Susman Godfrey is the only firm on the list to have two Rising Stars.
New York Law Journal has named Susman Godfrey lawyers Elisha Barron and Steven Shepard “Rising Stars” in its 2019 rankings. The publication recognizes “the region’s most promising lawyers who are no older than 40 by the date of submission”. This year’s competition was competitive, with only 31 attorneys in New York selected after a rigorous selection process judged by an outside panel of experts.
In 2018, Barron helped secure a $706.2 Million jury verdict for client HouseCanary after a 7 week jury trial in state court in San Antonio, Texas. The case involved claims against Title Source, an affiliate of Quicken Loans, for misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud, and breach of contract. At trial, Barron successfully argued a Daubert motion to admit the testimony of a key technical expert and examined that expert; securing testimony pivotal to the jury’s finding that HouseCanary’s trade secrets had been misappropriated. The verdict was confirmed by the court in October 2018 and appears at number four on National Law Journal’s “Top 100 Verdicts of 2018” list.
Shepard represents the nation’s largest retailer in a federal lawsuit challenging the Texas laws that bar publicly traded companies from selling liquor. After a bench trial in June 2017, the district court struck down the statutes as unconstitutional In March 2018. The district court agreed with Shepard’s argument that the laws violated the Dormant Commerce Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. In April 2019, Shepard defended the verdict at oral argument in the Fifth Circuit. In December 2018, Shepard first-chaired a complex commercial lease dispute in D.C. Superior Court.
Barron and Shepard will be recognized in the New York Law Journal’s upcoming Professional Excellence magazine and honored in October at the New York Legal Awards at Tribeca 360 in New York City.
Click here for the profile on Barron and click here for Shepard’s profile. Click here for the full list of New York Law Journal Rising Stars.
