© 2015 The Texas Lawbook.
By Natalie Posgate
(Feb. 7) – Prominent Dallas trial lawyers Michael K. Hurst and Shonn Brown, who represent Ray Hunt and Highland Capital in multimillion-dollar litigation, are the most recent players in Dallas-based litigation boutiques’ version of musical chairs.
Hurst, Brown and five other lawyers are expected to officially announce Monday that they left the firm Hurst started 10 years ago, Gruber Hurst Elrod Johansen Hail Shank, over the weekend to join crosstown rival Mike Lynn’s law firm, Lynn Pinker Cox.
The move by Hurst and Brown comes three weeks after Lynn’s longtime law partner, Jeff Tillotson, left the firm that he and Lynn led and grew for the past two decades. Tillotson is expected to join a newer litigation boutique, Reese Gordon Marketos, later this year.
Last March, Hurst played a crucial role in convincing prominent Dallas energy litigator David Elrod and his legal team to join Gruber Hurst.
Five lawyers from Gruber Hurst – partner Jonathan Childers, senior counsel John Guild, associates Christina Mullen, Michael Kalis and Josh Sandler, three paralegals and two secretaries – are joining Hurst and Brown.
Lynn and Hurst said in a joint weekend interview that the firm’s new name will be Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst.
Hurst said the move had nothing to do with Tillotson’s recent departure, and that he still would have “gladly” joined had he stayed. Though Lynn first approached Hurst a couple of years ago, Hurst said talks of moving did not get serious until last year around Christmas.
“The opportunity to work with Mike, Eric [Pinker] and Trey [Cox] will be incredibly collaborative,” Hurst said. “Mike is someone I’ve always looked up to, Eric and I have been friends since high school and Trey is someone I’ve always admired.”
Lynn said the new hires help his firm in its goal to be one of the top five litigation boutiques in the state.
“I think Michael will fit in really well at our firm,” Lynn said. “He has the same values and successes as we do. He treats his group like family, and we do too. And he seems to have fun trying cases, which is important to us.”
Gruber Elrod managing partner Mark Shank called Hurst’s departure “amicable.” He said the partners decided to rename the firm to Gruber Elrod Johansen Hail Shank.
“We’re disappointed to have someone we value so high as Michael leave, but it’s part of the business cycle,” Shank said. “We understand he had to make a decision upon what was best for him.”
Shank said despite the group’s departure, the firm is still “very strong” and anticipates business this year to be the best yet.
“We have a lot of really good cases that our lawyers are excited about,” he said. “Michael has some very fine clients, but there’s many really fine clients that we’re proud to serve who are going to be taken care of every day, including Monday morning.”
Hurst specializes in complex commercial, energy, intellectual property and employment litigation. High-profile clients include Hunt Consolidated, Highland Capital Management and Mary Kay. Recent wins include:
• A $70 million jury verdict Hurst, Childers and Mullen scored on behalf of a group of West Texas plaintiffs involved in a breach of fiduciary duty case regarding a mineral rights contract;
• A $2.8 million award of attorneys’ fees during a breach of fiduciary duty case between Highland Capital and a former executive. Hurst, Brown and Childers represented Highland, which the jury only ordered to pay $2.6 million in past compensation. The former executive originally sued for $40 million in damages;
• A products defects case in which Hurst and Brown scored $1.4 million on behalf of Hunt, which had sued Honeywell International for committing fraud.
Lynn described Tillotson leaving and Hurst joining as big changes at his firm, but “we have to be bold in order to survive. We have to adapt,” he said.
He pointed out that the leaders at the top litigation boutiques in the state will likely age out in the next five years, so it was important to Lynn to bring in a group of strong attorneys in a younger age group. Of the partners joining, Hurst is 50 and Childers and Brown are in their mid-thirties and early forties, respectively.
“As I’m aging, it gives me solace that we have core people to carry the firm’s legacy,” said Lynn, who is 65. “I think that the influence and maturity Michael brings will help us, and it’s great to have younger leaders.
“By adding Michael, Shonn, Jonathan, and their team to the already considerable talent here, we truly have the finest and most experienced stable of young trial talent in the city and perhaps even the state,” he added. “ We are ready to take on the world.”
Lynn and Hurst said there are some conflicts that still need to be sorted out but overall, the two groups share many mutual clients.
One conflict includes a case of Hurst’s that is pending in the federal court of U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn, who is Mike Lynn’s wife. Hurst said he has already withdrawn as counsel on that case.
Lynn is known for representing a slew of high profile clients over the years. One of his more recent wins is a $535 million verdict that Lynn scored in 2014 on behalf of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners in a pipeline partnership dispute against Enterprise Products Partners. The case is said to be the largest verdict in Texas that year, as well as one of the top 10 largest verdicts in the country.
This Thursday, Lynn said his firm will accept the Benchmark Litigation US’s award as the top litigation firm of the year in Texas.
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