- University of Texas, 1985
- Harvard Law School, 1988
Max Tribble, serving as lead counsel, secured a jury verdict of $706.2 million for client, HouseCanary in a misappropriation of trade secret and breach of contract case related to HouseCanary’s innovative technology for valuation, appraisal and real estate analytics. At the conclusion of the seven week trial, a 12-person jury found unanimously in favor of HouseCanary, awarding HouseCanary $706.2 million against Title Source, an affiliate of Quicken Loans, on counterclaims in this high-stakes legal battle. The award was finalized in October 2018 and in 2019, a judge confirmed the jury award in full and allowed a judgment of more than $740 million (including prejudgment interest and attorney fees) to stand. This landmark win has been featured as a top story of the week by Texas Lawyer and covered by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Dallas News and Law360. It was also featured on Law360’s “How They Won It” series and was highlighted in Susman Godfrey’s recent “Intellectual Property Practice Group of the Year” recognition by Law360. Lawdragon profiled the win in their feature story, “Revenge of the Hatchlings: How Susman Godfrey Won Almost a Billion Dollars for HouseCanary” and National Law Journal named Tribble a Winning Litigator (ALM) for this win. The verdict also appeared at number one on Texas Lawyer’s 2019 Intellectual Property Hall of Fame. Tribble was also recently featured on Great Trials Podcast: Conversations with America’s Leading Trial Lawyers along with co-lead counsel, discussing the three-month jury trial. Read more about the case here.
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Max Tribble, a permanent member of Susman Godfrey’s Executive Committee, is well-recognized as one of the premier trial lawyers in America. He has obtained momentous victories for plaintiffs and defendants in a diverse range of commercial lawsuits. He has handled over a hundred cases in various fields, including:
| Misappropriation of Trade Secrets | Trusts & Estate Law |
| Patent Infringement | Insurance Law |
| Breach of Contract | Bankruptcy |
| Fraud | Shareholder Rights |
| Antitrust | Product Defect |
| Unfair Competition | Negligence |
| Breach of Fiduciary Duty | Tax Law |
Tribble is widely recognized in his field.
“Max Tribble comes recommended for his highly successful litigation practice. He regularly represents clients in trade secrets and patent disputes, with notable expertise in the oil and gas and technology sectors. Sources describe him as “a terrific lawyer who handles very sophisticated matters” and highlight his “good intuition.”
– As quoted in Chambers USA 2020 Rankings
“[Max Tribble] a true delight, very creative, and just a great lawyer.” He has a strong litigation practice, with broad experience covering disputes over patents, trade secrets and licensing issues.
– As quoted in Chambers USA 2019 rankings
“[Max Tribble’s] level of intelligence and strategic nous really sets him apart. Though formidable for opponents, he partners well and makes great use of the expert advice available to him”
– As quoted in the 2017 IAM Patent 1000 Leading Patent Professionals in Texas
“Max Tribble has an enviable record securing favorable results for plaintiffs in patent disputes, usually with an electrical engineering and software bent. Sources remark, with knowing understatement, that he “knows his way around a courtroom.”
– As quoted in the 2015 Chambers USA rankings
Note: The testimonials above and the prior case outcomes below do notconstitute a guarantee, warranty or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.
Tribble has taken on industry giants such as Apple, Samsung, American Express, Oppenheimer, Comcast, Lehman Brothers, Google, Microsoft, Intel, Wyeth Labs, IBM, AMD, Oracle, and TSMC.
For example, Tribble represented his client MicroUnity in a hard-fought patent infringement action against Intel and forced Intel to pay his client $300 million to license the MicroUnity patents. In follow-up cases, Tribble represented MicroUnity in cases against Apple, Samsung, AMD, and Texas Instruments—each of which also paid to license the MicroUnity patents.
Tribble represented Barcelona-based Fractus, S.A., against the entire cell phone industry to enforce Fractus’ antenna patents. While the rest of the industry paid to license the patents before trial, defendant Samsung did not. At trial, Tribble handled opening arguments, the key witnesses, and closing arguments. The jury awarded Fractus $38 million. The case settled during appeal. Tribble is now representing Fractus in a similar lawsuit against mobile phone technology company, ZTE. To date, Tribble has recovered over $100 million in settlements and licenses for Fractus.
Tribble also represented Two-Way Media at trial against AT&T in a case relating to video streaming. The jury awarded $40 million with interest. The final judgment was affirmed by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and was later settled.
In the Northern District of California, Tribble was lead trial attorney representing UniRam Corporation against chip giant Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) for theft of trade secrets relating to embedded DRAM chips. The jury returned a verdict of over $30 million, and the case settled during
Tribble is currently lead counsel for Preston Marshall in the largest will and trust dispute in the world. Tribble represents Preston in 16 cases relating to disputes over the J. Howard Marshall estate that was previously litigated by Anna Nicole Smith and related Marshall family businesses. So far, Tribble has obtained three temporary restraining orders and two temporary injunctions freezing a huge amount of assets and restraining depletion of assets from over a half dozen family trusts pending trial.
Tribble is named on Lawdragons’s List of the Top 500 Attorneys in America. Benchmark Litigation has named Tribble a ‘Local Litigation Star’ in both General Commercial Litigation and Intellectual Property and he has been honored in Best Lawyers for both Intellectual Property and Patent litigation. Tribble has been named a Super Lawyer by Texas Super Lawyer in every year since 2005.
State Bar of Texas, 2009
Nancy Atlas IP Inn of Court
For the last 15 years, Tribble has specialized in patent lawsuits while also handling other types of complex commercial litigation as well. Tribble has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad spectrum of intellectual property cases involving a diverse range of technologies, including: