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Brian is an aggressive, creative, and highly effective complex business and public law litigator. He began his career as a project finance associate with a large, downtown law firm. After two years structuring deals, Brian found himself drawn to the courtroom, and began litigating with one of the world’s largest law firms. In the more than twenty years since, Brian has become a go-to fixer in the courtroom and the boardroom for businesses, governments, and individuals needing new approaches to complex problems.

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Brian largely represents plaintiffs or defendants in business and governmental disputes. His expertise covers mediations, trials, arbitrations, and appeals. Brian regularly oversees the Firm's handling of contract disputes, investment partnership disputes, trade secret and unfair competition disputes, oil and gas disputes, construction disputes, governmental disputes, and other matters. Brian is comfortable in state and federal trial, appellate and bankruptcy courts, domestic and international arbitration proceedings, and at the negotiating table. His clients have included enormous, multi-national public corporations; local and regional governmental entities (including Cities, MUDs, ESDs, PUDs, UDs, Improvement Districts and others); start-ups and mom-and-pops; and individuals with complex claims or defenses, including several well-known politicians and political campaigns. Brian's cases and clients have been located throughout the United States as well as in Denmark, Finland, Russia, Turkey, and elsewhere.

 

While his primary focus is dispute resolution, Brian has kept an active transactional practice, handling mergers and acquisitions, private placements and other debt and equity raise transactions, and commercial contract drafting.

 

After working with Brian on discrete matters, whether dispute resolution or transactional, several clients have come to rely on him for a broad range of advice, and Brian has served as outside general counsel to clients including several investment banking and financial advisory firms and software companies.

Brian takes a different approach to solving legal problems. He brainstorms while tossing a ball against a wall, works barefoot, and treats clients and coworkers like family. And it works, as any of his existing clients will tell you.
 

Representative Matters

 

• Lead counsel representing a massive, publicly-traded foreign corporation in litigation and arbitration involving claims arising out of the client's alleged negligent manufacture of power plant engines and related equipment, resulting in a very favorable settlement.

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• Lead counsel representing one of the largest Emergency Services Districts (ESD) in Texas in years-long fraud litigation against a contractor alleged to have misappropriated tens of millions in taxpayer dollars, resulting in a very favorable settlement.

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• Lead counsel representing sellers of a highly successful, self-built business against claims of fraud by purchaser of the business, resulting in an extremely favorable settlement after jury selection.

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• Lead counsel representing a technology company in arbitration against an investment banker, resulting in a verdict of liability for breach of duties.

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• Lead counsel representing a Municipal Utility District (MUD) in arbitration over a contractor's defective construction, resulting in a unanimous, favorable money-damages verdict.

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• Lead counsel representing a foreign importer in federal lawsuit against a local manufacturer of oilfield equipment, resulting in a verdict in favor of the importer.

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• Lead counsel representing a healthcare investment fund in a complete corporate restructuring (from three funds to one) and a $300 million equity raise.

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Education

• B.A., University of Massachusetts - Boston (1998)

• J.D., University of Chicago School of Law (2002)

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Honors

• Selected as a Texas Super Lawyer: 2013 - 2022

• Selected as a Texas Rising Star: 2009, 2011 – 2013

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Affiliations

• Served 6 years on the Texas Bar Association’s Attorney Grievance Committee, including two as Chairman

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Practice Areas

• Litigation, Arbitration, & Appeals    

• General Business Disputes

• Finance & Investment Disputes

• Complex Construction Disputes          

• Trademark & Copyright Disputes

• Employment Disputes

• Governmental & Political Disputes & Counseling

• Bankruptcy-Related Disputes

• Commercial Transactions

• Finance & Investment Transactions

Industries

• Finance & Banking

• Software & Technology

• Oil & Gas

• Commodities Trading

• Construction

• Manufacturing

• Real Estate

• Government & Politics

• Small Business

• Oil & Gas

• Technology

• Publishing

• Government

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Contact Information

713-688-6789 (office)

713-742-2033 (fax)

brian@greatlaw.com

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