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Shawn L. Raymond

Partner

(713) 653-7817
Houston, TX

My Perspective

“Whenever we have potential litigation issues, the first and only person I call is Shawn. I trust Shawn and his  judgment, and as a client confidently rely on him.”
– Tripp Wommack, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sagebrush Oil & Gas

“If you want a brilliant, world-class trial team led by the best, hire Shawn.”
– Jessica Cicali, General Counsel, Cardone Industries

I focus on all types of heavyweight litigation for plaintiffs and defendants and have secured $450 million in settlements in a False Claims Act case, obtained the voluntary dismissal of a $300 million fraud case, and won multiple $30+ million trial and arbitration awards. I bring a can-do attitude and a work ethic that never quits. My clients describe me as “a passionate advocate,” “a skilled tactician,” and “meticulous” in my preparation.

I’ve been fortunate enough to catch the attention of others.

  • Lawdragon, Inc. included me on its 2023 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers of America list, its 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, and its 2022 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers list. These recognitions come on the heels of Lawdragon, Inc. featuring me in a December 2018 article titled “Lawyer Limelight: Shawn Raymond,” and in December of 2017 as part of its article titled “Don’t Mess with Texas: How Susman Godfrey Became America’s Leading Trial Firm.”
  • In 2022, Chambers USA ranked me for a second consecutive year for Commercial Litigation in Houston. Its profiles included these quotes: “He’s a great trial lawyer” and “He’s very smart and a good team player.”
  • For 2023, The Best Lawyers in America® (Woodward White, Inc.) named me “Lawyer of the Year” for Bet-the-Company Litigation in Houston.  I’ve been included in The Best Lawyers in America® every year since 2012, and I’ve been named “Lawyer of the Year” for Litigation – Antitrust in Houston for 2015, 2018, and 2023.
  • In 2022, I was selected to the Texas Super Lawyers list for the ninth consecutive year. That follows eight consecutive years of recognition by Texas Monthly as a “Texas Rising Star,” including a 2008 cover story titled “How One Man Is Changing the U.S.’  Super Lawyers and Rising Stars are published by Law & Politics Magazine (Thomson Reuters). H-Texas Magazine had named me a “Top Professional on the Fast Track” five years running  (2004-08).
  • I have been ranked as one of the top 100 Lawyers in the Houston Region on the 2020 Texas Super Lawyers list, which is published by Law & Politics Magazine (Thomson Reuters). This was the third time I’ve been included on this annual list.
  • I was awarded the Outstanding Antitrust Litigation Achievement in Private Practice at the American Antitrust Institute’s 2018 Antitrust Enforcement Awards.
  • Since 2014, I have been featured in either Benchmark Plaintiffs: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Plaintiff Firms and Attorneys or in Benchmark Litigation as a Future Star in the areas of general litigation and class action.
  • In 2013, I was elected as President of the Federal Bar Association’s Southern District of Texas Chapter, which serves federal practitioners and the federal judiciary in all seven divisions of the Southern District of Texas.
  • In 2011, The Houston Business Journal named me to its “40 Under 40” list for being among Houston’s next 40 leaders who excel in their industry, are respected business leaders, and show dynamic leadership in their community.
  • In 2010, The Texas Young Lawyers Association presented me with the “I Am a Lawyer” Award in connection with a public service television campaign in which I was one of six featured attorneys.
  • The year before that, I received the 2009 Woodrow B. Seals Outstanding Young Lawyer Award. Named in honor of a well-known federal judge, this award is given annually to one Houston attorney under the age of 38 who best represents professional excellence and service to clients, the community and the Bar.

I also am humbled that recognition has come from outside the courthouse:

The Mayor of Houston proclaimed a “Shawn Raymond Day” in recognition of my decade-long service to the Houston Area Women’s Center’s mission of helping individuals affected by domestic and sexual violence. Here’s a video clip of the presentation and my remarks, which were kept especially brief once I realized my four young sons had figured out they could see themselves being broadcast live on the television screen located in city council chambers.

The Houston Astros honored me with the title “Hometown Hero” and a ceremonial first pitch. Given to one Houston-area citizen each month during the Major League Baseball season, this award recognizes those who have “gone over and beyond and performed extraordinary acts within their communities.”  And about that ceremonial first pitch? An iffy strike.

The University of Texas School of Law named me the 2019 Distinguished Alumnus for Community Service. Here’s the UT video that played prior to the presentation of the award.

