Sy Polky

Sy Polky is widely recognized as one of the best litigators of his generation. Sy’s dedication to his clients and brilliant legal strategy have put his career on a rapid ascent and swiftly brought him to the forefront of some of the most complex and significant litigation in the country. In 2024, Lawdragon selected Sy as one of the 500 Leading Litigators in America, while Sy was still in his first decade of practice. In 2025, National Law Journal named Sy one of the Rising Stars of the National Plaintiffs Bar. Texas Super Lawyers has called Sy a “Rising Star” and Lawdragon has on multiple occasions named Sy one of the “Next Generation of Leading Lawyers” in their 500X series.

LITIGATION WINS

Sy handles a wide variety of cases, with the common thread being that the cases involve highly complex litigation, often with numerous cases and parties.

Sy led the Susman Godfrey team that obtained a $266 million jury verdict for the City of Baltimore against opioid distributors, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation, following a months’ long jury trial in Baltimore. This was the only successful verdict any plaintiff obtained against these two defendants. Sy’s work on the case also resulted in over $425 million in settlements for the City of Baltimore with other opioid distributors and manufacturers, making Baltimore the most successful municipal opioid plaintiff in the country, and bringing it recoveries that far surpassed what would have been available to Baltimore under the global settlements that most jurisdictions entered with the opioid manufacturers and distributors. Read more about this work in Bloomberg Law, USA Today,  and Law.com.

Sy possesses a deep understanding of, and has significant experience in, complex fiduciary litigation, focusing on large trusts and estates. For much of the past decade, Sy has run the Marshall Probate Litigation, which has involved sprawling litigation across Texas and Louisiana. Sy has guided the team to two successful jury verdicts, including a 2025 jury verdict in a Louisiana case where Sy’s client defeated a nine-figure claim, and a 2022 verdict that awarded Sy’s client millions of dollars in damages and attorney’s fees, following a summary judgment victory on all the client’s claims, based on Sy’s briefing.

Sy has also helped clients navigate nine and ten-figure probate disputes, which have often remained private and outside of litigation. At the conclusion of one of these matters, Sy’s client described his work with Sy as the “highest caliber and professional experience. We were amazed by [his] brilliance, communication, counsel and strategy.” While it is often best to resolve probate disputes before litigation, Sy’s view is that having a leading litigator with a proven record of success in the field is often critical to obtaining the desired result.

Additionally, Sy leads complex business and energy litigation. In In re Arena Energy, LP, Sy fended off an effort by a company to challenge the bankruptcy proceeding when he cross-examined the CEO and founder of the publicly traded oil and gas company leading the challenge. At the end of Sy’s cross-examination, the Court declared the company’s conduct “abhorrent.” The company dropped its challenge a few days later. In Servpro Industries, LLC v. Cotton Holdings, Inc., Sy helped his client overcome a tortious interference with contract claim related to a non-compete agreement at the summary judgment stage, leaving the plaintiff with no recovery.

Sy has helped multiple oil and gas companies obtain favorable results in confidential arbitrations. In one, an exiting partner sought to challenge the valuation process for departing partners and obtain $100 million in damages. After significant motion practice, the departing partner abandoned its claims and walked away with zero dollars. In another case, Sy helped his client prevail on a breach of contract claim that resulted in the client obtaining oil and gas assets worth over $100 million dollars.

PRO BONO

Sy also makes time for significant pro bono litigation. After the 2022 election, Sy represented several Harris County elected officials in election contests brought by unsuccessful candidates that were challenging the results. Sy’s work on the case resulted in victories for all his clients. Sy has also worked pro bono to secure a successful result for a juvenile immigrant seeking to establish parental rights with his mother.

BACKGROUND

Sy joined Susman Godfrey after clerking for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  Sy graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School after serving as Executive Editor on the Harvard Law Review. Before attending law school, Sy worked as a fifth-grade teacher in Houston with Teach for America. Sy graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University.

Sy lives in Houston with his wife, Taylor, and his three daughters. He spends his spare time coaching his daughters in softball, attending his kids’ sporting events, running, and swimming.

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