Houston

The lawyers in the Houston office of Duane Morris leverage the resources of our national law firm in the representation of clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small entrepreneurial ventures. The growing Houston office continues to expand the breadth of services its lawyers provide to a wide range of public companies, privately held middle-market companies, emerging growth companies and entrepreneurs. Many of our lawyers have longstanding ties to the Texas legal and business communities and have been practicing law in Houston for many years. They understand the business challenges, along with the legal challenges, faced by our clients doing business in Texas and throughout the world.

Range of Services

Intellectual Property, IP Litigation, Acquisition and Licensing

Duane Morris' Houston intellectual property lawyers recognize the importance of our clients' intellectual capital to the success of their businesses and understand how to acquire, license and enforce IP rights to increase opportunities for our clients to enhance market share and revenue. Our experience includes patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and brand protection, both in the United States and internationally. Members of the firm's national IP Practice Group have played pivotal roles in the development of IP law and their ranks include highly trained patent attorneys with backgrounds in biosciences, physics, engineering, materials, chemicals, polymers, electronics, computers, data networking and telecommunications.

Duane Morris lawyers have substantial experience in Texas and across the U.S. in all areas of IP litigation, including jury trial experience on behalf of IP owners and accused infringers in patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright and trade secret cases. Duane Morris Houston lawyers have also represented clients in mediation, arbitration, inter partes proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and before appellate courts concerning IP matters.

Duane Morris' Houston IP lawyers represent universities, publicly traded companies, small businesses and individuals in prosecuting patents in a wide range of technical fields, including medical devices, equipment and processes used in hydrocarbon exploration and production, materials processing, computer software, Internet-related areas and laser processing. The Houston IP lawyers also have assisted clients in obtaining copyright and trademark registrations and in negotiating, drafting and enforcing IP licensing agreements. Houston office lawyers also provide opinions regarding the validity and/or infringement of IP rights.

Corporate, Securities, Mergers and Acquisitions

Members of our Corporate Practice Group in Houston advise clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings of equity and debt securities, corporate finance, commercial finance, corporate compliance and corporate governance. We have experience with venture capital and private equity transactions, and work with many clients in developing and implementing creative strategies to accomplish their corporate finance and acquisition objectives. Corporate clients of the Houston office include New York Stock Exchange reporting companies in a variety of industries, as well as a number of software and technology companies.

Our Houston lawyers advise clients in connection with a wide variety of both public and private mergers and acquisitions, including strategic alliances, spin-offs, tender offers and joint ventures. We have experience in negotiated acquisitions and divestitures, as well as in defense against takeover attempts. Duane Morris' presence in the major U.S. markets and London, with our network of international contacts, enables our Houston lawyers to provide the level of experience and fully integrated coverage needed in complex M&A matters.

The Houston office represents clients in a wide range of securities offerings and regularly advises public companies on compliance with ongoing reporting obligations and other securities laws, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We represent issuers and underwriters in public and private offerings of debt, equity and equity-linked securities, including initial public offerings, high-yield debt offerings and offerings of convertible securities. Our lawyers represent clients in a wide variety of industries and are also experienced in out-of-court restructurings and exit financings for companies emerging from bankruptcy.

Energy and Natural Resources

Duane Morris' energy lawyers include leading practitioners who have been involved in the field for decades, including former in-house lawyers for leading global and national energy companies, leaders of energy industry trade groups and former regulatory officials. Their experience spans every sector of the energy industry, including domestic and international drilling, oil and gas, pipelines and refineries, and power and renewables. We have a keen understanding of both the commercial and the legal aspects of each matter we handle, enabling us to provide solutions and creative approaches others might not see. Our clients include major international oil and gas companies, power companies, consumers, lenders, investors and governments. Our energy attorneys regularly counsel clients on domestic and cross border transactions, litigation, regulatory matters, project development, facility construction, financing and government relations and policy matters.

Cross-Border Transactions

Our lawyers, both in Houston and in other Duane Morris offices, represent international clients in both domestic and cross-border transactions. Our lawyers regularly counsel companies with international operations in a wide variety of transactional matters, and we represent clients from all over the world with business and investment interests around the globe. Our International Practice integrates the services of attorneys from all of our offices and across all practice areas of the firm, creating a global infrastructure of experienced advisors available to represent our clients in all types of cross-border and international matters.

Commercial Finance

Our Commercial Finance Practice lawyers in Houston represent lenders and borrowers in both secured and unsecured financings across many different industries. Our work has included project finance, traditional investment grade revolving credit agreements, and secured restructuring arrangements. We often work with the arranger of the transaction to structure, negotiate and document the transaction, as well as participating in the due diligence and in preparing the information memorandum. We provide regional, national and international experience and representation to a broad spectrum of financial institutions, including commercial banks, insurance and finance companies, investment banks and asset managers.

