What a Law Firm Should Be: Polsinelli is an Am Law 100 firm with more than 1,000 attorneys in 22 offices nationwide. The firm’s litigation practice encompasses business disputes, white collar investigations and enforcement, health care, intellectual property, bankruptcy, data privacy, real estate, financial services, products liability and toxic tort and labor and employment matters. Our reputation for dedicated client service and innovative business solutions is a benchmark for excellence in the legal profession.
Polsinelli approaches litigation The Polsinelli Way – with our clients and their business goals as our primary focus. The Polsinelli Way sees each dispute as unique and our lawyers work hand in hand with our clients to devise a litigation strategy from the outset of the matter that is laser focused on achieving the most efficient and effective resolution. The Polsinelli Way isn’t just a slogan. It’s the way we work on each and every matter entrusted to us by our clients.
Commercial Litigation: Polsinelli’s Commercial Litigation practice is composed of attorneys committed to providing practical, industry-specific business litigation strategies informed by substantive and procedural knowledge, real courtroom experience, and a keen awareness of how legal outcomes impact our clients’ bottom lines.
We focus on real estate litigation, disputes arising out of business relationships and contracts, mergers and acquisitions litigation, and class actions. However, we have a deep bench of litigation expertise with experience handling a broad spectrum of disputes including aviation and transportation, insurance matters, professional liability, retail and hospitality litigation, telecommunications, and manufacturing and distribution. We also have several lawyers who regularly handle statutory claims including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and the Fair Credit and Reporting Act.
Government Investigations: Polsinelli’s Government Investigations team is highly qualified to quickly and effectively help companies and individuals respond to and defend against civil, criminal and regulatory government actions. Many of our attorneys are former federal prosecutors with specific experience.
Our team takes the guesswork out of navigating investigations involving the government. Clients seek out our team’s counsel at all stages of their interactions with government agencies, whether a client needs help responding to a subpoena or civil investigative demand, a comprehensive internal investigation, preemptive counsel on a compliance program, or a trial lawyer to defend against allegations of white-collar crimes. Our team has experience with governmental entities, including the Department of Justice, SEC, Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, EPA and States’ Attorney General Offices.
Health Care Litigation: Polsinelli Health Care Litigation attorneys combine their in-depth knowledge of the evolving health care industry with clients’ business needs to devise practical litigation strategies. We advise clients in managing risk and resolving complex disputes. When litigation is necessary, we collaborate with clients to effectively and efficiently protect their interests. Our attorneys are experienced in litigating government investigations and health care disputes in different forums, including lawsuits, arbitrations, administrative hearings, audits and investigations.
Our team is well known and respected by judges, regulators, arbitrators, health care industry leaders and the legal community. Members include former Department of Justice attorneys, including Assistant United States Attorneys, former experienced state Medicaid fraud unit attorneys, a former realtor attorney and former in-house counsel to private and publicly traded health care companies.
Intellectual Property Litigation: Polsinelli’s Intellectual Property Litigation practice take creative and strategic approaches to resolving intellectual property disputes for local, regional, national and global companies and individuals. With more than 1,300 intellectual property litigation filings over the past six years, we frequently try high-technology intellectual property cases tied to diverse subject matter including patent litigation, trademark, copyright & branding, anti-counterfeiting and grey markets, restrictive covenants and trade secrets litigation, ITC Section 337, IP litigation funding and design patent litigation.
Labor & Employment Litigation: Our attorneys defend clients before administrative agencies and in trials, mediations, arbitrations, and appeals of lawsuits arising over virtually every conceivable employment-related action including age, religion, gender, pregnancy, race, national origin, disability, harassment, wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, FMLA and OSHA violations.
Our Employment Litigation practice group has substantial experience representing management in the administrative charge and litigation phase of cases involving issues such as but not limited to The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), The Equal Pay Act (EPA), Whistleblower claims, work-related torts and wrongful termination.
