High stakes trial lawyer, David Peterson, tries cases for both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts across the country. Peterson has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of plaintiffs and has defended clients against billions of dollars in claims. Peterson’s breadth of expertise is wide – he has scored litigation victories in the areas of contract and business disputes, oil and gas, securities, real estate, antitrust, bankruptcy, class actions, intellectual property, and technology disputes for some of the country’s largest companies within their respective industries, including Texas Instruments, LyondellBasell Industries, MicroUnity Engineering Systems and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.
Peterson’s peers and colleagues have honored him as a Texas Rising Star every year since 2013 and as a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation. Since 2018 Peterson has been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 and Under List,” which includes “the most promising emerging talent in their respective litigation communities in US and Canadian litigation by peers and clients.”
A past chairman of the firm’s Hiring committee, Peterson quickly began making his mark at Susman Godfrey by making court arguments in his first week at the firm and trying his first complex case just a few months later. Prior to joining the firm, he clerked on the Fifth Circuit for the Honorable Priscilla R. Owen.
Peterson is currently a member of Leadership Houston Class XXXII, working together with other leaders in Houston’s private, public, and non-profit sectors for the betterment of Houston and its residents.
Peterson previously served for five years on the Board of Directors for Texas Accountants & Lawyers for the Arts, three of those years as President, leading a staff and volunteer group of hundreds of accountants and lawyers in providing free legal, accounting, and educational services to artists and arts organizations in need of counsel.
Peterson graduated with high honors from The University of Texas School of Law, where he served as an Articles Editor of the Law Review, and was elected into the Order of the Coif.
Updated Oct 2024