  • Won a $25.25 million jury verdict for client, Steven Lamar, in a contract and IP dispute with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine over the iconic Beats headphones ― this verdict was also included on The National Law Journal’s ‘Top 100 Verdicts of the Year’ list.

  • Secured a favorable settlement for defendant, Uber, in its epic battle against Google’s Waymo over self-driving car technology.

  • Won a jury verdict valued at $160 million for General Electric in its legal battle against the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority.

  • Secured one of the largest settlement awards ever to a single whistleblower in a False Claims Act case ― over $450 million from Novartis Pharmaceuticals, who was accused of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid by illegally paying kickbacks to pharmacies so they would recommend Novartis’s medications to doctors and patients.

  • Secured a settlement valued at $100 million for a certified class of plaintiffs in a copyright infringement class action against well-known music streaming service, Spotify.

  • Won a defense-side jury verdict on behalf of The Rawlings Company in a certified class action challenging the company’s classification of its employees. After a three-week jury trial in Kentucky state court, the jury decided in favor of the defense.

  • Won a $50.3 million federal jury verdict for Green Mountain Glass, in a patent infringement lawsuit against Ardagh Glass. The verdict was #34 on National Law Journal’s “Top 100 Verdicts of 2017” list.

  • Secured a $91.25 million settlement for insurance policy owners in 37 Besen Parkway, LLC v. John Hancock Life Insurance Company.

  • Secured over $1.2 billion with several international automobile parts suppliers in the In Re Automotive Parts price-fixing class action.

  • Recovered $40 million for a class of derivatives investors in a securities class action against Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. The deal is believed to be the largest recovery ever obtained on behalf of derivative investors in history.

Updated Oct 2025

Other offices
  • Los Angeles
    1900 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 1400, 90067, United States            

  • New York
    One Manhattan West, 10001-8602      
             
  • Seattle  
    401 Union Street, Suite 3000, 98101
Address:
1000 Louisiana, Suite 5100
Houston, TX 77002
Tel:+1 713 651 9366 Fax:+1 713 654 6666 Email:Contact Us Web Address:http://www.susmangodfrey.com
Rankings published in 2025
Dispute resolution
Highly Recommended
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Linked Reviews
Dispute Resolution

Historically known as an “old-line Houston firm” (and still a dominant force in that metropolis), within fairly short order Susman Godfrey has reinvented itself as a litigation juggernaut with national ambitions, which it has fulfilled through its offices in New York and Los Angeles. These offices, while newer, have quickly become key players in their respective markets due to each being populated by high-level trial talent juggling a hybrid of plaintiff and defense commercial, antitrust, securities and intellectual property litigation with exceptionally high stakes. “Susman is the gold standard, still the best,” opines a Texas peer. “They started as a boutique but [they are] not one boutique anymore – they are 140 lawyers in three states! They are kicking ass and taking names.” Susman is universally revered for its dedication to a prized culture – developed and fostered by founding partner and (since-deceased) trial lawyer extraordinaire Stephen Susman – that grooms the “elite corps” of litigation. Peers acknowledge the firm’s strategic expansion with typical admiration. “Susman Godfrey is a like a litigation boutique that has gone haywire - in a good way! They didn’t just grow for the sake of adding headcount. They put fabulous people in all stations.” Eschewing market trends, the firm marches to the beat of its own drum. One peer marvels: “Susman Godfrey is so innovative! They really bring the best of breed in terms of skills, and it’s top-to-bottom. It’s not just a bunch of old guys. Their younger people are every bit as impressive.” Another confirms, “It’s always fun litigating against Susman Godfrey. Then it’s real, then it’s more traditional court work, more hand-to-hand combat, as opposed to the paper pushing and procedural distractions you get from other firms.”
     No stranger to high-profile, newsworthy cases that regularly log headlines in the legal publications, Susman Godfrey landed front-and-center in the middle of a case few could ignore even outside the legal community: the representation of Dominion Voting Systems as trial counsel against Fox News in a defamation lawsuit, initially valued at $1.6 billion, alleging that Fox and the other defendants gave life to a manufactured storyline about election fraud to boost ratings and propagate the lie that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged, among a series of other false statements about Dominion. The Susman team, composed of New York’s Stephen Shackelford, Houston’s Justin Nelson (who a peer calls a “super sharp lawyer and strategist), and Los Angeles’s Davida Brook, landed a milestone victory in April 2023, securing a $787 million settlement on Dominion’s behalf. This win proved a watershed moment for defamation cases of this variety, sending shockwaves throughout the legal, political and news and entertainment landscapes. The case follows similar matters filed against other figures alleged to have played a role in these fraudulent election claims, such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell (MyPillow CEO), and Newsmax, the latter of which the Susman team won partial summary judgment against in 2024. Trial is scheduled for 2025.  

     The firm’s groundbreaking courtroom action for the year certainly doesn’t end with Dominion. New York’s Jacob Buchdahl scored a $1.6 billion judgment in April 2025 after an 11-day bench trial in New York state court on behalf of BML Properties in a long-running fraud lawsuit against China Construction America (CCA) arising from the development of the proposed Bahamian luxury resort Baha Mar, which failed to open on time and eventually faced bankruptcy. The client developed the multibillion-dollar resort complex and hired CCA in 2011 as the construction manager and general contractor for the project. However, beginning in May 2014, CCA deliberately misled the client about its intentions and ability to complete and open the resort to paying guests by March 2015, as planned and agreed to by both parties. Steven Shepard is praised by a client for “identifying the right issues at hand and finding the most appropriate legal solution. Steven's work is always of impeccable quality, and his advocate skills are absolutely brilliant.” Trial evergreen Bill Carmodyand Houston future star Sy Polky secured a $266 million verdict in November 2024 on behalf of the City of Baltimore against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen in the City’s nearly seven-year lawsuit against the opioid distributors and manufacturers that fueled what is purportedly the worst opioid epidemic in the nation. Carmody also led a team that served as lead trial counsel for a class of Direct TV subscribers, the plaintiffs in a case against the NFL concerning Sunday Ticket games, which are no longer available to residential subscribers and must be viewed in a commercial venue or by a YouTube account. The team obtained a victory after three weeks of trial, with a jury finding the NFL engaged in a conspiracy and violated antitrust laws. The jury awarded more than $4.7 billion in damages.
     Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, Marc Seltzer is championed by a client asa lawyer's lawyer’ –logical, with an encyclopedic knowledge of law in his areas of specialization as well as litigation generally.Kalpana Srinivasan is hailed as someone who has “done a tremendous job building out that office, particularly in IP and plaintiff work, and has had really stand-up roles in trial.” A team composed of Srinivasan, Seltzer, Carmody, Amanda Bonn (another Los Angeles partner) and Houston’s Max Tribble won a $65.7 million jury verdict in September 2024 after a four-day trial on behalf of Paltalk Holdings, a global communications software innovator, in a patent-infringement lawsuit against Cisco Systems in the Western District of Texas. Paltalk initially filed the lawsuit in 2021 based on infringement of its patent related to hybrid audio servers by Cisco’s Webex products. 

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A cross-office team of partners triumphed on appeal in a rare SEP dispute to go to trial, as Benchmark finds out
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    Esteemed litigator Kalpana Srinivasan speaks with the Benchmark team about her unique talents, as well as the necessary steps to fostering inclusivity in the workplace.