Founding Partner David Wynne regularly handles significant matters, including disputes with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake and bet-the-company ramifications. Some of the largest companies in the world have entrusted David to lead their most sensitive, high stakes litigation cases, but David also thrives when representing individuals and closely held companies that have suffered damages at the hands of powerful corporate adversaries.
David has engaged in commercial trial practice since he graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law and has extensive experience in state and federal courts, courts of appeal, and arbitrations across the country. He draws on his diverse professional experience representing plaintiffs and defendants, devotion to his clients, and gritty competitive nature to provide the very best legal representation for each client. David’s peers throughout the bar have recognized his skills as a litigator. David has been consistently recognized each year as a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters, which includes only the top 5% of attorneys in the nation and is an honor based on surveys sent to other attorneys, credentials, and results achieved. David has also been selected as a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of Who’s Who in American Law, and one of Houston’s Top Lawyers by H Texas Magazine.
David’s trial practice involves general business litigation disputes, including breach of contract, oil and gas, condemnation, antitrust, fiduciary duties, class actions, legal malpractice, product liability, warranties, and construction disputes. His matters span a variety of industries and legal topics such as the fair market value of a prominent underground salt dome used for storing oil from deepwater production in the Gulf of Mexico, a derivative action for owners of Blue Bell Creameries who suffered lost profits from a national listeria outbreak, antitrust violations by Visa, MasterCard and several national banks that colluded to charge excessive interchange fees to merchants, an electric utility company’s liability for the sudden outage at a refinery that delivers products across the Northwestern and Midwestern United States, a global law firm’s mishandling of a renewable energy deal, and a retaining wall failure that resulted in land loss and extensive flooding throughout a subdivision.
David is a Houston native, married for 20 years, and has 2 children in high school. David understands that it is a privilege to carry a law license, especially in what, despite its flaws, is the best judicial system in the world. He appreciates and honors every opportunity to pursue justice for those who need it.
Professional Memberships
David Wynne is licensed to practice in all Texas state courts, the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. David also regularly handles cases outside of Texas, including in Louisiana, New York, Delaware, Montana, and North Dakota. David has been elected as a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, an honor limited to less than 1/3 of 1% of lawyers in Texas. He is also a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, the American Association for Justice (formerly the American Trial Lawyers Association), and the Houston Bar Association.
Civic Involvement
- Member and serving on the Missions Committee at Grace Bible Church
- Chairman of the Board of Directors, FORGE for Families, a ministry for inner-city youth and families
Representative Matters
- Counsel for multi-billion-dollar convenience store owner and fuel distributorship conglomerate that opted out of multi-billion dollar class action settlement against Visa, MasterCard, and numerous national banks involving antitrust violations known as the In Re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. Successfully defeated Defendants’ attempt to remove the individual suit to federal court and stay the litigation. Obtained summary judgment relief and a successful confidential recovery for Plaintiffs. Defendants were represented by many of the largest and most well known law firms in the country.
- Counsel for ExxonMobil Corp. and Luby’s Fuddruckers LLC in an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, MasterCard and numerous banks regarding anticompetitive interchange fees charged for credit and debit card purchases in excess of $500 million. Suit resulted in a successful confidential settlement.
- Counsel for partner suing derivatively on behalf of Blue Bell Creameries, LP in Delaware Chancery Court involving breach of contractual fiduciary duties related to extensive food safety violations that resulted in a total company shutdown and substantial loss of partnership value and profits. Suit resulted in a mediated settlement valued at over $60 million and the Court of Chancery approved both the settlement and a $9 million legal fee in light of the exceptional benefits obtained for the partnership.
- Counsel for ExxonMobil in an eminent domain proceeding in Louisiana involving the expropriation of ExxonMobil’s property that included a salt dome and underground caverns with a storage capacity of over 70 million barrels of crude oil that have long served as critical midstream storage hub for oil produced in the Gulf of Mexico and for refineries in the region. The taker’s pre-suit offer to acquire the property from ExxonMobil was $30 million, but David established that damages were in excess of $450 million, representing an increase of over 1500%. David defeated opposing counsel’s repeated efforts to strike each and every aspect of ExxonMobil’s expert valuation and the case settled favorably on the eve of trial.
