Stephen Edmundson

Houston, TX
Partner

Stephen Edmundson has litigation experience in federal court, state court, and before the state panel on multidistrict litigation, including successful first-chair civil trial experience in Harris County and Travis County. Mr. Edmundson focuses primarily on commercial litigation, including complex business litigation, insurance coverage litigation, products liability, mass tort, wrongful death, personal injury, and premises liability defense. In addition, Mr. Edmundson has experience in the areas of medical malpractice, construction defects, and appellate law.

• The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, 1996, J.D.
  Law Review: The Review of Litigation, Technical Editor, 1995 - 1996
  
• University of Texas at Austin, 1992, B.A.
  Honors: 
  -Cum Laude, Liberal Arts Honors Program, Phi Beta Kappa
  Major: Anthropology, English

• Secured summary judgment for insurer against a claim that insurer's Policy provided coverage for the insured against a $3 million bankruptcy court judgment, where the insured was disgorged of severance payments based upon findings that the payments were fraudulent transfers and avoidable preference
• Secured dismissal through a special appearance for a Florida medical entity that had contracted with a Texas corporation for medical goods and services. In addition, defeated expedited appeal from that dismissal
• Represented a seller, distributor, and servicer of industrial batteries against three former employees who misappropriated digital and physical trade secrets to open an office for a competitor, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. We quickly obtained an ex parte sequestration order for the competitor’s computers and documents and secured multiple injunctions preventing use of our client’s trade secrets or soliciting our client’s customers. The case settled via letter agreement. Then, when one employee refused to honor the letter agreement, further action led to further settlement.
• Represented a major U.S. insurer against an insured when the insured settled claims in breach of its own policy obligations
• Assisted in the defense of America's largest manufacturer of industrial absorbent products in a potential "bet the company" case that hinged on a distributor's production and marketing of unauthorized materials
• Opposed a restraining order and an application for injunction that sought to interfere with drawing on letters of credit as security for construction deadline penalties at a Qatari petrochemical plant
• Represented a major U.S. insurer in defense of a flood loss claim involving Houston's Bayou Place Entertainment Center
• Repeatedly represented one of America's largest silica suppliers against a variety of personal injury claims throughout Texas
• Helped prepare the appellate brief opposing a personal injury verdict by demonstrating statutory limitations on premises owner liability for the acts of contractors
• Helped defend a wholesale insurance brokerage firm and two of its principles against a former associate's partnership and fraud claims
• Defended a restaurant against negligent security, wrongful death, and dram shop liability claims in connection with a gunshot homicide, an action that involved deposing FBI surveillance team members and police officers and contesting police statement translations of Spanish-speaking eyewitnesses. 
• Defended an emergency room doctor against a wrongful death meningococcal meningococcemia claim
• Defended a glass company against a claim of wholesale laminated glass failure in a 13,000 square foot home in one of Houston's most exclusive neighborhoods.
• Defended a circuit breaker manufacturer on multiple cases, one of which hinged on contesting the plaintiffs' causation expert. 

• Texas
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Western District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit

• State Bar of Texas
• The College of the State Bar of Texas
• American Bar Association
• Texas Association of Defense Counsel
• Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
• Houston Football Association - Vice President, Board of Directors

• Contributing Author, 1998-2000,  Commercial Litigation Newsletter, Texas Association of Defense Counsel
• Co-Editor and Contributing Author, 2001-present,  Evidence Newsletter, Texas Association of Defense Counsel

• Selected by Texas Monthly and Law & Politics Magazines as a  "Texas Rising Star," 2005-2009

• Justice Eric Andell, Court of Appeals, First Judicial District of Texas, Briefing Attorney, 1997 - 1998
• Justice Tim Taft, Texas Court of Appeals, First Judicial District of Texas, Clerk, 1996