Rocco Magni

Mr. Magni is an accomplished trial lawyer with judgment and skills well beyond his years. He has already achieved significant trial victories—over more than 130 days of trial time—with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in each.  Most recently, Mr. Magni helped secure a record $706.2 million verdict after a seven-week jury trial.  Mr. Magni has also taken and defended depositions across the United States and abroad and argued hearings—including on dispositive motions—in state courts, federal courts, and in arbitration.

Mr. Magni achieves significant results by combining this experience with his creative thinking and ability to make even the most complex concepts easily understood by his audience.

The legal profession has recognized Mr. Magni’s impact in the courtroom. In 2023, Texas Lawyer named Mr. Magni a Rising Star (ALM). He was recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Law, and Litigation-Intellectual Property (2021-2024). In 2019, Mr. Magni was named a Rising Star in the Trials category by Law360, an honor bestowed upon only five lawyers in the country. And both the Texas Bar Foundation and American Bar Foundation have named Mr. Magni a Fellow, an honor reserved for the top 1/3rd of 1 percent of Lawyers in Texas and top 1 percent of lawyers in the nation, respectively.  Prior to joining Susman Godfrey, Mr. Magni was ranked fourth in his class at the University of Texas School of Law and clerked for former Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Honorable Edith H. Jones.

Below are a few of Mr. Magni’s notable matters:

Patents

• Kerr Machine Co. v. Vulcan Industrial Manufacturing
  • Represented Kerr in multiple patent infringement suits against Vulcan related to hydraulic fracturing equipment.
  • Successfully opposed multiple stay motions based on Vulcan’s PGR petition before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
  • Successfully briefed and argued multiple motions to compel discovery.
  • Successfully briefed and argued claim construction terms, including persuading the Court to abandon a preliminary term construction in favor of Kerr’s construction.
  • Took and defended every deposition, including Vulcan technical and financial employees.
• Sol IP v. AT&T, Sprint, & Verizon
  • Represented Sol IP in an action asserting key LTE and WIFI patents against the major telecommunications carriers Sprint, AT&T and Verizon, and base station manufacturers Ericsson and Nokia.
  • Took over twenty-five of the case’s most critical depositions around the world, including the depositions of Defendants and Intervenors’ damages expert and many of their technical employees. The case was successfully resolved against all defendants the month before trial.
• Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Netflix, Inc.
  • Represented PMC in an action asserting multiple patents related to multimedia signal processing techniques for the control of video displays and the coordination of video content.
  • Successfully briefed the opposition to Netflix’s patent eligibility challenge pursuant to 35 U.S. Code § 101, with the Court ruling on the papers that all asserted patents were eligible.

Trade Secrets

• Title Source, Inc. v. HouseCanary, Inc.
  • Represented real estate analytics start-up company HouseCanary, Inc. in a misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud and breach of contract case.
  • Conducted examination of the first witness—and one of only two fact witnesses—in HouseCanary’s case-in-chief, which included a redirect examination following a cross-examination by opposing counsel’s most senior lawyer.
  • After a seven-week trial, the jury awarded $706.2 million, including $403.2 million in punitive damages.
  • You can read more about the historic victory here.
• Alamo Botanicals v. Rodkey
  • Represented Alamo Botanicals in a multi-million-dollar cannabidiol (CBD) oil trade secret misappropriation case against its former partner and current competitor. The case had national significance as it marked the first misappropriation suit involving CBD product formulas, which have only recently been legalized.
  • Hired to replace prior counsel in order to get the case back on track. Strategically and swiftly identified numerous defendants and causes of action omitted in the initial complaint and filed a second complaint based on new and retooled legal theories. Between the new claims and the active approach to discovery, dramatically increased the Defendants’ exposure and completely changed the dynamic of the case.
  • Obtained a successful multi-party settlement in mediation.
• Black Knight, Inc. v. PennyMac Loan Services, LLC
  • Currently representing Black Knight in its trade secret misappropriation case before the American Arbitration Association
• Pascal Metrics v. Health Catalyst
  • Currently representing Pascal Metrics in its trade secret misappropriation suit before the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Commercial Disputes

• Alattar and Luxeyard Inc. v. Kevan Casey, et al.
  • Defended two private investors in civil securities fraud lawsuit brought by company.
  • Successfully briefed a motion to strike the Plaintiff’s $140 million damages model, which the Court granted on the eve of trial.
  • Second-chaired four-week bench trial, conducting multiple direct and cross examinations of witnesses—including named plaintiff—and giving closing argument on breach of contract counterclaim.
  • What started with $140 million in potential liability ended with the Court ultimately releasing one investor from all liability and limiting the Plaintiff’s recovery from the second investor to the profits from the transactions at issue.
  • The Court also awarded the two private investors a portion of the damages sought in their counterclaim.
• Virage Capital Management v. Litcap
  • Represented Virage in what initially began as defense-side case in Texas state court.
  • Virage faced a variety of claims asserted by former partners based on their allegations of contract breaches, misrepresentations and supposed unethical conduct.  We aggressively brought the fight to the plaintiffs by initiating arbitration, forcing the state claims into arbitration, abating plaintiffs’ state court case, filing our own multi-million dollar claims in arbitration, securing a rapid hearing schedule, compelling production of withheld documents, and moving for summary judgment.
  • Successfully obtained a confidential settlement and a signed court order reciting that the plaintiffs “withdrew and did not present evidence to support allegations about [our client’s] alleged ‘unethical behavior.’”
• Bayou Corne Sinkhole Litigation
  • Defended Texas Brine Company—operator of a brine well at issue—in multiple lawsuits stemming from a sinkhole formation in Bayou Corne, Louisiana.
  • Cross examined third-party witness during a four-week bench trial.  Prepared multiple expert and fact witnesses for trial testimony.
  • The court determined other parties should bear the majority of the responsibility for the formation of the sinkhole.
• Downer v. Leichtenberg
  • Represented real estate investor in breach of contract dispute with developer involving properties in multiple cities.  Successfully reached settlement after one deposition.
• Confidential Accounting Malpractice Dispute
  • Represented client of Big-Four accounting firm in dispute over grossly negligent actuarial advice.  Successfully reached settlement pre-suit.
• Confidential Fashion Law Dispute
  • Represented Haute Couture designer in breach of contract dispute with national retailer.  Reached settlement pre-suit.
• Phillip T. Howard v. J.B. Harris
  • Currently representing intervenor Virage Capital Management in breach of contract case involving loan collateral of substantial value.
  • Obtained a rare anti-suit injunction following a multi-hour evidentiary hearing in order to prevent defendants from opening a new
• Sealed False Claims Act Matter
  • Currently representing relator in sealed matter before the United Stated District Court for the Central District of California.

Honors & Distinctions

Clerkships

Education

Admissions

Leadership & Professional Memberships