Brian D. Melton

Mr. Melton is a partner at Susman Godfrey and has served as the Chairman of the firm's Practice Development Committee. He has tried and won cases in state and federal court for both plaintiffs and defendants. He focuses solely on trying and winning complex commercial cases of all types.

Mr. Melton has been recognized by H Texas Magazine as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" in 2004, "Houston's Best Lawyers Under 40" in 2004, and as a "Professional on the Fast Track" in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Texas Monthly magazine named him a "Texas Rising Star" in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Mr. Melton regularly speaks on topics, including litigation tactics, intellectual property, oil and gas, securities law and insurance matters. His speaking engagements include presentations for the State Bar of Texas, the University of Houston, the University of Chicago, the American Conference Institute and the Dallas Intellectual Property Bar Association.

United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (B.S. in Mech. Eng.)
University of Houston (J.D., summa cum laude, graduated 2nd in class)
Infantry Officer (Captain) in the U.S. Army
Army Ranger, Airborne and Air Assault Schools

• Order of the Coif
• Articles Editor, Houston Law Review
• Law Clerk to The Honorable Tom Stagg, United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
• Summer Intern to Justice James Baker, Texas Supreme Court

• State Bar of Texas
• American Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• Houston Bar Association
• Houston Intellectual Property Law Association
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
• Admitted to practice in Texas and New York

• Patent infringement lawsuit for Nabors Industries against publicly traded oil rig manufacturer (Helmerich & Payne) and electronic controls manufacturer (Omron) alleging infringement against the Omron Drilling Rig Control Systems and the rigs on which it is installed, including over 180 Helmerich & Payne rigs. The case is pending in the Eastern District of Texas.
• Breach of construction contract claim for French based Total Petrochemicals against Team Industries for work performed at Total's Port Arthur petrochemical facility. The contract was for the manufacturing of pipe spools.
• Breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets case representing Forrest Oil against Kerr-McGee in Louisiana state court.
• Patent infringement lawsuit for High Island Health against Libertybelle alleging willful infringement of High Island's medical device patent. The case is pending in the Southern District of Texas.
• Wage and hour class action litigation defending a Fortune 50 world-wide retailer against multi-hundred million dollar claims.

Representative Past Cases:

ASCO Warehouse Fire. In December 2009, just 8 months after being hired by Scottish-based ASCO, Melton settled an $80 million warehouse fire dispute that involved over 20 parties, to include landlords, tenants, bailors, bailees, and over a dozen insurance companies. Melton did this by contacting each of the parties and earning credibility though straight-shooting. The experienced mediator and opposing counsel have referred to Melton's work on this matter as extraordinary. Indeed, they say Melton's novel solution implemented in this dispute is something they have never seen before. Melton's tireless work prevented any lawsuits from being filed, save one small state court action to preserve a limitations issue for the claimant. The legal fees saved by not having lawsuits made the settlement possible. Click to view references.

Individual Networks v. Apple. In September 2009, Melton settled a patent infringement lawsuit against Apple on behalf of Individual Networks pending in the Eastern District of Texas. The Individual Networks patent involved the algorithm used in Apple's iTunes store's customized advertising process. The settlement amount is confidential.

Custom Molders Inc. v. Ford Motor Company. In August 2009, Melton reached a settlement with Ford on behalf of Raleigh-based CMI. Melton was hired by CMI's bankruptcy trustee to evaluate and pursue CMI's patent claims against Ford. Without filing a lawsuit, Melton arranged a one-day evidentiary presentation to North Carolina Bankruptcy Judge Rich Leonard, who then gave the parties a recommendation for settlement. A favorable settlement was reached shortly after Judge Leonard's recommendation. The patented technology involved injection molding techniques and processes. Prior to bankruptcy, CMI had been a supplier to Ford, and Melton successfully argued that Ford's supplier standard terms and conditions did not create a paid up license for Ford to continue making the parts. The settlement amount is confidential. Click to view references.

SuperSpeed v. IBM. In April 2009, Melton settled a patent infringement lawsuit against IBM on behalf of Boston-based SuperSpeed in the Eastern District of Texas. The SuperSpeed patented technology involved complex data caching technology. In the lawsuit, SuperSpeed alleged that IBM's DB2 database products infringed its patents. The settlement amount is confidential. Click to view references.

Furry Brothers LLC v. FLIR Systems Inc. In February 2009, Melton settled a breach of contract lawsuit against FLIR on behalf of Texas-based Furry Brothers. The contract was a patent license agreement, and the underlying patented technology involved infrared camera technology for aerial detection of natural gas leaks along distribution pipelines. The case was pending in front of Judge Hughes in the Southern District of Texas. The settlement amount is confidential. Click to view references.

In Re: Carter et al. In January 2009, Melton settled a 100,000+ member class action lawsuit pending in a South Carolina state court. Although the case had been pending for years, we were hired in 2008 to prepare and take the case to trial in early 2009. This was the second massive class action that Melton has defended for this Fortune 50 retail client.

