Robert Ford

Named a Houstonia Magazine “Top Lawyer,” 2019 Listed in Texas Super Lawyers, “Rising Star,” 2015-2019 Business Litigation, 2022-2023 Listed in Benchmark Litigation, "Future Star," 2023-2024 Listed in Houston Business Journal, "Diversity in Business" List, 2024 Houston Bar Association CLE Committee, “Committee Chair of the Year,” 2018 Named to the Second Annual Lawyers of Color Hot List, 2014 Trial Lawyer Honorary Society of the Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow Houston Bar Foundation, Fellow Louisiana Bar Foundation, Fellow Texas Bar College, Fellow Complex commercial litigation/trade secrets/TCPA Serve as lead defense counsel for a publicly traded oilfield-services company in a multimillion- dollar dispute with one of its vendors; secured partial dismissal of the case by successfully moving for dismissal under the TCPA pending in Texas state court in Harris County, Texas. The case involves allegations of fraud and trade secret misappropriation arising out of the oilfield-services company’s exercise of its contractual audit rights under a Master Services Agreement.  Catastrophic injury/wrongful death litigation As co-first chair, won a complete defense verdict in Texas state court (Calhoun County) in a bifurcated wrongful death jury trial that arose from a workplace accident at one of the largest acrylonitrile chemical plants in the state. Deposed the majority of the witnesses, including both of the decedent’s parents; argued all pretrial matters; delivered opening statement; examined the majority of the trial witnesses; and drafted and argued the jury charge. The Corpus Christi Court of Appeals affirmed the take-nothing judgment, largely adopting the reasoning of the appellee brief. Product liability litigation Won a complete defense verdict as third chair in Texas state court (Harris County) on behalf of a Korean valve manufacturer following a three-and-a-half-week jury trial. The case arose out of claims that the manufacturer had negligently designed and assembled a ¾-inch gate valve that failed, sparking a fire at an Alaskan oil refinery. Managed all phases of pretrial discovery, deposing several key witnesses, including the refinery’s director of maintenance and the plaintiff’s experts. In a critical turning point in the case, strategized and drafted the briefing that persuaded the court to conclude that the plaintiff had waived its consulting expert privilege over two damaging post-accident reports revealing that the refinery had previously attributed the cause of the fire to process-safety failures of its own personnel. Cross-examined all of the plaintiff’s cause and origin and damages experts at trial. The plaintiff sought $54 million in actual damages. After two-and-half days of deliberation, the jury returned a take-nothing verdict on all of the plaintiff’s claims, and the trial court subsequently entered judgment on that verdict. Consumer/DTPA litigation As first chair, won a complete plaintiff’s verdict in Texas state court (Harris County) in a Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) and fraud case against a vendor that misrepresented the quality of components it used in a repair job, as well as its certification and competency to perform the work. Assumed all trial responsibilities, including pretrial, voir dire (jury selection), opening statements, witness examinations, and closing argument. The jury awarded actual and punitive damages. Civil rights litigation As lead counsel and co-first chair, won a complete plaintiff’s verdict in Houston federal court in a Section 1983 civil rights case in favor of a man who was severely beaten while in the custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Among other trial responsibilities, argued pretrial matters, conducted voir dire, conducted direct examination of the plaintiff, cross-examined the defendant, and delivered closing argument. Most notably, immediately following cross-examination of the defendant, defense counsel made its first settlement offer in the nearly four years the case had been on file. The case proceeded to verdict, where the jury awarded actual and punitive damages in an amount that was four times the defendant’s settlement offer. The case subsequently settled on favorable terms. Labor and employment litigation As co-lead counsel, and following two years of extensive discovery and litigation in Houston federal court, secured a $2.65 million court-approved settlement in a conditionally certified collective action under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on behalf of a nationwide class of over 150 long- and short-haul truck drivers against the then-largest domestic interstate moving company.