Products Liability and Toxic and Mass Tort: Polsinelli’s litigators have deep experience defending and protecting our clients against defective design, defective manufacturing, premises liability, catastrophic injury, and toxic exposure claims that oftentimes go to the heart of our clients’ businesses. Our litigators approach each case the Polsinelli Way -- with a laser focus on our clients’ business goals and an eye towards case resolution that prioritizes those business goals.
Our experienced Products Liability and Toxic Tort team assesses cases early, identifying potential risks and working with our client’s legal, business, technical and regulatory teams to craft effective litigation strategies. Our electronic discovery (e-discovery) lawyers and other professionals are adept at coordinating and managing the often-burdensome discovery process that comes with defending these high-stakes cases. Our trial lawyers have the skills and experience to take cases to trial in any courtroom in the country. These trial teams work hand in hand with our certified appellate specialists, who identify appellate issues and represent clients at the appellate level in state and federal courts throughout the United States.
Updated Aug 2023
Smyser Kaplan & Veselka, LLP (“SKV”) is a diverse and growing litigation boutique based in Houston, Texas with nationally-recognized civil litigation and white-collar criminal defense practices.
With its Houston roots, SKV has tried and won numerous energy cases over the years. But our practice is broader than that. We handle civil matters of all sorts, including intellectual property, healthcare, securities, and general commercial cases. We also have a flourishing white-collar practice, with a third of our attorneys specializing in the area. Our work spans all stages of a case and types of forums. We negotiate favorable resolutions to disputes before they go to court. We go to trial. We arbitrate. We mediate. We handle appeals. And we do so in jurisdictions across the country.
While building our firm, we’ve stayed true to a single principle: People drive success. That’s why we’ve put together a first-class team. The vast majority of our lawyers began their careers as law clerks, and since then, they’ve seen just about everything. So it’s a rare day when we confront a legal issue for the first time.
Experience, though, is just one piston in the engine that powers our firm. Another is our junior attorneys’ vigor. We hire promising young lawyers out of clerkships or early in their careers, and we treat them as future partners. That means they take depositions, draft dispositive motions and appellate merits briefs, and present oral arguments. The results speak for themselves: our associates provide terrific outcomes for our clients.
As SKV has grown, we’ve developed into one of the nation’s premiere litigation boutiques, and our commitment to excellence has not gone unnoticed. In recent years, SKV has:
Racking up awards has never been our goal, but we appreciate the high praise. What matters most is delivering exceptional results for our clients while maintaining the family-like culture that brought us together in the first place. And as these decorations suggest, over the past 25 years and counting, we’ve done just that.
Updated Sep 2023
With more than 120 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall (TX), New York, and Washington, DC, McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. The firm has secured 13 nine-figure jury verdicts and15 eight-figure jury verdicts, obtaining more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal “Top 100 Verdicts” than any other law firm. Courtroom successes like these have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journal describes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.” McKool Smith represents leading clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and white collar defense matters.
Commercial litigation: McKool Smith specializes in complex commercial litigation. The firm litigates and regularly tries complex cases across a broad range of practice areas including antitrust, bankruptcy, entertainment, class action, contract, corporate governance, energy, fiduciary duty, insurance recovery, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, securities, and qui tam/whistleblower, among others. The firm’s attorneys also routinely appear in leading arbitral forums (e.g., JAMS and AAA) and appellate courts nationwide, including the US Supreme Court.
Intellectual property litigation: McKool Smith’s courtroom track record in intellectual property (IP) cases is unrivaled. Over the past 20 years, this distinguished trial team has won more patent litigation damages than any other firm (3 billion+). The firm represents both plaintiffs and defendants in all aspects of IP litigation including patent litigation; ITC/Section 337 disputes and investigations; copyright, trademark, and false advertising litigation; and trade secret disputes. The firm’s attorneys also represent clients before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The IP practice has been recognized as the US “Plaintiff IP Firm of the Year” by Managing IP, “Intellectual Property Firm of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation, and “IP Group of the Year” by Law360, among other honors.
Insurance recovery: McKool Smith’s litigators have more than 30 years of experience effectively leading clients through high-stakes coverage and liability disputes against their insurance providers. Collectively, the firm’s lawyers have obtained more than $5 billion in insurance-related recoveries for clients across a broad range of industries including manufacturing, chemical, entertainment, pharmaceutical, financial, education, and healthcare, among others.
