Concentration

Commercial trial work, corporate investigations and counseling

Summary

Sam Cooper is a trial partner in the Houston office of Baker Botts L.L.P., and is co-chair of the Firm's White Collar and Corporate Investigations Group. He has tried cases to a decision on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants before juries, arbitrators and judges. He has substantial experience in commercial litigation, including securities and antitrust matters, and has particular experience in representing companies in civil litigation arising out of government investigations. Mr. Cooper also represents companies and individuals under investigation by governmental entities and works for boards of directors conducting internal corporate investigations.

Mr. Cooper's trial experience includes representation of plaintiffs and defendants in forums ranging from state court jury cases to proceedings before three-judge federal courts.

Matters include:

• Representation of a sovereign in a bilateral investment treaty claim involving alleged expropriation of an investment; tried before a panel of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce
• Representation of a company in a dispute over a minority shareholder buyout. Responsible for presentation and examination of damages witnesses at arbitration where claimants sought over $450 million in damages; tried before an International Chamber of Commerce panel in Singapore
• Representation of a company in a post-closing dispute concerning net working capital. While the final settlement is confidential, the post-arbitration enforcement suit sought $44 million before interest and costs. Tried by written submissions to an arbitrator
• Representation of a company pursuing claims for breaches of representations and warranties in an asset purchase agreement; tried before an International Chamber of Commerce panel in London
• Representation of a minority shareholder in an action seeking damages for shareholder oppression; tried to a jury verdict
• Representation of various Republican interests in a series of cases before a three-judge federal court considering redistricting for Texas' congressional and state legislative districts
• Representation of a company in a negligence suit involving serious personal injuries allegedly resulting from the company's failure to replace aged equipment; tried to a jury verdict
• Representation of a company charged with failure of supervision when its employee allegedly assaulted two individuals; tried to a jury verdict

In 2000, Mr. Cooper spent nearly three weeks in Florida working as counsel to President Bush and Vice President Cheney in the Gore vs. Bush presidential election contest. He was actively involved in the strategy, witness preparation and briefing of the trial before Judge Saunders Sauls and the appeal to the Florida Supreme Court that followed.

Prior to joining Baker Botts, Mr. Cooper was law clerk to the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1993 to 1994.

Representative Engagements

Securities

• Pride International, Inc. －represented Pride in litigation arising out of its proposed $8.7 billion merger with Ensco plc. The transaction closed in 2011.
• Baker Hughes Incorporated －represented current and former officers and directors in a series of derivative cases in state and federal court arising out of the Company's 2007 FCPA settlement. All the cases were dismissed.
• Baker Hughes Incorporated －in its defense of a securities fraud class action. The case was dismissed and the dismissal was affirmed on appeal. 292 F.3d 424. A related derivative suit was also dismissed.
• Zonagen, Inc. －in a securities fraud class action. The Fifth Circuit's 2001 opinion in that case, dismissing all claims against the company except one, remains a leading case on securities fraud pleading in the Fifth Circuit. 267 F.3d 400. The district court subsequently granted summary judgment on the remaining claim, 2003 WL 23592407, and that ruling was affirmed on appeal.

Commercial Trial Work

• Ford Motor Co. －in a multibillion dollar lawsuit against its exclusive supplier of diesel engines. The matter settled on confidential terms.
• Crescent Real Estate Equities, Inc. －in its lawsuit against the City of Houston. The lawsuit arose out of the City's efforts to lease the Compaq Center sports arena to Lakewood Church. While the terms of the settlement with Lakewood Church are confidential, the City purchased $33 million in properties from Crescent as part of the settlement.

Investigations

• FCPA investigation for an oilfield services company involving multiple issues in several foreign countries. 
• Fraud investigation for a public company to determine whether the company's employees had participated in a transaction to defraud the company.
• Fraud investigation to evaluate the extent of employee participation in a multimillion-dollar theft by a company officer.

Antitrust

• Business Software Alliance －in a lawsuit brought by a Mexican software company seeking damage when its operations were shut down. Mr. Cooper secured dismissal of all claims brought against the BSA.
• Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. －in a lawsuit brought by its competitor, Spanish Broadcasting System, Inc. (SBS). SBS claimed $500 million in damages pre-trebling. The suit was dismissed with prejudice in January 2003. 242 F. Supp. 2d 1350. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's decision. 376 F.3d 1065.

Publications, Speeches and Presentations

• Panelist, Sandpiper Partners LLC. FCPA/Corruption Update, September 2011
• Panelist, A Changing Landscape: Civil Claims and Asset Recovery in Anti-corruption cases; International Bar Association 9th Annual Anti-corruption Conference, June 2011
• Moderator, “Anti-corruption compliance: What it means for oil and gas companies,” Ernst & Young Seminar, May 2011
• Speaker, Managing Internal Investigations and Parallel Government Investigations, Houston Bar Association, February 2011
• Panelist, Internal Investigations, RR Donnelly SEC Hot Topics, September 2010
• Panelist, Government Investigations, Texas General Counsel Forum, May 2010
• Speaker, Civil Ligation Related to FCPA Investigations, American Conference Institute's Conference on the FCPA, November 2009; March 2010
• "Jury Selection," V. Hale Starr and Mark McCormick (4th ed.), 2009 (author of a chapter on jury selection)