Peter Jordan, a commercial litigation partner, has joined Houston litigation boutique Mitby Pacholder Johnson. He will focus his practice on complex commercial disputes, according to a news release.
Before joining Mitby Pacholder Johnson, Jordan was a partner at Mayer Brown for two years. Prior to that, he served as Associate General Counsel and Head of Global Litigation at Huntsman Corp., where he managed the company’s worldwide litigation and compliance portfolio. He previously spent more than a decade at Simpson Thacher’s Los Angeles office, representing major corporations, including the Fortune 100, in complex litigation, arbitration and corporate disputes.
“Peter brings a rare combination of sophisticated litigation and trial experience and inhouse business perspective,” said founding partner Steve Mitby. “His ability to align litigation strategy with broader commercial objectives makes him an exceptional addition to our partnership.”
AREAS OF FOCUS
Jordan represents across many industries, including technology, chemicals, insurance, manufacturing and financial services. His practice includes joint venture disputes, data theft and trade secret misappropriation, insurance coverage matters, environmental litigation, class actions and other complex commercial disputes.
EDUCATION
The University of Texas (BA, 2003)
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (JD, 2008)
The Texas Lawbook caught up with Jordan recently about the move to his new firm, trends he’s seeing in his practice area and more:
The Texas Lawbook: What was the connection with your new firm that initially led to discussions about you joining the team and how did it start?
Peter Jordan: When I was in-house counsel, Mitby Pacholder Johnson was one of my go-to firms for contentious and complex cases. We always got terrific results and worked seamlessly together. During a lunch last year, we started talking about teaming up and the cross-practice synergies it would bring. It made too much sense not to do.
The Lawbook: What are two or three of the most important trends that you are seeing in your practice area?
Jordan: Cost pressure and AI, and they’re related. The uncertainty and headwinds across industries that typically see the most litigation have clients dealing with relentless pressure to rein in their budgets. Some have even started in-sourcing work that has traditionally been the province of outside counsel; others are just foregoing certain work altogether. Then there’s AI, which is completely revolutionizing the practice of law. Every day, there are fewer and fewer cases that require the manpower of a large firm. AI has become such a force multiplier that firms of almost any size can handle almost any case. The result is that clients can take their major cases to the most effective outside counsel, rather than the largest or most expensive counsel.
The Lawbook: What are two or three concerns or issues you are hearing most often from your clients?
Jordan: The intersection of business and politics has created a lot of uncertainty. Depending on where they are and which industry they’re in, the party in power can have material impacts on their businesses. Data security is always top of mind, given the potential exposure from a breach or misstep. And, again, effective and efficient use of technology. The cost of litigating disputes can be a significant leverage point, and if one side’s counsel can prosecute or defend a case for a fraction of the cost the other side’s counsel is charging, it can materially alter the parties’ respective bargaining positions.
The Lawbook: What has been your best day as a lawyer?
Jordan: That’s really hard to say. On a personal level, it was helping a pair of young siblings get adopted by their extended family after losing both of their parents. That hits differently. On a professional level, it was successfully talking an arbitrator out of going down a path he had clearly already settled on — at the enthusiastic encouragement of opposing counsel — and convincing him to pivot to a different path that likely saved our client $100 million or more. Part of what made it memorable was the fact that we hadn’t been told the issue was even on the agenda for that day, so being able to rescue our phenomenal client “on the fly” was special.
The Lawbook: How is AI impacting your practice and how you work with clients?
Jordan: It’s given every client the ability to take on every potential adversary. You no longer need to spend millions of dollars to litigate or try a case just because there’s a large volume of data or documents involved. It really is a force multiplier. At Mitby Pacholder Johnson, we have a dedicated AI specialist, not just lawyers tinkering with AI and hoping for the best. It’s a massive advantage and gives us an edge few firms have.
The Lawbook: What are two or three of the most important achievements (trials, transactions, client successes) that you have scored for clients?
Jordan: One that stands out to me is the confidential arbitration I already mentioned. Following a long and contentious merits hearing against a large New York firm, I went into a status conference expecting to discuss briefing logistics. Instead, the arbitrator surprised everyone by announcing his plan to pursue a process that would likely have cost our client $100 million or more. Over the course of about ten minutes, I was able to convince the arbitrator to adopt our approach instead and he ultimately decided the issue in our favor.
Following that decision, the parties quickly reached a settlement that was wildly favorable to our client. Another goes back to when I first moved in-house and I inherited a particularly challenging case. Skilled opposing counsel, a challenging venue, and a long and bumpy procedural history. Through some strategic maneuvering and collaboration with our trial team, we were able to get the case completely turned around and tried to a jury just as the country was coming out of Covid. When it was all said and done, we took home a high eight-figure judgment.
The Lawbook: Are there specific pro bono efforts or public service projects that mean the most to you?
Jordan: Anything that involves helping kids. I now have two small children and it’s given me a perspective I was missing in my twenties and thirties. So if there’s any way to help out those who truly cannot help themselves, from the family law context to the immigration process, sign me up.
Mark Curriden contributed to this report.