Neal Manne is well-recognized as one of the premier trial lawyers in America. Chambers USA's comprehensive surveys of clients and other lawyers repeatedly rank Manne as one of the 20 best commercial litigators in Texas. According to Chambers:
"Clients consider the passionate and thoughtful Neal Manne one of the finest commercial litigators around due to his astute, incisive and nimble mind, and his rare gift of penetrating dense rhetoric and complex facts to get quickly to the heart of the matter."
"Clients praise the quality analysis, organizational skills and cogent and articulate arguments of Neal Manne, who, unlike many attorneys, can command a courtroom as well as submit to reason."
In 2010, Lawdragon named Manne to its list of the 500 lawyers in America who “embody the best of lawyering in 2010-- displaying intellect, passion, judgment, dedication and extraordinary achievement.” In 2009, “The Best Lawyers in America” named Manne as one of the “Bet-the-Company” litigators in Texas. Manne regularly has been named a "Super Lawyer" in peer rankings. International Commercial Litigation named Manne one of the best litigation attorneys in the United States in its "Best of the Best" rankings (those same rankings named Susman Godfrey LLP the best litigation firm in the country). Inside Houston magazine has touted Manne as one of Houston's best attorneys in each of its surveys. More than a decade ago, The American Lawyer profiled him as one of 45 lawyers "who are making their mark today and will lead the profession tomorrow." And Manne's fellow trial lawyers have elected him to the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Manne's trial victories have come for both plaintiffs and defendants, and extend far beyond Texas. He has handled high-profile cases in New York, Michigan, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Puerto Rico, Alabama, Minnesota, Florida, Kansas, Washington State, Pennsylvania, Ohio, California, South Carolina, Kentucky, New Jersey, Toronto, Bermuda and throughout Texas. Manne's jury verdicts have been profiled in The National Law Journal, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The American Lawyer and many other publications.
Manne has been an innovator in mass tort cases, for both plaintiffs and defendants. He helped devise the first mass subrogation claim, a legal theory which Susman Godfrey has used to make large recoveries for dozens of health care plans in national class action litigation involving issues as diverse as Vioxx, silicone breast implants and diet drugs. Manne also served as lead counsel for defendants in the Rio Piedras Explosion Litigation in San Juan, Puerto Rico, directing the efforts of seven law firms in the defense of more than 500 consolidated lawsuits. Manne serves as "national trial counsel" for one of the world's largest retailers in complex class action cases around the country.
Energy industry litigation has taken Manne to the courthouse often. He has won major trials for Hilcorp Energy, Intratex Gas Co., Panhandle Gas Co. and Houston Pipeline, successfully defending them in various trials in which the plaintiffs sought damages totaling more than $1 billion. For plaintiffs, Manne has recovered hundreds of millions in cases involving gas contracts, joint ventures in the former Soviet republics, pipeline disputes and oil and gas joint operating agreements.
When CEO's and other top corporate executives are fired by their companies, they often call on Manne to represent them in breach of contract litigation. Most such cases settle before trial, but when they don't Manne has never lost. He's won trials for Brian Hughes, Paul Beck and Ray Weems against Cambrian Capital Partners; for Dan Pena against Great Western Resources; for Jonathan Carroll against Enserch; for John Dalton against WorldPort Communications; and for David Siegel against Budget Rent-A-Car.
Manne's work on complex insurance coverage disputes often crosses international borders. In cases involving environmental clean-up, officers' and directors' liability, asbestos litigation and products liability, Manne has been hired as lead counsel by many of the world's largest insurers in the U.S., Bermuda, London and the European continent. Manne recently represented a major insurer in both antitrust and securities fraud litigation relating to the use of contingent commissions in the insurance brokerage industry.
Antitrust litigation has been a specialty of Manne and his firm for decades. He has handled cases for both plaintiffs and defendants, in a wide range of industries, including airline tickets, Alaskan salmon processing, DVD rentals, commercial insurance and many others.
Manne handles intellectual property litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. With his partner Max Tribble, he successfully defended Dealix on patent infringement claims by Autobytel, and won large recoveries for SuperSpeed Software in separate patent cases against Oracle and IBM.
As a trial specialist, Manne often is hired to take over a case from another law firm as trial approaches. Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, on behalf of the London insurance market, hired Manne to take over and resolve four huge pollution clean-up coverage cases, some of them pending for many years. Aetna did the same in an eight year old pollution coverage dispute. The Torrington Company hired Manne only months before trial to defend it in the re-trial of a helicopter crash case that had been pending for seven years. Only a few months before trial, Manne and his partner Steve Susman were hired to try investment banker Frank Benevento's long-running case against RJR Nabisco, winning a large jury verdict in New York. In Baks v. Moroun, the plaintiffs had been in litigation against their family trucking empire for nearly eight years when they hired Manne and Susman only a few weeks before trial. After an eleven week jury trial in Michigan, plaintiffs recovered a huge settlement. When the Government of India's oil trading company was hit with a huge adverse judgment in federal court in Houston, the Government hired Manne, who got the judgment vacated and quickly resolved the dispute for a nominal amount. Modern art icon Robert Rauschenberg hired Manne after dozens of his paintings were seized from a museum to satisfy a default judgment. Manne won an injunction ordering the return of the art, and quickly resolved the underlying dispute. A grateful Rauschenberg gave Manne's law firm two of his paintings as a bonus.