Droplets v. Adobe Inc. & Polaris Venture Capital. In September 2008, Melton settled a lawsuit against Adobe and Polaris on behalf of Dallas-based Droplets in the Eastern District of Texas alleging patent infringement, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. The Droplets patented technology involved the delivery of rich internet applications over the Internet. In the lawsuit, Droplets alleged that the Adobe Flex and AIR products infringed and incorporated Droplets trade secrets. The settlement amount is confidential. Click to view references.

Nokia v. Zurich. In August 2008, Melton won another appeal for Nokia in its duty to defend lawsuit against its multiple insurers. The Texas Supreme Court affirmed a Dallas Court of Appeals reversal of the trial court's partial summary judgment for three insurance companies. Both appellate courts agreed that class action lawsuits seeking compensation for alleged exposure to radio frequency radiation from mobile phones asserted claims for "damages because of bodily injury" for which Nokia was owed a defense under its insurance policies. The underlying class actions in multiple states alleged that plaintiffs suffered "biological injury" including "cellular damage" as a result of exposure to radio frequency radiation when using mobile phones without headsets, and sought the cost of headsets among other damages. Nokia continues to dispute and defend against these underlying claims. Nokia tendered the cases to its insurers Zurich American Insurance Company, Federal Insurance Company, and National Union Fire Insurance Company, and sought reimbursement from them for its multi-million dollar defense costs. The insurers denied that their policies provided coverage and refused to defend the cases. Rejecting the insurers arguments that "biological injury" was not "bodily injury" and that the cost of headsets was not "damages" within the scope of their policies, the Texas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals held that Nokia was owed a duty of defense. Within months of this appellate victory, the insurance companies settled without any further trial court litigation. Click to view references.

Elkin v. Steamboat Semiconductor. In June 2008, Melton settled an executive compensation case on behalf of Steamboat Semiconductor. The lawsuit was brought against Steamboat by the former president of the company for wrongful termination and failure to pay an alleged contractual bonus structure. Melton's thoughtful and aggressive pretrial strategy paid off, as the case was settled just months after filing for nuisance value. Click to view references.

Sky Technologies v. Oracle. In January 2008, Melton settled a patent infringement lawsuit against Oracle on behalf of Boston-based Sky Technologies filed in the Eastern District of Texas. The patents at issue relate to online commerce negotiations software. Oracle agreed to license Sky's patents and technology. The settlement amount is confidential. Click to view references.

Emery v. Wachovia Bank. In March 2007, Melton settled a well-known Houstonian's claims against Wachovia Bank for a confidential amount. Rocky Emery was a top-producing stock broker with Wachovia, which terminated him in 2004. Emery asserted claims against Wachovia for damages arising from his wrongful termination. Emery also claimed that Wachovia committed fraud and breached a contract by luring him away from his former employer with promises that were never kept. Emery's alleged damages exceeded $70 million. Click to view references.

Valence v. Texas Genco/NRG Energy. From 2004 to 2007, Melton represented Valence Operating Company in its disputes against NRG Energy (formerly Texas Genco and Reliant Energy). These disputes involved, among other issues, the Accommodation Doctrine as set forth in the Texas Supreme Court's 1971 Getty Oil decision. Getty Oil provides the legal framework for determining when, if ever, a mineral interest owner may be required to change its operations in order to accommodate the surface owner. During the course of these disputes, Valence received permits and drilled over 20 wells on NRG's property. In conjunction with these disputes, Melton represented Valence at contested evidentiary proceedings in front of the Railroad Commission of Texas that resulted in the issuance of a disputed well permit. Also, Melton represented Valence in three Accommodation Doctrine lawsuits. In those lawsuits, Melton tried three temporary injunction hearings, two jury trials, and two appeals. The reported appellate decision from one of those lawsuits was declared by one commentator to be one of the most significant oil and gas decisions of 2006. Melton is one of the foremost legal experts in the state of Texas about the Accommodation Doctrine and the nuances of that doctrine that arise in actual disputes between mineral interest owners and surface land owners.

In Re: Hummel et al. In September and October 2006, Melton tried a 168,000 member class action lawsuit for 6 weeks in a Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia. Although the case had been pending since 2002, we were hired in March of 2006 to prepare and take the case to trial. At the beginning of trial, the Plaintiffs contended that defendants owed them $300 million. The jury awarded just 25% of the amount sought by plaintiffs. The case is still pending and Melton has developed strong legal positions to overturn even that amount through post-verdict motions and on appeal.

Sky Technologies v. IBM. In March 2006, days before trial, Melton settled a lawsuit against IBM on behalf of Boston-based Sky Technologies in the Eastern District of Texas alleging patent infringement, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. IBM agreed to license Sky's patents and technology for conducting online negotiation. The settlement amount is confidential. Click to view references.

