Suyash Agrawal

Suyash Agrawal is a partner in Susman Godfrey's New York office, which he joined in January 2009 after five years in the firm's Houston office. He represents plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts and arbitrations throughout the nation. He handles all aspects of complex commercial litigation and trial advocacy, including appeals.

Suyash's cases have involved diverse areas of state and federal law including antitrust, bankruptcy, breach of contract, business torts, class actions, deceptive trade practices, defamation, energy, FCC law, fiduciary duties, fraud, fraudulent transfer, HUD regulations, Indian gaming and casino law, insurance coverage, maritime law, oil and gas law, patent infringement, real estate transactions, shareholder oppression, trade secrets, and unfair competition. These cases have taken Suyash around the country and the world-from London to Mexico City, Miami to Seattle, Hong Kong to Slovenia, San Diego to Boston.

Unlike most lawyers at his level of seniority, Suyash has actual experience trying commercial cases before judges and juries. In multi-million dollar disputes, Suyash has conducted voir dire, argued countless evidentiary and other trial motions, and handled jury charging. Most importantly, though, Suyash has examined dozens of witnesses, including adverse parties, third-party witnesses, and experts.

Suyash represents parties in matters large and small all over the country, including some of the most significant litigations currently pending in the New York state and federal courts.

Suyash joined Susman Godfrey L.L.P. in 2002 after graduating with honors from The University of Chicago Law School.

Before law school, Suyash graduated magna cum laude from Bucknell University, which he attended on the Mary Taubel Rieder Memorial Scholarship.

During the 1997-98 academic year, Suyash studied in the Politics Philosophy & Economics (PPE) program at Oxford University in England.

In 2003, Suyash left the firm for one year to serve as a law clerk for the Hon. Jacques L. Wiener, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

• James B. Blake Scholar
• member of The University of Chicago Law Review (vols. 68 & 69)
• Thomas R. Mulroy Award for Excellence in Appellate Advocacy
• magna cum laude from Bucknell University
• Mary Taubel Rieder Memorial Scholarship
• Louis W. Robey Medal
• John R. Crossgrove Prize in Economics
• In 2006, 2007, 2008, and again in 2009, Texas Monthly named Suyash a "Rising Star" of the Texas legal profession. And H Texas magazine has identified Suyash as a "Professional on the Fast Track" in Houston.

• Alternative Fee Arrangements in Business Litigation: Some Ethical Considerations, ABA Section of Litigation's Committee on Ethics & Professionalism, 2010 Annual Review.
• Practical Issues when Litigating the Trans-Border Dispute, with Judge Randy Wilson, 70 Texas Bar J. 130 (2007).

• 54 Broadcasting, Inc., et al. v. LIN Television of Texas, L.P., et al. (W.D. Tex.) — In February 2009, with Steve and Harry Susman, Suyash represented 54 Broadcasting and its shareholders in a breach of contract and minority shareholder oppression case in federal court in Austin, Texas. The case involved a dispute over the rights to an FCC license for an Austin, Texas television station worth tens of millions of dollars. After a week-long trial, the case settled on confidential terms before the jury rendered its verdict.
• Segue Electronics, Inc., et al. v. Phihong USA Corp, et al. (Los Angeles, California) — Suyash represented Segue Electronics, a Los Angeles-based distributor of electronics components, in a breach of contract claim against Fujian JK and Anhui JK, Chinese manufacturers of lighting and motor-run capacitors. Segue claimed that JK breached two contracts that granted Segue the exclusive right to distribute JK's capacitors in North America. After extensive international discovery and a nearly five-week jury trial in the fall of 2008, the jury returned a verdict in Segue's favor for almost $4 million.
• Williams, et al. v. KB Home (Dallas, Texas) (Arbitration) — With Katie Sammons and Trey Peacock, Suyash defended KB Home in a mass arbitration action in which the purchasers of over 125 homes asserted claims for breach of contract, gross negligence, real estate fraud, and deceptive trade practices. The homeowners alleged that, when they purchased their homes, KB Home failed to disclose that the land on which their subdivision was built had been used during World War II as a naval practice bombing range. After an eight-week arbitration in 2006 and 2007 on the claims of 24 bellwether properties, the arbitrator only awarded about 20% of what the bellwether homeowners sought in damages. Many bellwether homeowners were awarded nothing.
• Allapattah Services, et al. v. Exxon (S.D. Fla.) — With Steve Susman and Jim Southwick, Suyash successfully represented a small Florida law firm through a full bench trial in federal court in Miami. The dispute arose over the competing rights of several law firms to one of the largest attorney's fee ever awarded in a class action. In 2006, the court awarded more than $50 million to the three-partner law firm that originally filed the case.
• Enterprise NGL Pipelines, LLC, et al. v. Standard Gas Co. & Sunoco Pipeline L.P. (Harris County, Texas) — In 2005, with Tom Paterson and Harry Susman, Suyash represented Enterprise NGL Pipelines LLC and Enterprise Products Operating LP on claims that they were entitled to buy two blocks of stock worth more than $70 million in the Dixie Pipeline Company. After expedited discovery and a three-party bench trial on the merits, the court ruled in Enterprise's favor on all issues.

