- Rice University (B.A. 1987)
- Columbia University School of Law (J.D. 1990)
Law Clerk to The Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Vineet Bhatia is a seasoned, first-chair commercial trial lawyer with nearly 30 years of experience handling a wide variety of complicated, high-stakes disputes for plaintiffs and defendants. He has tried more than 25 cases to verdict or arbitration decision and has led dozens more that have resolved successfully for his clients before trial commenced.
“His ability to absorb information is scary; his ability to weave together information is unbelievable. His ability to digest that stuff is fantastic and he has a keen legal mind. He is a brilliant strategist.”
As quoted from Chambers 2018 USA Guide – Antitrust: Mainly Plaintiff
Mr. Bhatia’s renowned trial experience in bet-the-company cases has repeatedly led clients to call him to take over cases shortly before trial. In those situations, clients need a lawyer with a proven track record of consistent trial wins to represent them in their high-stakes litigation. A quick learner, Mr. Bhatia is adept at breaking down complex factual and legal disputes succinctly and convincingly to judges and juries. This skill is invaluable when he comes into a case shortly before trial.
“Vineet has a knack for putting together a great story but without sacrificing an in-depth knowledge of the details of a case, no matter how complex it may be.”
As quoted from Chambers 2016 USA Guide, State Regulatory & Litigation (Oil & Gas)
Mr. Bhatia has been hired to try lawsuits for numerous Fortune 500 companies, including ACE Limited, Genworth Financial, Great Plains Energy, KBR, LyondellBasell, Philip Morris, Walmart, and Westar Energy. He has also been hired by private equity firms and their portfolio companies, including Apollo and its portfolio company, Hexion Specialty Chemicals. Likewise, Bhatia has faced off against industry giants such as Bank of America, Tyco Healthcare Group, Genzyme Corporation, Wells Fargo, and Venezuela national oil company, PDVSA – and won.
In addition to representing corporate clients, Mr. Bhatia often represents individuals either in mass actions or class actions and smaller companies in their disputes with larger corporate defendants.
Mr. Bhatia’s practice has spanned the country. He has handled lawsuits or arbitrations in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. His cases have involved antitrust, breach of contract, fraud, theft of trade secrets, patent infringement, insurance coverage, environmental contamination, product liability litigation, the federal false claims act, and many other types of cases. Mr. Bhatia has also handled numerous arbitrations arising out of corporate transactions, including disputes related to purchase price adjustments, contingent compensation, and tax sharing agreements. He has also handled arbitrations in London in multiple insurance coverage disputes.
Mr. Bhatia graduated from the Columbia Law School in 1990, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and a Notes and Comments Editor on the Columbia Law Review. He started his career at Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz in New York City in 1991 and joined Susman Godfrey in 1996. He became a partner at Susman Godfrey a year later in 1997 and has served frequently on the firm’s Executive Committee.
Mr. Bhatia has proved repeatedly that he is the lawyer to call when one is looking to secure a significant award from a legal dispute. A few of his high-stakes plaintiff-side litigation victories include:
In addition to winning money for plaintiffs, Mr. Bhatia successfully has defended clients facing multi-million and multi-billion dollar claims. Here are a few examples:
Checking references before you hire someone always makes sense. Mr. Bhatia invites you to ask clients, co-counsel and opposing counsel about his skills as a trial lawyer. If you need phone numbers for any of these individuals, they will be provided upon request.
Clients:
Co-Counsel:
Opposing Counsel:
Mr. Bhatia cross-examining two key Huntsman witnesses, in connection with Apollo and Hexion’s multi-billion dispute with Huntsman.