email: rharrison@fbhh.com

Rick Harrison, born in Marfa, Texas, has over 35 years of experience in representing clients in litigation disputes in a broad range of areas, including business litigation, technology, employment, and product liability, both at trial and on appeal. His peers selected him among the top attorneys in Texas Super Lawyers for Commercial Litigation in 2007, he was named to The Best Lawyers in America 2007 and is one of the 500 leading Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America 2007 as published in Lawdragon.  He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Recent Experience and Accomplishments

Technology

• Successfully defended an international corporation charged with breach of contract concerning an oil field directional tool with alleged damages of $250 million.
• Represented a real estate developer enjoining a competitor from using an internet domain name. Successfully defended the appeal through the Supreme Court of Texas.
• Successfully defended a $6 million software trade secret infringement case.
• Successfully defended a $35 million trade secret and patent infringement case, securing a take-nothing judgment and a $1 million recovery of punitive damages on a defamation counterclaim.
• Prosecuted a Lanham Act trade dress infringement case for a national jewelry manufacturer.

Professional/Officer Liability and Fiduciary Litigation

• Secured a favorable settlement against a nationwide banking concern for the negligent handling of investments in a trust account.
• Secured a favorable settlement against a major law firm for breach of fiduciary duties to a client.
• Secured a $71 million jury verdict and judgment against a large international law firm and a large banking group for breaches of fiduciary duty regarding the handling of an estate being probated.
  
• Successfully defended an architect against allegations of copyright infringement.
• Successfully represented plaintiffs in an accounting malpractice case concerning erroneous advice given to holders of incentive stock options.
• Successfully defended a former officer of a venture capital firm against claims by a group of investors that investments were mishandled and that securities laws were violated.

General Business

• Successfully defended a $30 million breach of contract claim in Cameron County District Court.
• Successfully represented an international corporation in a commercial fraud case wherein an injunction was obtained prohibiting the gray market sale of the client's product.
• Successfully defended a major corporation in a $2 million breach of contract suit in Webb County, Texas.
• Obtained a defense judgment (take nothing) in a $30 million RICO/conspiracy claim against a franchiser.
• Successfully represented a resort and real estate development corporation in several trials involving multi-million dollar damages and breach of contract.
• In January 1987, secured the largest jury verdict in Morris County, Texas' history ($8.3 million) in a breach of contract suit; reduced to $6.8 million on appeal and affirmed. Lone Star Steel v. Scott, 759 S.W. 2d 144 (Texark., 1988).
• Successfully represented a River Authority concerning a defective dam, recovering $2.4 million in settlements from the engineers and a $12.4 million judgment against the contractor. The $12.4 million judgment resulted in a $12 million settlement with a national insurer on a bad faith insurance claim.

Energy

• Handled a case of first impression concerning the priority of rights between surface lignite producers and oil and gas operators, both holding valid leases to the same tracts of property.
• Represented a major oil company in royalty disputes involving multi-million dollar claims - Midland, Texas, and Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Successfully defended a major oil company in a $20 million trespass action (airborne radiometric survey) tried in Federal court, Pecos, Texas, 1981 - achieved a directed verdict.

Product Liability

• Successfully defended a multi-national corporation in a product liability case involving a death on a drilling rig in DuBai.
• Successfully defended an international corporation in a $10 million product case venued in Starr County, Texas.
• Successfully defended an international corporation in a $3 million product case venued in Nueces County, Texas (directed verdict).
• Successfully defended an international corporation in an $8 million product case venued in Starr County, Texas.

State Taxation

• Responsible for discovery, trial preparation and three-month jury trial in Houston, Texas, concerning the Howard Hughes Estate and the determination of Howard Hughes' legal domicile at death; continued with representing the State of Texas in a federal interpleader action appealed to the United States Supreme Court, and represented the State of Texas in the resulting Original Action involving the States of California and Texas. This Original Action settled two weeks before trial in the summer of 1984 with a $50 million payment to the State of Texas.
• Represented the State of Texas in several multi-million dollar test cases involving franchise taxes and state sales taxes.
• Obtained a jury verdict and judgment against the State of Texas negating a sales tax audit, recovering all taxes paid under protest, plus attorneys' fees.

Employment

• Successfully represented several individuals in defeating non-competition clauses in their employment agreements.
• Negotiated the resolution of stock option and severance packages for departing executives of various high-tech companies.
• Successfully represented an employer charged with sexual discrimination in the workplace.

Professional Qualifications

Memberships/Admissions

• State Bar of Texas (1968)
• U.S. District Courts: Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• U.S. Supreme Court
• Austin Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• Martindale-Hubbell Bar Registry of Pre-eminent Lawyers
• Marquis Who's Who in American Law
• Marquis Who's Who in America

Education

• University of Texas (JD, 1968)
• University of Texas at Austin (BBA, 1966)