- Counsel for hundreds of individual plaintiffs who suffered toxic tort chemical exposure injuries from a large-scale chemical explosion at a Halliburton-owned chemical blend facility that caused an extensive evacuation in New Iberia, Louisiana. The case proceeded to a bellwether trial. David tried 12 plaintiffs’ claims for seven days and obtained a substantial judgment for each plaintiff presented. David also handled the appeal of the verdict, argued before the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and successfully defeated Defendants’ attempts to overturn judgment through the Supreme Court of Louisiana. David eventually reached a confidential settlement for each of his nearly 200 injured clients.
- Counsel for Exxon Mobil Corp. in Montana federal court involving claims against the largest investor-owned electric utility in the country regarding two extended electrical outages and power reliability problems that caused damages to an ExxonMobil refinery in excess of $90 million. Suit resulted in successful confidential recovery for client after mediation.
- Gulf Energy Exploration Corp. v. Railroad Commission of Texas and Superior Energy Services L.L.C., in the 135th District Court of Calhoun County, Texas. Represented the Plaintiff, an oil and gas exploration and production firm, on breach of contract, negligence, and gross negligence claims related to the wrongful plugging and abandonment of an orphaned offshore gas well. The case was tried to a jury for ten days and resulted in a unanimous verdict in favor of the plaintiff on all issues for $8.2 million.
- Associated Construction Company WLL v. KBR, Inc. et al, in the District Court of Harris County, Texas 281st Judicial District. Represented the Plaintiff, a Kuwaiti engineering and construction firm, on a breach of contract claim related to a subcontract to supply containerized housing units to support US Army personnel involved in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The case was tried to a jury for eight days and resulted in a unanimous verdict in favor of the plaintiff on all issues for just under $40 million.
- Counsel for a Municipal Utility District in a construction dispute involving a retaining wall and slope failure near a subdivision development in Fort Bend County, Texas. The suit involved claims for breach of contract and negligence against the civil engineering firm and structural engineering firm that designed the retaining wall. It resulted in a successful confidential mediated settlement.
- Counsel for Pilot Thomas Logistics in a lawsuit against Citgo Petroleum Corporation regarding a dispute over the sale of unsold lubricants and other products upon termination of the parties’ contracts. After the Plaintiff Citgo filed an initial declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling of in support of non-payment, David counterclaimed for breach of contract and damages. The case successfully settled confidentially.
- Counsel for EnerVest Operating LLC in a product liability suit against a steel casing manufacturer and other entities in the distribution sales chain regarding breach of warranties after casing fractured and failed in a gas well. Suit resulted in successful confidential settlement during mediation days before trial.
- Counsel for Defendant private equity fund in Maryland federal court involving claims for breach of contract and fraud brought by an international investment banking firm seeking a multi-million dollar fee related to a $65 million oil and gas exploration investment. After David filed a motion to dismiss and won an order denying the plaintiff jurisdictional discovery, the plaintiff non-suited its claims with prejudice.
- Counsel for Plaintiff private equity firm in legal malpractice matter stemming from mishandling a multi-hundred million dollar transaction. The arbitration successfully settled during mediation.
- Counsel for Defendant employer in a breach of contract claim asserted by several employees related to allegedly unpaid bonuses. David filed counterclaims against several of the plaintiffs and investigated legal malpractice claims against the law firm that prepared the bonus plan. The lawsuit successfully settled during mediation.
- Counsel for Defendant oil and gas operator in a wrongful death case filed in Duval County. The Court granted David’s motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ case during the early stages of litigation and awarded his client attorney’s fees. David also successfully cross-claimed against a co-defendant drilling contractor and recovered additional attorney’s fees for his client under the parties’ drilling contract.
