Overview
For over twenty-five years, Trey Peacock has won cases based on science and data, successfully representing companies and individuals in complex business disputes. He has been lead or principal trial counsel for plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts in twenty states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, and Washington.
Clients seek out Trey for his unique comfort level with highly technical, data-driven matters, including damages assessment. His successes span technical areas as varied as offshore rig construction (in an international arbitration); convoluted title histories for thousands of oil and gas leases (in an energy lawsuit in state court); the underpinnings of random number generation (in a series of patent cases); the sciences of toxicology, epidemiology, and environmental exposure (in state and federal toxic tort matters); and the use of environmental air modeling (in a variety of cases, including a plaintiffs’ class action for environmental property damage). Whether a favorable result depends upon the proper calculation of damages, or the application of advanced scientific theories, Trey is a quick study and an effective advocate.
Trey has been recognized repeatedly as a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and a Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer by Lawdragon. Since 2022, Trey has been recognized on Lawdragon’s inaugural list of “500 Leading Litigators in America.” In 2020 he was named a Winning Litigator by the National Law Journal and a Texas Trailblazer by Texas Lawyer (ALM).
A native of Beaumont, Texas, Trey graduated with Honors from Princeton University and from University of Texas School of Law, where he was Managing Editor of the Texas Law Review, Order of the Coif, and a Chancellor. After law school, Trey clerked for the Honorable Joseph T. Sneed on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California.
Trey currently serves on the board of the Freedom Project Network. He previously served on the Alley Theatre’s Board of Directors for over a decade. For ten years, Trey was Team Captain for the Susman Godfrey’s BP MS150 cycling team; under his leadership, the team raised over $1 million to fight multiple sclerosis. In his spare time, Trey is an avid fly fisherman, snow boarder, and triathlete.
Notable Representations
- IDEXX Laboratories Inc. v. the Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (Fourteenth Court of Appeals of the State of Texas; Sup. Ct.. Tex.) Recovered a full judgment of almost $80M on behalf of The University of Texas against IDEXX, a Maine based publicly traded veterinary products company, for breach of an exclusive patent license agreement involving testing for Lyme disease. After several years of litigation, Trey’s team prevailed on two motions for summary judgment and obtained a final judgment of roughly $50M from the state district court without a trial in fall 2020. IDEXX appealed that judgment. The team then successfully navigated a series of appeals through the 14th District Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court that ultimately upheld the entirety of the district court’s judgment in the amount of $79.3M at the time IDEXX tendered full payment.
- Netgear v. Huawei (C.D. Cal.) Served as lead counsel in defending Huawei from antitrust and RICO claims by Netgear. After argument on Huawei’s motion to dismiss Netgear’s complaint, the case settled with Netgear taking a license to Huawei’s standard essential patents in January 2025. Read more.
- WSOU V. Microsoft (W.D. Tex.) Tapped to oversee trial preparation and issuance of expert reports in patenting infringement case brought by client, WSOU Investments, against Microsoft. The case had been divided into three different pools of specific patents with pretrial deadlines and trial settings for each of the pools spanning a six-month timeframe. Trey took several infringement depositions of Microsoft personnel, eliciting testimony critical to the outcome of the case, and oversaw the trial team’s work to get infringement, validity, and damages experts reports issued. Trey’s team successfully resolved the case in WSOU’s favor with a confidential settlement.
- Diamondback Industries v. Repeat Precision (W.D. Tex.). Secured a nearly $40 million judgment for Repeat Precision LLC, the defendant, in an intellectual property case brought by Diamondback Industries, Inc. Trey presented and cross examined each expert witness during the three-day bench trial, after which U.S. District Court Judge Alan Albright dismissed with prejudice all of Diamondback’s causes of action. Repeat Precision was awarded $39,946,902 in actual, enhanced, and punitive damages (not including attorney’s fees and costs) for its counterclaims. Texas Lawyer and Law.com covered the trial win in an article titled “Get to Know the Story Behind Houston Lawyer’s $40 Million Defense Verdict.” (subscription required). Repeat Precision later settled this case in late 2020 for more than $25M in cash payments and also received other business considerations.
- Litigation on Behalf of Walmart. Obtained two settlement awards totaling more than $16 million for six Walmart stores on the Gulf Coast in the Deepwater Horizon Settlement program. BP opposed our efforts at every stage. The Fifth Circuit affirmed both of Walmart’s awards here and here. The client commented: “The choice of Trey Peacock to staff this matter was inspired. He did an outstanding job.”
