Susan Cannon Kennedy

Susan represents companies in high-stakes disputes. Susan has significant experience in patent, trade secret, and trade dress matters (often between competitors) as well as a wide variety of hard-fought commercial disputes, from inception through appeal. While Susan's practice is nationwide, she regularly appears in Texas state and federal courts.

Susan is the Hiring Partner for Baker Botts's Dallas office and committed to the mentoring and development of other lawyers. She is a member of the DAYL/DWLA Women's Mentoring Circles Program and of Baker Botts's Associate Development Committee. Susan serves on the Advisory Board of the Institute for Energy Law as well as the boards of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Genesis Alliance, which supports the mission of Genesis Women's Shelter to end family violence.

Following graduation from law school, Ms. Kennedy served as a law clerk to the Honorable Philip R. Martinez of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Intellectual Property

• Susan's intellectual property practice includes substantial work in patent and trade secret litigation, particularly in asserting and defending competitor cases in the energy and technology sectors.
• Susan’s recent experience includes asserting and defending patent claims in the Western District of Texas on behalf of one of the world’s largest providers of products and services for the energy industry; asserting and defending a multi-patent infringement case in the Northern District of Texas on behalf of a leading land drilling solutions provider; asserting patent and trade secret claims in the Southern District of Texas involving competitor manufacturers of products and services for the oil and gas industry; and defending a trade secrets case in state court in Houston involving competitor manufacturers of offshore drilling and production equipment.
• Susan represented a national communications technology company in a multi-front dispute with a competitor that involved both asserting and defending patent claims through three trials in the Eastern District of Texas and two appeals to the Federal Circuit, as well as asserting and defending trade secret claims in both federal and state court in Texas.
• She also represented a major food and beverage manufacturer in a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas on patent, trade secret, and trade dress claims against a store-brand manufacturer, and she defended that manufacturer against a major competitor's design patent and trade dress claims in the Southern District of Texas.
• Susan defended a major telecommunications provider in several different patent infringement suits across the country, as well as numerous other clients in patent infringement suits, including accounting firms, internet services companies, and an international semiconductor company.

Commercial Litigation

• Susan represents both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes contract, lease, and other commercial disputes, with significant experience for companies in the energy sector. The breadth of Susan’s experience spans from defending a breach of contract claim for natural gas processing in an arbitration hearing, to defending a natural gas company against personal injury claims, to asserting breach of contract and warranty claims against a leading helicopter manufacturer, to asserting a breach of a commercial lease against a departing tenant.
• Susan regularly partners with her restructuring colleagues on bankruptcy matters. Susan's experience includes representing a debtor’s financial advisor to prepare for deposition and hearing testimony in a highly contested stalking horse bid approval motion and litigating proofs of claim for both debtors and creditors, often for companies in the energy sector.
• Susan has defended several Am Law 150 law firms in professional liability disputes, including a summary judgment in a professional liability lawsuit against an AmLaw 150 firm. Susan argued the summary judgment motion to the trial court, led the preparation of the appellee brief and argued before the Dallas Court of Appeals, which affirmed, and led the Texas Supreme Court briefing, which denied the client’s petition for review. Susan also defended the managing shareholder of one of the country's largest plaintiff firms in a multi-week jury trial in Texas state court in an employment dispute.
• Susan's additional appellate work spans a broad range of issues, including court of appeals, Texas Supreme Court, and United States Supreme Court briefing in professional liability and securities litigation.