- Counsel for Defendant Wastewater Control Improvement District against claims by insurance company related to non-payment for construction defects. David filed counterclaims against the insurance company for breach of contract and promptly filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted in full, both dismissing the claims against David’s client and granting final judgment on the breach of contract counterclaim as a matter of law.
- Counsel for Plaintiffs in state class action involving systematic, large scale barratry violations involving Texas Law Shield, LLP and its lawyer owners. David successfully obtained class certification at the trial court level and was approved as class counsel. Although class treatment was reversed on appeal, the trial court granted summary judgment on liability and the case was ultimately tried as an individual action on damages, including attorney’s fees. David successfully recovered all available statutory penalties and reasonable attorney’s fees for his clients. Defendants appealed the verdict, but the Court’s liability finding and the jury’s damages finding were both affirmed.
- FINRA Arbitration; Higley v JEBCO; Counsel for wealth management and financial services firm in employment dispute involving claims of breach of contract and fraud. The claimant employee sought more than $5 Million in actual damages plus attorney’s fees and exemplary damages. After a final hearing lasting nearly a week, the Panel unanimously awarded the claimant only $47,000 in actual damages and $15,666 in fees.
- Counsel for defendant 50% owner and former officer of an industrial machine company. Company asserted claims for breach of fiduciary duty against our client, seeking more than $1 million. Promptly filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 91a, which the Court granted.
- Counsel for plaintiff midstream gas storage and NGL processor asserting breach of contract claims against purchaser regarding measuring components of Y-grade NGL mix product sold and calculating amounts due for sale of Y-grade NGLs. Claims had gone unresolved and remained disputed for over three years, but once David was engaged, the claims settled efficiently and favorably for the client.
- Counsel for owner of auto repair business involving claims for breach of fiduciary duties against former partner and 50% owner in the business. The case had been filed by prior counsel but settled favorably shortly after David was retained. In addition to retaining the entire business, Client recovered attorneys fees against the defendant after a final arbitration hearing regarding a breach of the settlement agreement.
- Counsel for Plaintiffs in multiple nationwide class action suits involving violations of the Telephone Consumer Practices Act resulting in successful confidential recoveries for Plaintiffs.
- Counsel for oil and gas corporation facing threats and allegations that it had breached a significant and long-term lease agreement. Filed a declaratory judgment action that resulted in a confidential recovery on our client’s counterclaim within two months of the lawsuit’s filing.
- Counsel for Plaintiff oil and gas E&P company regarding the expiration of numerous oil and gas leases for lack of production. Suit resulted in full and complete victory for Plaintiff, including right and title to all disputed leases, less than four months from filing the original petition and with minimal cost to the client.
- Counsel for bank in arbitration involving fraud and breach of a $9 Million Loan Participation Agreement by the participating bank. Arbitration resulted in successful, confidential ruling and recovery for our client.
- Counsel for whistleblower in qui tam suit regarding widespread violations of the Stark Law and Anti-kickback Statute governing physician investors, hospitals, and out-patient surgery centers. Prepared detailed complaint and disclosure statement, represented relator during the DOJ, FBI, and US Attorney’s interview process, and worked closely with the DOJ and related agencies regarding subpoenas.
- Jorge Gonzalez vs. [Lawyers and law firm]; In the 190th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Represented Plaintiff on multi-million dollar claims of alleged legal malpractice for Defendants alleged failure to identify and timely pursue products liability claims arising out of an automobile collision involving a vehicle rollover. Confidential settlements reached in part through mediation.
- Lucy Lee Hale and Carey Keene West III, Trustee vs. Merrill Lynch Trust Company of Texas, ML Life Agency, Inc. and Richard Wuensch; in the 55th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Represented Plaintiffs on multi-million dollar claims against the Merrill Lynch defendants arising out of estate planning advice and related trust and insurance structuring and against lawyer and law firm on claims of legal malpractice. Confidential settlement reached in mediation.