White-collar defense: The firm’s white-collar defense practice is led by former federal prosecutors with experience in virtually every type of government investigation and prosecution. They defend alleged art, bank and securities fraud; insider trading; and antitrust, environmental, FCPA, OFAC, and tax violations, among other matters. The firm’s attorneys have also been appointed to monitorships and guided corporations, boards, and committees through internal investigations.
Bankruptcy: The firm’s bankruptcy practice focuses on complex disputes arising under bankruptcy and related state and federal laws, representing trustees, debtors, creditors’ committees, and other parties. The firm also handles complex reorganization proceedings and out-of-court restructurings.
Diversity & Inclusion: McKool Smith is the proud home of a team of top-notch lawyers who, without limitation, celebrate diversity and the creativity and innovation it promotes. The firm understands the value of collaboration among lawyers with a range of backgrounds and experiences and the synergies gained by drawing from a variety of perspectives. Our commitment to hiring and retaining a diverse team enables us to provide superior service to our clients in a workplace where elite trial attorneys attain the highest level of professional satisfaction.
Communicating with juries is at the heart of what we do, and no two jurors are the same. Top to bottom, McKool Smith has taken steps to ensure, that our lawyers can make connections where it matters most, that we reflect the communities we serve, and that diversity is woven into every stitch of the firm’s fabric. Together. Stronger.
Diversity is a core value and a force multiplier. Study after study has shown that diverse teams perform better, irrespective of industry or geography. Diverse companies attract top talent, enjoy greater employee retention, and elevate decision making and customer service to achieve better results. It’s how you win.
As outlined in our Diversity Policy, McKool Smith is committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting a diverse team of lawyers and legal professionals and fostering a culture of inclusion. To honor this commitment, our Diversity Committee is charged with ensuring the continuous improvement of the firm’s diversity and inclusion efforts and oversees the administration of our Diversity Action Plan, which features strategies to help meet these goals. The action plan includes mandates for:
In January 2020, McKool Smith retained Coston Consulting, a certified minority/Black-owned business advisory firm, to oversee development and implementation of the firm’s diversity initiatives in collaboration with the Diversity Committee. Michael Coston, the firm’s CEO, acts as McKool Smith’s external diversity & inclusion officer.
Other Offices: Austin · Houston · Los Angeles · Marshall · New York · Washington, D.C
Updated Sep 2023
Alavi Anaipakos is home to a seasoned team of trial lawyers who efficiently handle high-stakes litigation against some of the country’s largest law firms. Alavi Anaipakos’ attorneys have more than 150 years of combined experience representing clients in U.S. courts and other legal jurisdictions worldwide. The firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex patent, trade secret, and patent infringement disputes and significant commercial litigation matters.
The firm’s lawyers have a long track record of helping intellectual property clients prevail against some of the largest companies in the world. Firm attorneys have won cases against Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Motorola, LG Electronics, Qualcomm, and Samsung, as well as global smartphone giants such as Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Alavi Anaipakos also has handled multifront litigation on behalf of companies in Germany, China, Japan, England, Brazil, Dubai, and other international venues.
Alavi Anaipakos is additionally called on to develop global strategies to protect and monetize clients’ intellectual property interests worldwide. Chambers USA ranked the firm in Band 4 for Intellectual Property among Texas-based law firms in 2022, only weeks after firm founders Amir Alavi and Demetrios Anaipakos launched Alavi & Anaipakos with nine lawyers in late May 2022.
Alavi Anaipakos also is home to seasoned commercial litigation attorneys who have handled an array of complex business disputes for both plaintiffs and defendants. The firm represents clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 100 companies in a wide variety of industries. The firm’s attorneys have earned well-deserved respect in the legal industry for their trial skills and ability to solve complex problems on favorable terms before trial.
Alavi Anaipakos’ attorneys are known for exceptional results driven by front-line experience and success in hearings and trials. Notably:
Updated Sep 2023