Suyash is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New York, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, all of the state and federal courts in the State of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Suyash's professional affiliations include membership in the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Foundation, the Houston Bar Association, and the American Constitution Society for Law & Policy.

• Animal Science Products, Inc., et al. v. Hebei Welcome Co., Ltd., et al. (E.D.N.Y.) — With Jim Southwick, Suyash serves as co-lead counsel for a class of direct purchasers of vitamin C in the first-ever federal price-fixing case against industrial defendants from the People's Republic of China. The case raises important, novel issues concerning the role of the Chinese central and provincial governments in the pricing and output decisions of Chinese manufacturers.
• Gardiner v. Bank of America, et al. (S.D.N.Y.) — With Geoff Harrison, Suyash represents several dozen victims of a fraud and money laundering scheme perpetrated by an offshore Antiguan bank. The complaint alleges that Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of America participated in and aided and abetted the Antiguan bank's fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, and also engaged in commercial bad faith conduct.
• Madoff Litigation — Suyash is currently representing various investors who lost substantial investments in Bernard Madoff's notorious ponzi scheme. Suyash's clients had invested in funds that they thought were run by J. Ezra Merkin, a well-known money manager in New York City. It turns out that the investments were actually placed with Madoff, a fact that was not disclosed Merkin's investors.
• In re Truvo USA LLC, et al. (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) — Suyash is representing the Coordinating Committee of Senior Lenders as conflicts counsel in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of certain affiliates of the Truvo Group, a directories and advertising company based in Europe.
• The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Old CarCo LLC (f/k/a Chrysler LLC) v. Daimler AG, et al. (Bankr. S.D.N.Y.) — With Steve Susman, Suyash represents the unsecured creditors of the former Chrysler in a multi-billion dollar fraudulent transfer action against Daimler, AG and certain of its affiliates in bankruptcy court in New York. The complaint alleges that Daimler orchestrated a complex restructuring of its then-subsidiary Chrysler to maximize Daimler's return when it sold Chrysler's operations to a large private equity firm. According to the complaint, assets were stripped away from the Chrysler entities, leaving them empty handed to the detriment of Chrysler's creditors.
• Almonte, et al. v. Securities America, Inc., et al. (Houston, Texas) (Arbitration) — Suyash is currently representing a group of investors who lost nearly all of their investments in promissory notes issued by Medical Capital, which turned out to be a massive ponzi scheme. The investors — many of whom have lost most of their life savings — have commenced FINRA arbitration proceedings against Securities America, one of the largest broker-dealers in the country, which recommended and sold them the Medical Capital notes. Suyash's clients allege that Securities America and its affiliates failed to disclose material risks associated with the Medical Capital notes and therefore violated state and federal securities laws and regulations.
• T3 Energy Services v. Ardmore (Harris County, Texas) — With Tom Paterson, Suyash has been representing T3 Energy Services in a significant commercial property dispute pending in Houston, Texas against T3's former landlord and its subtenant. T3 prevailed in the trial court on summary judgment against both adverse parties. The matter is currently on appeal to the Houston First Court of Appeals.