Don Jackson

Partner

donjackson@warejackson.com (713) 335-4804 Download vCard Download PDF

• Representative Experience

  Environmental Litigation

  We successfully defended a Houston manufacturer in possibly the largest civil case ever filed over one of the largest environmental disasters of the industrial age – the multi-district litigation arising from the blow-out of BP’s Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. Although our client was named as a person of interest in the initial U.S. Coasts Guard investigation, we proved that the sub-sea wellhead manufactured by our client did not fail and was not a cause of the disaster. While other defendants paid billions of dollars in judgments and settlements, our client was exonerated by summary judgment.

  International Arbitration

  We filed an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration seated in London on behalf of a Swiss engineering company alleging a breach of a shareholders’ agreement governing a methanol manufacturing company in Trinidad and Tobago. Although our client was the minority stockholder, we ultimately persuaded a panel of three arbitrators to order a forced sale of the majority owner’s interest to our client.

  Construction Litigation

  We successfully prosecuted a lawsuit on behalf of an industrial construction company involving the construction of four petrochemical projects in Louisiana. While our client was the plaintiff in the litigation, we also faced a nine-figure counterclaim that made this a bet-the-company case. After a three-month trial, the jury found in favor of our client. The verdict was listed by Verdict Search as the second largest verdict in the country that year. The matter was settled on appeal.

  Oil and Gas Litigation

  Since the late 1980s, oil and gas litigation has been a significant part of my practice, including representation of companies in the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the energy business. We have also represented royalty owners and surface owners. We currently represent an independent oil producer in the Eagle-Ford Shale in a significant fraud case against one of the largest banks in the United States.

  Intellectual Property Litigation

  We successfully defended a distributor of industrial pile hammers against claims of trademark infringement by a major competitor. After the close of evidence in the federal court jury trial, in which we showed that the alleged trademarks were not legally protectable, we were able to obtain a very favorable settlement for our client.

  Commercial Litigation

  We defended a large telecommunications company in an extremely complex partnership dispute in which the minority partners were attempting to terminate our client’s interest in a lucrative enterprise. The facts of the case covered decades of operations and hundreds of thousands of documents. After approximately four weeks of trial before a Galveston jury, we settled the case with a strategic buy-out of the plaintiffs’ interests in the business.

  Commercial Litigation

  We defended an independent refining company against allegations by one of the major oil companies of breach of several crude oil trading contracts. We persuaded the trial court to award summary judgment in favor of our client on all but one of the contracts. After we upheld that summary judgment on appeal, we were able to reasonably settle the one remaining contract.

  Domestic Arbitration

  We represented an international construction company in an AAA arbitration proceeding arising from a subcontract for the construction of the topsides for a large off-shore oil production platform. The general contractor sued our client for several million dollars. We counterclaimed for a similar amount. After extensive discovery, the case was arbitrated over a two-week period. The arbitrator rendered an award in our client’s favor for the full amount of our counterclaim, and the general contractor paid the award in full.

  Domestic Arbitration

  We defended a family-owned demolition contractor in a AAA arbitration against a major refining company. The plaintiff alleged that our client’s work had caused a catastrophic refinery fire. The refiner sued for almost $20,000,000 in repair costs and over $100,000,000 in lost profits. This was a bet-the-company case. The plaintiff made a settlement demand for the limits of my client’s liability insurance and would not accept less. While we were disappointed that the arbitrator found against our client at all, the award was well within policy limits and well below the plaintiff’s settlement demand. The company was saved.

  Employment Litigation

  We are regularly engaged to file suit on behalf of employers to enforce non-compete agreements and other restrictive covenants and to prevent injury from unfair competition. These matters often require immediate action in the form of petitions for temporary restraining orders and temporary injunctions. By seeking immediate relief, we have often been successful in preventing an injury to our client before it occurs.

  Probate Litigation

  Our first experience with probate litigation came when we were retained to defend the heir of J. Howard Marshall II against attacks on his estate plan by our client’s brother and Mr. Marshall’s wife, Anna Nicole Smith, along with lawsuits filed by several alleged creditors. After a five-and-a-half month jury trial, another two-week jury trial, a several-week nonjury trial, two decisions by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, two decisions by the United States Supreme Court, and one opinion by the Houston (Fourteenth) Court of Appeals, and twenty years of litigation involving well over a billion dollars in claims, our client was found not liable on all of the claims. Since first being engaged by the Estate of J. Howard Marshall, we have been honored to represent the estates of many prominent Houstonians.

  Personal Injury Litigation

  I began my career as a personal injury defense lawyer, and personal injury defense remains an important part of our practice. We have tried many catastrophic personal injury cases to a defense verdict. In one case, our client, a travel agent specializing in exotic hunting and fishing trips, had arranged a trip to the Rio Negro in Brazil to fish for peacock bass. One of the trip participants was bitten by a mosquito and contracted yellow fever. He died shortly after his return home, leaving a widow and 5 children. The family sued the travel agency for negligent undertaking and negligent misrepresentation. We tried the case twice to jury verdict, both of which resulted in take-nothing judgments in our client’s favor.

• Recognitions
  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
  • Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
  • Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates, 2023 Trial Lawyer of the Year
  • Best Lawyers, Lawyer of the Year (2023) (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants)
  • American Board of Trial Advocates
  • International Society of Barristers, Fellow
  • Chambers (Houston Dispute Resolution, 2023)
  • Best Lawyers (2009 to present)
  • Texas Super Lawyers (2003 to present)
  • AV^® Pre-eminent™ Rated, Martindell Hubbell
• Professional Activities
  • American Board of Trial Advocates (President-appointed National Representative, Chair, Foundation Civics Education Committee)
  • Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (Past-President, President, President-Elect, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer, Co-Chair)
  • Houston Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (Past-President, President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, National Board Representative
  • Texas Association of Defense Counsel, Board of Directors, Former Member
  • Baylor Law Alumni Association, Executive Committee.
  • TIRR Foundation, Board Member
  • Western State Colorado University Foundation, Board of Directors, Director
  • Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Attorneys, Member
  • Texas Bar Foundation, Life Fello
  • Houston Bar Foundation, Life Fellow
  • Senior Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
  • American Bar Association, Member
  • Texas Bar Association, Member
  • Houston Bar Association, Member
• Admissions
  • State Bar of Texas
  • Various federal district courts, including the Southern District of Texas
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court