Partner Seattle, Washington Phone: (206) 373-7384 Fax: (206) 516-3883 dhansen@susmangodfrey.com* Print this Profile (PDF) Download Business Card DREW D. HANSEN is a partner at Susman Godfrey who has tried cases for both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts across the country. Recent trials include: Application of Las Brisas Energy Center, LLC (Tex. State Office of Admin. Hearings 2009). Represented the Texas Clean Air Cities Coalition, a coalition of over 30 Texas cities, in opposing the permit for the Las Brisas Energy Center (LBEC), a proposed petroleum coke-fired power plant, on the grounds that it would not comply with the applicable air quality standards or protect human health and the environment. After a two-week trial, the judges issued a 120-page proposal for decision that recommended denial or remand of the permit. The judges particularly criticized the air modeling LBEC submitted to support the plant, calling it "unreliable" and "simply inadequate." You can read media coverage of Hansen's cross-examination of LBEC's air modeler here. Alfonso C. Peña v. GBS Financial Corp., et al. (NASD 2007): Represented the family of Alfonso C. Peña, a Los Angeles-based entertainer and entrepreneur, in a lawsuit against his former investment advisors. After a two-week arbitration, the panel awarded Peña damages for the excessive management fees on his investment account.   Jacobs v. National Drug Intelligence Center (S.D. Tex. 2007): Represented former Laredo National Bank president Gary G. Jacobs in a Privacy Act lawsuit against the NDIC. After a bench trial, the NDIC settled Jacobs's attorney fee claim for an amount believed to be one of the largest ever for attorney fees in a Privacy Act case of this nature. The NDIC also settled Jacobs's damages claim, reserving its right to appeal. In October 2008, Hansen argued and won the NDIC's appeal to the Fifth Circuit. You can read the Fifth Circuit's decision affirming the judgment against the NDIC here.   BASF Corporation v. Lyondell Chemical Co. (N.J. Super. Ct. 2007): Represented Lyondell Chemical Company (now LyondellBasell Industries) in a two-month breach of contract trial where the jury found in favor of BASF. The judgment is now on appeal. Hansen has also won major victories for clients in pretrial proceedings. After the collapse of Enron, the company's court-appointed management hired Susman Godfrey to recover from the financial institutions who aided and abetted the Enron insiders in hiding the company's true financial condition. Hansen was in charge of prosecuting the estate's claims against the Canadian International Bank of Commerce (CIBC), one of Canada's largest banks. After Hansen questioned the first few CIBC witnesses at deposition, CIBC witnesses started pleading the Fifth Amendment. CIBC eventually paid $250 million to settle the estate's claims, which was collected for the benefit of the estate's creditors, including the approximately 20,000 former Enron employees who lost money in their pension funds when the company collapsed. Hansen has also: Represented a class of Bristol Bay salmon fishermen in a four-month antitrust trial in Anchorage, Alaska against seafood processors and importers. The settlements before and after a jury verdict in the defendants' favor totaled over $40 million.   Defended a multi-million dollar misappropriation of trade secrets case on behalf of REI, Inc. Hansen won dismissal of the plaintiff's motion to add a claim under Washington's version of the RICO statute, and the case settled near the end of discovery.   Represented plaintiffs in nineteen separate state-law antitrust class actions against Visa and MasterCard alleging illegal tying arrangements involving debit cards.   Represented Brent Redstone in a shareholder oppression action in which he sought to dissolve the $8 billion family company controlled by his father, Sumner Redstone. Hansen encourages you to contact his current and former clients and his opposing counsel for recommendations. REFERENCES Mark Carlton LyondellBasell Industries (281) 363-2347   Larry Krantz (opposing counsel, Enron v. Citigroup, et al.) (212) 661-0009   Dr. Devon G. Peña (206) 543-1507 Hansen's busy trial practice does not stop him from finding time to be active in the Bar and the wider community. He is a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington Law School, where he co-teaches an advanced seminar entitled "Social Movements, the Political Process, and the Development of Law: A Civil Rights Case Study". He is a founding member of the Puget Sound Chapter of the American Constitution Society, and he represented the Washington State Democratic Party in a pro bono lawsuit against Ralph Nader because of what it alleged was Nader's illegal effort to qualify for the 2004 Presidential ballot in Washington state. In 2005, Governor Christine Gregoire appointed Hansen to the Washington Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB), which has distributed over $19 million to local governments to help attract and retain businesses in Washington state since Hansen joined the board. (In 2008, Governor Gregoire reappointed Hansen to another term on CERB). Hansen is also deeply committed to educational issues: He is currently on the board of the Olympic College Foundation, and he has been on the steering committee for nearly every Bainbridge Island School District levy since 2004. Hansen maintains an active writing and lecturing career as a sideline to his law practice. He is the author of a book, The Dream: Martin Luther King and the Speech That Inspired A Nation (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2003), which U.S. Representative John Lewis called "a great contribution to the history of the movement." Pulitzer Prize-winner David Garrow called Hansen's work "the best book in more than a decade on the movement's best-known leader," and the Denver Post called Hansen's book "essential reading for anyone trying to understand one of the great speeches in American history." Hansen has given speeches and guest lectures across the country, ranging from a lesson on Dr. King to kindergarten classes in Houston to a nationally televised reading at the Los Angeles Public Library. He has appeared on ABC's World News Tonight, CBS's Early Show, CSPAN's Book TV, CNNfn, and on NPR and dozens of radio stations in the United States and around the world. Hansen's Op-Eds have appeared in USA TODAY, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and the Houston Chronicle, and his essay on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s theological education will appear in the forthcoming Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther King, Jr. (Cambridge University Press, 2011). Hansen began practicing at Susman Godfrey after serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Pierre N. Leval, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He graduated from Yale Law School and from Harvard University, summa cum laude. Before law school, Hansen studied theology at Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington.   *Internet mail is not fully secure or private. Therefore, please do not transmit confidential information via Internet mail. Transmission of information is not intended to and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not assume that your communications sent using Internet mail are privileged or confidential. Please do not send Susman Godfrey any confidential information via the Internet without previously consulting one of our attorneys. **Nothing on this web page is intended to represent that Susman Godfrey currently represents any particular clients mentioned because matters and client relationships naturally terminate from time to time.