- Former Employee v. Mostyn Law Firm private arbitration. As lead counsel for the Mostyn Law Firm, Trey successfully defeated a breach of contract claim for up to $40 million, brought by a lawyer seeking bonus and compensation in connection with the transvaginal mesh multidistrict litigation. Trey prevailed on summary judgment as to Plaintiff’s principal claims, obtained a final arbitral award dismissing all of Plaintiff’s claims, and Plaintiff recovered . . . nothing.
- Quantum World Corp. Patent Litigation (E.D. Tex., W.D. Tex) As lead trial counsel for Quantum World Corporation, Trey successfully litigated and settled a series of patent infringement cases against computer and chip manufacturers in which Quantum World alleged infringement of its patents for true random number generators. These cases resulted in several, very favorable confidential settlements for Quantum .
- FMC International v. ABB Lummus Global et al (S.D. Tex.) As lead counsel, successfully defended ABB Lummus Global, Inc. and its joint venture with Heerema Zwindrecht, which built and delivered a $700 million offshore exploration and development platform, in a multi-million-dollar construction dispute with one of the project’s subcontractors. Susman Godfrey fully prevailed for its client in arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules.
- Drayton v. Western Auto (M.D. Florida, 11th Circ.). Obtained class certification for a class of Black employees of Western Auto Supply Co. (now owned by Advance Stores Company, Inc.) who were suing the former auto parts retailer for racial discrimination. The defendants immediately appealed the certification decision to the 11th Circuit. The Court affirmed the class certification decision—the first such class action decision the 11th Circuit had upheld in decades. The case settled with the defendants making a substantial payment to the class.
- National Guardsmen v. KBR. Represented KBR in its defense, trial, and appeal of a series of lawsuits brought by former national guardsmen regarding their alleged exposure to sodium dichromate during their service in the Iraq War. Trey led the scientific side of the case, ultimately winning dismissal in federal district court largely based on scientific evidence he elicited during depositions of Plaintiffs’ expert. The Court relied upon that evidence to conclude that Plaintiffs’ claims lacked the required level of scientific causation.
- King Ranch Litigation. Successfully represented the largest individual shareholder in the historic King Ranch in a dispute over the value of his interest in the Ranch and its business operations.
Honors & Distinctions
Honors and Awards
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigator (2022, 2023, 2024)
- Named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 Euromoney)
- Named a Texas Trailblazer by Texas Lawyer (2020, ALM)
- Named a Winning Litigator by National Law Journal (2020, ALM)
- Top 100 Lawyer in Houston, Super Lawyers (2022, Thomson Reuters)
- Texas Super Lawyer (2009-Present, Thomson Reuters)
- Ranked in The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation in Houston (Woodward White Inc., 2014 – 2025)
Clerkships
- Honorable Joseph T. Sneed, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1990-1991
Education
Education
- The University of Texas School of Law (J.D., with Honors)
- Order of the Coif, Managing Editor of Texas Law Review, Chancellors
- Princeton University (B.A., American History, with Honors)
Publications
- Essential Digital Privacy Practices For Legal Professionals (2025)
- What's In My Backpack (2024)
- Best New Features In iOS17.1.1 (2023)
- iPhone Privacy – Best Practices & Security Tips (2023)
- What’s In My Backpack (A Guide To On-the-Go Tech) (2022)
- Best Privacy Practices In 2022 (2022)
- iOS 15 Tips 2.0 (2021)
- Looking to September iOS 15 Tips (2021)
- Everyone Needs a VPN: Which One and Why? (2021)
- Scanner Pro – Why I Switched (2021)
- 2 Easy Ways To Set Yourself Up For Success in 2021 (2021)
- Passwords and Security: An Ethical and Technical Guide for Lawyers, The Houston Lawyer, (2020)
- Why PDF Expert is the Best Mobile File Editor for You (2020)
- Multi-factor Authentication (2020)
- PDF Scanning Apps (2020)
- Cash Sending Apps (2020)
- Legal Tech: Zoom Conferencing Security (2020)
- Dashlane Password Manager – Part One (2020)
- Dashlane Password Manager – Part Two (2020)
- Legal Tech: Passwords and Security (2020)
- “Tips for Meeting Your Mobile Device Ethical Obligations” (The Texas Lawyer, 2016)
- “The Best App for any Lawyer with an iPad” (2016)
- “How to Increase Your iPhone Security in 6 Simple Steps” (2016)
Leadership & Professional Memberships
Associations
- Director and Treasurer, Sunflower County Freedom Project
- Alley Theatre: Board of Directors (2005-2017), Executive Committee, Special Events Committee, previous Chair of the Alley Theatre Ball
- Houston Bar Association Antitrust Section: Former Section Chair
- MS150 Susman Godfrey Team Captain (2008-2015) raising over $1 Million to Fight Multiple Sclerosis
- MS150 Bike Rider (2006-present)