Manne's fast-paced trial practice has not stopped him from finding time to serve the community and the legal profession. In recognition of Manne's "lifetime of volunteer service to the community," the Houston Bar Association Auxiliary selected Manne as the 2003 recipient of the Leon Jaworski Award. In 1998, he was named the "Distinguished Alumnus for Community Service" by The University of Texas School of Law. His pro bono legal work on behalf of women's rights led the National Women's Political Caucus to honor Manne (along with then-Vice President Al Gore) as the national "Good Guy of the Year." The Houston Press followed suit, calling Manne "Good Guy Lawyer of the Year" in Houston, and Planned Parenthood gave him its Public Service Award. On a pro bono basis, Manne has represented an indigent woman facing the loss of her home, a religious organization, women's health clinics targeted by violent protestors, a charitable trust, a public access television station, Moslem jail inmates seeking accommodation of their religion's dietary restrictions, the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, the Texas Defender Service and many other individuals and organizations. Manne takes seriously the legal profession's mandate that lawyers provide free legal services to the needy. He has donated more than $1.5 million of his time representing people and organizations who could not otherwise have obtained high quality legal services. [Click here to read about some of Manne's more noteworthy pro bono cases.]
Manne has served on numerous boards of directors, both within the legal profession and in the community at large. He was the founding Chair of the Board of Houston's Center for AIDS, Vice Chair of the Houston Bar Foundation, President of the Texas Law Review Association, Commissioner (appointed by Governor Richards) of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, member (appointed by Mayor White) of the Harris County Houston Sports Authority, and a member of the boards of directors of many organizations, including the Houston Area Women's Center, People for the American Way, Annie's List, the Anti-Defamation League, the University of Texas Foundation, the Houston Food Bank, the University of Texas Development Board, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America's Action Fund, the Houston Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, the Executive Committee of the University of Texas System's Chancellor's Council, Congregation Beth Israel, Texas Appleseed Foundation, the Women's Advocacy Project, the Texas Freedom Network, and the Grand Teton National Park Foundation.
Born in Baytown, Texas in 1955, Manne graduated from the University of Texas with highest honors, having been named a University Scholar and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree with high honors from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was an editor of the Texas Law Review, a Chancellor, a member of the Order of the Coif and was named a Friar by the University. After serving as law clerk to The Honorable William A. Norris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Los Angeles, Manne worked for six years in Washington, D.C., first at a large law firm, then as Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on juvenile justice, and finally as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. In 1988, Manne and his wife, Nancy McGregor, left Washington to return to Texas where Manne joined Susman Godfrey. Since 1997, Manne has served on the Firm's Executive Committee. Neal and Nancy have three children: Ben, Elisabeth and Olivia.
EDUCATION - University of Texas (B.A., summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, 1976)
- University of Texas School of Law (J.D., with high honors, 1980)
- Fraternities: Phi Beta Kappa, Friars, University Scholar, Order of the Coif, Chancellors
HONORS & DISTINCTIONS - Associate Editor, Texas Law Review, 1979-80
- Law Clerk to The Honorable William A. Norris, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1980-81
- Chief Counsel and Staff Director, U. S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice, 1985-86
- Chief of Staff, U. S. Senator Arlen Specter, 1987-88
- Adjunct Professor of Law, George Mason School of Law, 1986-87
- Commissioner, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (appointed by Governor) 1992-93
- Member, Harris County-Houston Sports Authority (appointed by Mayor), 2005-06
- "Good Guy of the Year" (co-honoree with then-Vice President Gore), National Women's Political Caucus (1994)
- Included in "45 Under 45," The American Lawyer's profile of the 45 best young lawyers in America (1995)
- University of Texas School of Law "Distinguished Alumnus of the Year for Community Service"(1996)
- Included in "Best of the Best," International Commercial Litigation's rankings of the world's best litigation attorneys (1999)
- Inside Houston's "Best lawyers in Houston" (every year published)
- Houston Bar Association Auxiliary's Leon Jaworski Award for "a lifetime of volunteer service to the community" (2003)
- Ranked as one of the 100 best attorneys in the state of Texas in Texas Monthly magazine's various surveys of "Texas Super Lawyers"
- Named one of the best 20 commercial litigation attorneys in Texas in multiple editions of Chambers USA client guides (based on survey of clients and other lawyers)
- Named as one of the "Bet-the-Company" litigators in Texas by "The Best Lawyers in America" (2009)
- Board of Directors: Houston Bar Foundation, Texas Law Review Association, Houston Food Bank, Texas Freedom Network, Texas Appleseed Foundation, University of Texas Foundation, Women's Advocacy Project, Center for AIDS, Houston Area Women's Center, People for the American Way, Annie's List, Houston Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, Congregation Beth Israel, Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, Anti-Defamation League, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Action Fund, University of Texas Development Board, U.T. System Chancellor's Council, Grand Teton National Park Foundation
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS - State Bar of Texas
- State Bar of California
- District of Columbia Bar
- American Bar Association
- Houston Bar Association
- Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
- Fellow, Houston Bar Foundation
- Texas Law Review Association
- Elected member, American Board of Trial Advocates
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