Values

“Shawn exhibits all the traits you would expect from a partner in one of the nation’s leading litigation boutique firms — zealous advocate, strategic thinker, charismatic and quick on his feet.”
– Douglas L. Lawing, Former Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Copano Energy

“Shawn is the rare combination of strategic, pragmatic, technically strong and personable… Simply said, Shawn is what good looks like.”
– Monica Karuturi, General Counsel, CenterPoint Energy

We do not often talk about our values — those things that guide our lives. Let me share a few of mine.

When I was growing up, my Dad used to say to me, “There are two kinds of people in the world — problem finders and problem solvers. Which kind of person are you going to be?” He taught me never to identify a problem without finding a solution. I think about that when I am deciding whether to take on a new case. Can I solve the problem presented? I take only those cases to which the answer is a solid “yes.”

I got my passion for the law from my Dad, too. When I was in high school, he went bust because he did not have legal counsel. I vowed to become the best advocate I could be for those around me.  When I do that today — whether it is in the skyscrapers of New York or Houston or in a classroom in Sunflower County, Mississippi — I bring to the fray cutting-edge knowledge and a passion for righting wrongs.  That is what makes me feel good, and that is why I get results.

Work Ethic

“I have never seen anyone work as hard as Mr. Raymond did on our behalf … His involvement and credibility were both cited by the jury as one of the most effective and positive aspects of our case.”
– Alfred J. Brothers, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Cavalry Investments, LLC

“Shawn is a particularly special kind of lawyer who aggressively manages complex cases while providing business savvy that creates a strong partnership-like relationship with his clients.”
– R. Bruce Northcutt, Former CEO, Navitas Midstream Partners and Copano Energy

I’d like to think that my successes in and out of the courtroom are a product of my unyielding commitment to working hard. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and grew up in Golden, Colorado. I attended The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and graduated magna cum laude from GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs. During my senior year, I was elected Phi Beta Kappa and received the Wilbur J. Carr Prize in International Affairs.

Fresh out of GW, I joined the Teach for America program, which placed me in Sunflower County, Mississippi — perhaps best known for Fannie Lou Hamer and B.B. King — where I taught high school special education and social studies and coached the varsity football team to the state playoffs. Later, during law school, I co-founded the Sunflower County Freedom Project, which offers educational and leadership enrichment opportunities to teenagers living in the Mississippi Delta. It was my way of leaving a small legacy to the community that had taught me so much.

After finishing my two-year teaching commitment, I enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law. I was fortunate to be judged a champion of the Thad T. Hutcheson First-Year Moot Court Competition, and in my second year of law school my partner and I won the Gibbs & Bruns Moot Court Competition. In the meantime, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded me a Child Welfare  Fellowship, and I spent a summer working at the Mississippi Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Division. 

Back at UT, I became Managing Editor of the Texas Law Review. After graduating from law school with honors, I journeyed to Galveston, Texas, where I clerked for a United States District Judge. Following my clerkship, I joined Susman Godfrey in 2000 and was elected partner a short four years later.

Wins

“I turn to Shawn and Susman Godfrey because they actually take cases to trial — and win. In my experience, when faced with having to try a case against Susman Godfrey, opposing counsel quickly find a more reasonable position in an effort to avoid trial.” 
– Johnathan Short, Former General Counsel, IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.

“I’ve never witnessed anything like the woodshedding Shawn performed on that CEO on the stand. I honestly thought the man needed a blood transfusion once Shawn finished with him. It was a cross-examination for the ages.”
– Gary Martin, Founder and President, R.J. Machine, Inc.

View His Track Record

What Others Say

Shawn Raymond is “that rare attorney who is as noted for his goodness as for his courtroom prowess.”
– Lawdragon, Inc

Read what folks who have seen me in action have to say.

What Other People Say

Education

The George Washington University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1994)
The University of Texas School of Law (J.D., with honors, 1999)

Judicial Clerkship

United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division

Articles and Speeches

Where Are the Reasonable Efforts to Enforce the Reasonable Efforts Requirement?: Monitoring State Compliance Under the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, The Texas Law Review, Volume 77, April 1999.

Tackling E-Discovery on a Budget, The Advocate, State Bar Litigation Section Report, Volume 51, Summer 2010.  Click here to read the article.

Public Service

“I think we do well to remember that there is nothing inevitable about the creation of the Sunflower County Freedom Project or the U.S. Public Service Academy.  Those exist because Shawn was — and continues to be — determined to make them be.”
– William Powers, Jr., Former President, The University of Texas at Austin