Complex Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Houston lawyers in our Trial Practice Group have been involved in litigation in an array of areas, including securities, bankruptcy, contract, tort and complex commercial disputes, and IP controversies. Our trial group members also have extensive experience defending Fortune 100 companies in individual and class action litigation involving labor and employment matters both locally and nationwide. We regularly handle declaratory judgments, preliminary injunctions, mini-trials and other proceedings, and provide counsel on settling disputes without conventional litigation by using alternative dispute resolution, arbitrations and mediation, as well as advising on methods to anticipate and avoid litigation.

Electronic Discovery and Electronic Evidence

Electronic discovery has become an indispensable tool for complex litigation practices in light of the enormous amount of electronic data circulated by our clients today. A sophisticated use of electronic discovery is an essential aspect of business litigation, and Duane Morris lawyers routinely counsel clients regarding electronic discovery obligations and electronic evidence issues. We are experienced in developing technology tools and protocols to better serve clients faced with complex, multijurisdiction litigation, and assist clients with developing electronic data retention procedures to meet and exceed federal discovery requirements.

Real Estate

Members of our Real Estate Practice Group advise clients on a complete range of commercial real property transactions, including the acquisition, divestiture, financing and leasing of office buildings, shopping centers, hotels, apartments, warehouses and industrial and business parks. Our practice includes multistate representation in portfolio development, acquisition and financing. We work on behalf of developers, owners and financial institutions.

Health Law

In one of the most regulated industries in the United States, Duane Morris' healthcare attorneys provide innovative solutions to assist healthcare providers in protecting their assets and increasing their overall profitability while remaining compliant with federal and state laws and regulations. The firm's healthcare clients benefit from one of the most experienced healthcare practice groups in the country. Duane Morris advises a wide range of healthcare organizations, hospitals and clinical professionals in regulatory and corporate matters, contract and commercial litigation, labor and employment, real estate, compliance, managed care, credentialing, reimbursement and taxation issues. Duane Morris attorneys have extensive experience with the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, Stark and Anti-Kickback regulations, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as with staying abreast of the homeland security issues that face the healthcare industry today. When the uncertainty that characterizes the healthcare system spills over into legal disputes, Duane Morris lawyers represent clients in courts, arbitration and mediation sessions and administrative proceedings.

Internal and Government Investigations

The Duane Morris Corporate Compliance and Internal Investigations Practice Group has extensive experience in public and private corporations in both proactive and defensive internal investigations. Corporations may choose to proactively initiate an internal investigation in order to help ensure regulatory compliance and thereby avoid any sanctionable conduct. In these cases, Duane Morris attorneys work with corporations to define the parameters, conduct the investigations and identify how much information to voluntarily disclose to government agencies. In instances where a corporation is being faced with charges of wrong doing by government agencies, the firm's attorneys work with the company and boards of directors to help ensure subpoena and search warrant compliance, as well as prepare appropriate responses to civil investigative demands and represent clients at trial should criminal charges be filed.

Duane Morris has represented companies in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and insurance industries in matters concerning antitrust; price fixing; civil tax liabilities; violations of agency laws rules, and regulations; shareholder derivative actions; employment practices; theft and misuse of corporate funds; insurance fraud; bribery; environmental impact and contracts issues.

White-Collar Criminal Litigation

Duane Morris counsels both individuals and corporations facing federal and state allegations of criminal conduct. The firm's lawyers advise clients accused of Medicare/Medicaid fraud and abuse, environmental crimes, securities violations, criminal tax fraud, fraud in government procurement, RICO violations, trade espionage and a variety of business-related offenses. Duane Morris attorneys also have extensive experience leading internal investigations.

Employment Law and Management Labor Relations

Duane Morris' lawyers represent employers of all sizes in a broad spectrum of labor and employment matters, including equal employment opportunity compliance and litigation, statutory compliance and litigation defense and employment termination. The firm's attorneys provide a full range of labor relations services, representing clients in union-organizing campaigns, proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, negotiations of labor contracts and disputes over labor contract provisions. The group assists employers in protecting their proprietary information and in enforcing noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements. Duane Morris lawyers emphasize policies to prevent employment problems through problem prevention programs and services, including seminars and workshops, customized training programs and employment practice audits.

For More Information

For more information, please contact Thomas W. Sankey or any of the lawyers referenced in the Attorney Listing.