Chanler A. Langham

Chanler Langham is a Partner in the Houston office and native of Fort Worth, TX. Mr. Langham litigates and manages complex commercial matters for plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts throughout the country involving intellectual property, toxic torts, executive compensation, oil and gas, products liability and complex breach of contract issues. Mr. Langham has written, won, and defeated countless motions for summary judgment and motions to dismiss, recently won an appeal before the Texas Court of Appeals, has successfully settled several multi-million dollar matters, and for three consecutive years H-Texas Magazine has selected Mr. Langham as a Professional on the Fast Track.

Before joining Susman Godfrey, Mr. Langham worked as a law clerk to the Honorable Vanessa D. Gilmore in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Mr. Langham earned his Juris Doctorate from Columbia Law School as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and graduated magna cum laude from The George Washington University Honors Program, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Japanese Language and Literature. Mr. Langham speaks proficient Japanese and has worked at the Embassy of Japan; Takusu Board of Education in Gifu, Japan; and international law firms in Tokyo, New York, and Washington, DC. As a student, Mr. Langham served as a Sub-Regional Director in the Northeast Black Law Students Association, Teaching Assistant for Constitutional Law, and Articles Editor for the Journal of Asian Law. Mr. Langham is licensed to practice law in both Texas and New York.

Columbia Law School (J.D., 2004, Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar)
The George Washington University Honors Program (B.A., magna cum laude, Japanese Language and Literature; and International Affairs with concentration in East Asian Studies, 2000)
Kyoto University (1998-1999)

Law Clerk to The Honorable Vanessa D. Gilmore, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas (2004-2006)

• Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (2002-2004)
• Articles Editor, Journal of Asian Law (2001-2003)
• Teaching Assistant, Constitutional Law, Professor Louis Henkin (2003)
• Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu Fellowship in Japanese Law (2002)
• Frederick Douglass Moot Court (Northeast Regional Champions, 2002)
• Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. — Nu Beta Chapter

• New York State Bar Association
• State Bar of Texas
• WITS - Writers in the Schools (Board Member)
• New Leaders Texas PAC (Board Member)

• Metroplexcore, LLC v. Sallye Perrin, Parsons Transportation, Inc. and METRO — Chanler Langham and Johnny Carter win federal trial court dismissal of Metroplexcore, LLC's claims against Houston's Metropolitan Transit Authority ("METRO"). The federal court dismissed plaintiff's claims for lack of standing and failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
• July 2011 - Won confidential settlement in patent infringement action against UK-based Libertybelle Marketing, Ltd. on behalf of Japanese inventor Jiro Takashima and High Island Health, LLC. After Libertybelle's motion for summary judgment of invalidity failed before Judge Lynn H. Hughes of the Southern District of Texas, defendant Libertybelle agreed to exit theU.S. market for the remaining term of the patent, among other confidential settlement terms.
•  April 2011 – Won federal trial court judgment for KBR, Inc. authorizing the company to exclude a purported shareholder's proposal from its proxy materials under Rule 14a-8(b) because the purported shareholder failed to prove his status as a shareholder and his eligibility to submit a proposal. Based on this victory (and previous SG's victory for Apache Corp.), the SEC changed its rules in October 2011, reconsidered its previous no action decision in Hain Celestial, and from now on is of the view that only DTC participants should be viewed as "record" holders of securities for purposes of Rule 14a-8(b)(2)(i). http://www.sec.gov/interps/legal/cfslb14f.htm.
• March 2011 – Won Texas First Court of Appeals affirmance of state trial court dismissal on behalf of Enterprise Products Operating. The plaintiff Cernosek Enterprises, Inc. sued the City of Mont Belvieu and Enterprise Products Operating alleging violations of Mont Belvieu’s municipal ordinances governing the issuance of drilling permits and zoning for hydrocarbon storage well operations. The trial court granted Enterprise’s plea to the jurisdiction contending that Cernosek lacked standing to enforce the municipal ordinances and dismissed with prejudice all of Cernosek’s claims. In March 2011, the Texas First Court of Appeals affirmed.
• January 2011 – Won voluntary dismissal against plaintiffs and cross-claim defendants on behalf of component part manufacturer Texas Instruments in products liability, wrongful death, and statutory indemnity action involving a fire allegedly caused by a fan heater manufactured and sold by cross-claim defendant Pelonis. 
• March 2010 - Won federal court trial court judgment for Apache Corp. authorizing the company to exclude a purported shareholder's proposal from its proxy materials. Instead of following the normal course of obtaining a "no action" letter from the SEC, we filed suit in federal court, sought a speedy hearing, and sought a declaration that the company properly may exclude the proposal from upcoming proxy materials under Rule 14a-8(b) because the purported shareholder failed to prove his status as a shareholder and his eligibility to submit a proposal. The Court ruled in Apache's and KBR’s favor.
• March 2010 – Won a federal trial court dismissal of Metroplexcore’s claims against Houston’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (“METRO”). Metroplexcore claimed that METRO wrongfully accepted a solicitation bid from a second-ranked contractor without including Metroplexcore as a subcontractor. Judge Lynn H. Hughes of the Southern District of Texas dismissed all of Metroplexcore’s claims against METRO for lack of standing and failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
• July 2008 – Won confidential settlement in oil and gas breach of contract arbitration against Noble Energy on behalf of ATEC Energy Ventures, LLC and Apollo Energy, LLC. The contract involved an area of mutual interest provision for oil and gas exploration and development covering over 6,000 acres of land in the Piceance Basin of Western Colorado.
• February 2008 - Settled executive compensation lawsuit brought by the former chairman and CEO of our oil services industry client. The former executive alleged breach of his employment and stock option agreements. We filed a counterclaim based on the company's termination of the executive for cause, and sought cancellation of the executive's stock options and repayment of millions of dollars in compensation plus our attorneys fees. We filed an affirmative motion for summary judgment to establish our entitlement to this recovery as a matter of law. While the motion for summary judgment was pending, we were able to settle the case for a fraction of the amount that the executive claimed.
• 2006-2007 – Won over 30 dismissals in products liability cases for Texas Instruments. These 30+ cases were spread out over 12 states and involved 3 wrongful death and survivor claims. Langham hired and managed 11 sets of local counsel, coordinated all discovery, deposed 50+ plaintiffs and experts, worked with leading fire cause and origin experts, and removed 20+ additional cases to federal and state multi-district litigation.