Sky Technologies v. i2 Technologies. In May 2005, Melton settled a lawsuit against i2 Technologies on behalf of Boston-based Sky Technologies in the Eastern District of Texas alleging patent infringement, breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets. i2 agreed to license Sky's patents and technology for conducting online negotiation. The settlement amount is confidential.

Cano v. ConocoPhillips. In March 2005, Melton obtained a dismissal by a federal district court in San Antonio of all claims by 53 plaintiffs suing ConocoPhillips and Rio Grande Resources, alleging that defendants' uranium mining and milling operations caused cancer and other medical ailments. The case involved complex legal issues related to federal radiation exposure and release regulations and standards. Plaintiffs sought damages in excess of $50 million plus punitive damages -- they recovered nothing. This dismissal has been upheld on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Joseph Vecchio v. Waste Management Inc. In February 2005, Melton settled a $48 million securities fraud case against Waste Management, Inc. on behalf of shareholders who opted out of a federal class action settlement. We filed suit in Texas state court and developed theories of liability and evidence that had evaded the federal class plaintiffs and every other group of opt out plaintiffs in the country. We claimed that Waste Management violated Sections 11 and 12 of the 1933 Securities Act, violated the Texas Securities Act, and made fraudulent and negligent misrepresentations in its June 1998 Proxy Statement in connection with its $20 billion merger. We defeated Waste Management's multiple motions for summary judgment and we filed a plaintiffs-side partial summary judgment motion of our own on liability. A few weeks before trial, we settled the case for more than 40 times what our clients would have received in the class action settlement. At Waste Management's insistence, the actual amount of the settlement is confidential.

Simdesk Technologies v. First Genesis. In 2004, Melton represented Simdesk Technologies against First Genesis in a suit alleging misappropriation of trade secrets relating to Simdesk's proprietary server-side applications and server-client communications protocol. Obtained a temporary restraining order and, after a week-long, 9-witness bench trial, a temporary injunction, barring First Genesis from using the software and system at issue. Following the entry of the temporary injunction, First Genesis agreed to the entry of a permanent injunction and settled the case.

Texas Instruments Insurance Coverage Litigation. In 2004, Melton represented Texas Instruments in a Dallas state court in a coverage dispute against its insurance company regarding defense costs and settlement costs Texas Instruments incurred defending against hundreds of product liability claims and lawsuits. The long-standing dispute was resolved and Texas Instruments recovered its costs.

Fresnel Technologies v. Rokonet. In June 2003, Melton tried and won a patent infringement case for Fresnel Technologies. Fresnel's patent covered optic lens design and manufacturing. The case was tried in Judge McBride's court in Fort Worth. Fresnel was awarded treble damages and attorney fees based on willfulness findings. While on appeal, Melton settled the case.

Anicom Securities Fraud Litigation. In February 2003, in federal court in Chicago, Melton obtained $40 million in settlements for the parties harmed by the fraud committed at the now-bankrupt wire distributor Anicom. Susman Godfrey served as lead counsel for a joint prosecution group consisting of the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (representing the shareholder class), the Anicom bankruptcy estate (on behalf of the creditors), and Anicom secured lenders (on behalf of the banks). The $40 million included a $21.5 million settlement by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and an $18.0 million settlement from certain officers and directors of Anicom, to include money paid out of the pockets of the individual defendants charged with wrongdoing.

Phillip Morris Litigation. In 2003, Melton defended Philip Morris, which was facing multi-hundred million or even multi-billion dollar claims. Susman Godfrey was on a National Steering Committee to organize the defense of tobacco litigation brought by dozens of foreign countries and Melton defended PM against all cases brought in Texas. These included lawsuits brought by the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro and Sau Paulo. The cases in Texas were dismissed, and those dismissals were upheld on appeal. Philip Morris ended up paying nothing.

Texas Instruments. In 2001 and 2002, Melton organized, litigated and settled over 40 products liability cases for the defendant Texas Instruments. These 40+ cases were spread out over 12 states and involved the hiring and managing of 11 sets of local counsel, while coordinating all discovery centrally for consistency. While Melton managed the docket, the number of cases greatly increased, but the overall attorney's fees paid by Texas Instruments went down due to Melton's sound case management techniques and his ability to control local counsel.

Western Resources v. Westinghouse. In 2000, Melton represented Western Resources in a purchase price adjustment arbitration and related litigation against Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The arbitration and related case involved Western Resources's purchase of Westinghouse's home-monitored security business in December 1996. The terms of the settlement were confidential, although Western Resources disclosed, as required by the SEC, that it received $37.5 million to resolve all the claims.

Premiere Global Services. In 1999 — 2000, Melton represented Atlanta-based Premiere Global Services as the plaintiff in two matters. The first was a $25 million dollar breach of contract claim against MCI WorldCom which settled very favorably to Premiere just months after we made an appearance in the already pending case. Premiere was so pleased with my representation of them in that case against MCI that they immediately re-hired us to pursue their patent infringement case against then competitor Z-Tel/Trinsic, which settled within months of filing the lawsuit on terms favorable to Premiere.