- In re Rathborne Properties, LLC, in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans. Together with co-counsel from New Orleans, represented New Orleans land-owner as plaintiff against over fifty defendants, including essentially all of the major oil companies in the United States, for allegedly contaminating over 70 acres of land adjacent to the Harvey Canal with Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Damages were claimed in excess of one hundred million dollars. After seven years of litigation, punctuated by delays from Hurricane Katrina, significant confidential settlements were eventually reached with all defendants. Among other consideration, provisions were made for full remediation of the affected property. Opposing counsel included almost all of the recognizable law firms in New Orleans.
- Larry F. Robb, Individually and in behalf of a Class of Minority Shareholders of 3CI Complete Compliance Corp., et al vs. Stericycle, Inc., et al, in the First Judicial District Court of Caddo Parish, Louisiana. Represented a class of minority shareholders in a medical waste management company against the majority parent alleging several theories of action that primarily included minority shareholder oppression. The case settled for $32,500,000 in cash. The Wynne Law Firm was awarded a fee of $10,833,333.00 and reimbursement of its several hundred thousand dollars in expenses.
- Dayal Biswas v. WaMu Investments, Inc. Served as lead counsel against Washington Mutual brokerage house for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, Texas Securities Act violations, and alleged violation of securities rules on suitability, knowing the customer, and failure to supervise related to selling unauthorized, fraudulent viatical settlements. Suit against WaMu Investments, Inc. was submitted for arbitration through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Successfully briefed and argued motions to compel discovery, and the suit resulted in a confidential settlement during mediation.
- FINRA Arbitration; Bakht v UBS Financial Services, Inc. Served as lead counsel against UBS brokerage firm in suit for negligence, DTPA violations, and violation of the NASD Know Your Customer Rule. Prepared detailed demand letter and statement of claim. Resulted in immediate confidential settlement and litigation was avoided.
- Manox Integrated, Ltd. vs Patrick Elliot, Larry Elliot, American Energy Services, Inc. and International Energy Services; In the 55th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Served as lead counsel for the Plaintiff, an international procurement firm, specializing in energy services. Suit involved breaches of two contracts and lost profits resulting from the breaches resulting in damages of approximately $375,000. A favorable settlement was reached with the defendants within 2 months of filing suit.
- Gilbert Plumbing Company, Inc. vs Fannin Rusk Associates, LP and Swinerton Builders; In the District Court of Harris County, Texas; 215th Judicial District. Served as lead counsel for Plaintiff, a plumbing subcontractor that renovated the former Texas State Hotel. Subcontract was for nearly $2 million and damages exceeded $600,000. Plaintiff reached a substantial confidential settlement with the defendants.
- Buffalo/Alabama Apartments, Ltd., et al vs Shepard Crane and Associates, Inc, et al; In the 269th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Counsel for Plaintiffs in suit regarding faulty construction of a parking garage at The Finger Apartments at River Oaks. Dispute was arbitrated, and Plaintiff recovered an award exceeding $4.5 million following a multi-day arbitration.
- NASD Arbitration; Mohammad Athari, M.D., Individually, and as Custodian of the Accounts of his Children vs. UBS Financial Services Inc., Ahmad Fakhr and Ali M. Fahr. Represented the Claimant against brokerage house and individual brokers for alleged violation of rules on suitability and knowing the customer. Resulted in confidential recovery in mediation.
- AIB Vincotte USA, Inc. vs Alan J. Smith; In the 269th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Second chair counsel for Plaintiff in suit regarding an employee’s breaches of a non-compete agreement and an employment agreement. Tried the employment dispute to Judge Wooldridge. Court awarded a temporary and permanent injunction against defendant and all alleged damages, which included lost revenue, disgorged profits, and attorneys fees.
- Jon Snowgren vs Thomas G. Harris, Murray Grigg, Prentis B. Tomlinson, Jr., Kerogen Resources, Inc.; In the 125th Judicial District court of Harris County, Texas. Served as counsel for the Plaintiff, a co-founder and business development manager at an oil and gas start-up, funded by Goldman Sachs & Co. and Silver Point Capital L.P. Suit involved claims of quantum meruit and fraud related to a partnership dispute. Successfully responded to five separate motions for summary judgment. The case settled favorably the week before trial.