Joseph M. Graham
Co-Head of Litigation and Disputes, Houston
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
Partner Joseph Graham, Jr. has served as Head of Litigation for the Houston office for the past eight years. Mr. Graham has a wide variety of experience in counseling clients in business litigation, arbitration and government investigations.
His experience includes commercial trial work in a number of Federal and State Courts (including courts in Texas, Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, Utah, New York and California), as well as in the American Arbitration Association's International Court of Arbitration and in the ICC International Court of Arbitration.
Mr. Graham has been selected for years by Chubb Insurance as one of two dozen preferred securities litigators in North America. Most recently Mr. Graham has been selected in the "Global Litigation 500" as one of the 500 leading international lawyers around the world, and has been listed in many publications as one the best trial lawyers in America. For the past 3 years, Mr. Graham has also been selected as an Acritas "Client All-Star".
Professional experience
Collapse allJD, University of Chicago Law School, 1993
BA, Political Philosophy, University of Dallas, 1990
While in school, Mr. Graham was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, an Academic All-American, and the recipient of The University of Chicago Outstanding Merit Scholarship. Mr. Graham is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas, the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of California, the District of Arizona, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Fifth Circuits. Mr. Graham was also captain of his college tennis team and still plays frequently.
- California State Bar
- Texas State Bar
Mr. Graham has been selected for years by Chubb Insurance as one of two dozen preferred securities litigators in North America. Most recently Mr. Graham has been selected in the "Global Litigation 500" as one of the 500 leading international lawyers around the world, and has been listed in many publications as one the best trial lawyers in America. For the past 3 years, Mr. Graham has also been selected as an Acritas "Client All-Star".
Mr. Graham is currently lead or co-lead counsel in some of the largest cases in the country, including:
Representation of the State of Texas against Google in The State of Texas v. Google (Geolocation and Incognito) Cause Number: 22:01-88230-D District Court, Victoria, Texas;
Representation of the State of Texas in The State of Texas v Google (Biometrics) Cause Number CV58999; State District Court, Midland County, TX; and
Representation of the State of Texas in In Re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation (currently residing in the MDL in SDNY – Case No. 1:21-CV-06841-PKC).
International Arbitration:
- Defended an international oil company in ICC International Court of Arbitration over a multi-million dollar dispute concerning lease rights off the coast of West Africa
- Represented an international oil company in an offshore oil lease dispute involving a West African government
- Represented an international oil company in ICC arbitration involving a multi-million dollar claim related to a joint venture contract
- Defended a major defense contractor against a $50 million claim asserted in Texas State Court and International Arbitration by a British conglomerate
Arbitration:
- Represented large oilfield services company in an arbitration claim for more than $106 million related to earnout agreement
- Represented international oil company in multi-hundred million dollar dispute involving funding for drilling.
Antitrust and Government Investigations:
- Represented Belgium-based global freight cargo company in response to Department of Justice inquiry into potential criminal price fixing on a world-wide basis
- Represented company in the defense of multi-million dollar complaint filed by F.T.C. related to company's Internet marketing practices
- Conducted internal corporate investigation concerning potential foreign corrupt practices
- Represented global freight forwarding company in class action civil litigation related to alleged world-wide price fixing
Securities:
- Defended large oilfield services company in derivative ligation in state and federal court in Ohio and Texas related to $2.5 billion acquisition
- Defended a leading oil company in derivative litigation related to the $500 million purchase of another company
- Defended shareholder class action and 10(b) fraud case concerning multi-million dollar roll-out of new product
- Represented a British software company in a $55 million securities lawsuit concerning the company's investment in a software distributor and gaming website
- Represented a Fortune 100 company in analysis of potential participation in billion dollar settlement of IPO "spinning" litigation
- Represented a multi-billion dollar private equity fund, and officers and directors, in securities litigation involving multi-million dollar purchase of company
- Represented on-line learning company, and key executives, related to multi-million dollar fraud action concerning potential acquisition
- Represented numerous officers and directors in securities litigation related to failed investment vehicle
- Represented a major telecommunications company in securities litigation related to the multi-billion dollar launch of a satellite system
Product Liabilities:
- Represented large international oil company in dozens of claims involving well blow-out.
- Represented a company in nation-wide class action in Missouri related to allegedly defective dip tubes in water heaters
- Represented a tire company in half a dozen different cases (each asserting millions of dollars in damages) related to the alleged failures of tire products
Consumer Class Actions:
- Represented both Belgium-based and Netherlands-based global freight cargo companies in civil litigation related to alleged global price fixing
- Defended a consumer company in a $500 million putative class action brought in Texas State Court under various Texas consumer protection statutes
- Represented a major global Internet provider in defense of a multi-million dollar dispute in Federal Court concerning software
Insurance Coverage:
- Represented an insurance company in the defense of a multi-million dollar ERISA class action claim asserted in Indiana Federal Court
- Defended a title insurance company in a number of million dollar plus disputes in both Federal and State courts
Contracts:
- Represented an international logistics company in a multi-million dollar labor dispute in New Jersey State Court
- Represented a cable company in $100 million dispute related to I.R.U. agreement
- Represented a private equity firm in a dispute involving a multi-million dollar investment made in a production plant in Northern California
- Successfully defended a leading North American energy producer in an eight-year battle against a 1,006 plaintiff FLSA "donning and doffing" case. Plaintiffs made allegations of a right to compensation for donnning and doffing their standard PPE, and for attending pre and post-shift safety meetings. This case won the 2020 Houston Corporate Counsel Business Litigation of the Year Award.
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators, Lawdragon, 2021, 2023 – 2024
- Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, Lawdragon, 2022 - 2025
- Acritas Star, Acritas, 2017-2021
- America's "Top 100 High Stakes Litigators" 2019-2021, 2022
- Texas Super Lawyer, Thomson Reuters, 2017-2018
- Life Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
- Texas Rising Star, Thomson Reuters, 2007
- Wiley E. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services, State Bar of California Board of Governors
- Attorneys of the Year Award, Western Center for Disability Rights for representation of The Rancho Los Amigos Rehabilitation Center, 2003
- Who's Who in America, Marquis
- American Bar Association
- Houston Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas - Antitrust and Business Litigation Section
- State Bar of California
- Mr. Graham is on the Board of University of St. Thomas where his father was a professor for over forty years.