Jim Maloney’s expertise is trial work – the resolution of disputes – by trial or arbitration. Jim has the experience, knowledge and skill to manage and try a case in any business sector and in virtually every practice area at a time when the quality of lawyering in civil courtrooms has dramatically declined. That same experience and reputation are invaluable in the resolution of cases calling for early disposition.

Educated at Yale and the Harvard Law School, Jim began his career at Baker Botts, LLP, where he spent 35 years developing and sharpening the courtroom skills that have won him praise from peers and competitors alike. He has represented leading business executives, company directors and major corporations with a client list that has included BP, Shell Oil Company, Pennzoil-Quaker-State, Reliant Energy and its predecessors, Match.com, Novartis, Lyondell Chemical Company, Southern Pacific Railroad Company, Ford Motor Company, Bridgestone-Firestone and the iconic oilman and investor, T. Boone Pickens. When he left Baker Botts in 2012, Jim headed the firm’s securities litigation section and had also served as the longtime chair of the Firm’s employment committee.

More recently, Jim was a senior partner at Andrews Kurth, now Hunton Andrews Kurth, where his clients included BP, multiple master limited partnerships, and both special and conflicts’ committees of boards of directors of both public companies and publicly traded master limited partnerships.

In 2016, Jim started his own firm which has been recognized as a Best Law Firm by Best Lawyers in America every year since its inception. Jim continues to represent defendants in securities matters, to handle commercial matters of all sorts for both plaintiffs and defendants, to appear before the SEC on enforcement matters, and to engage in a broader pro bono practice than was possible earlier in his career. He is also available to assist in or to take over ongoing cases, and to handle the mediation or arbitration of interesting matters.

Over more than 40 years of practice, Jim has tried in excess of 100 cases to jury and bench verdicts and managed thousands of others to successful resolution.

Education

  • JD, Harvard Law School, 1975
  • BA, Yale University, 1972

Admissions

  • Texas
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • Houston Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Texas Bar Foundation, Sustaining Life Fellow
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Trustee

Industries

  • Banking/Finance
  • Energy
  • Energy Services
  • Energy Transactions
  • Government
  • Health Care
  • Natural Gas
  • Oil and Gas
  • Sports/Entertainment
  • Technology

Practices

  • Securities & shareholder litigation
  • Mergers & acquisitions
  • Contracts
  • Trademarks
  • Trade secrets
  • Taxation
  • Non-compete agreements
  • Trusts and estates
  • Antitrust
  • Health care
  • ERISA
  • Products liability and personal injury

Representative Experience

  • Representing a group of former officers and directors of a “ software as a service” or “SaaS”  company in an action alleging claims pursuant to Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 arising out of a secondary offering brought by the Trustee of the bankrupt firm’s liquidation trust.
  • Successfully represented a major civil construction company in an SEC enforcement action.
  • Representing the City of Houston in its constitutional challenges to Texas’ SB4, the “Sanctuary Cities Bill.”
  • Representing a major civil construction company in a series of retaliatory firing actions pursuant to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act brought by former officers of a subsidiary.
  • Represented a major international oil and gas exploration company in an arbitration and related litigation against a major offshore drilling rig contractor and its lessee regarding the termination for cause of an assignment of an offshore drilling rig in Africa and associated drilling services.
  • Represented a multinational pharmaceutical company against various state challenges related to its acquisition of a global eye care products company; cases were consolidated in a multidistrict litigation proceeding and ultimately dismissed.
  • Defended the former directors of a publicly traded, worldwide automotive consumer products company in a three-week trial of a class-action suit over the sale of the company and allegations of breach of fiduciary duties, which resulted in a jury verdict for the defendant directors and a finding of zero damages.
  • Represented a committee of independent directors of an independent oil and gas producer and operator in a trial of majority/minority takeover by an international vertically integrated oil company, in which the committee was dismissed upon the conclusion of the trial.
  • Defended a major international oil company in a wrongful termination/FCPA whistleblower jury trial, which resulted in a verdict for the defense.
  • Obtained summary judgment (state court) and dismissals with prejudice (federal court) of multiple putative class actions against major online dating service.
  • Defended a domestic energy delivery company and its benefits committee in an ERISA class action alleging breach of fiduciary duty and imprudent investment in connection with its offering a company stock fund as a 401(k) option to employees; achieved a summary judgment, affirmed by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the defense.
  • Represented dozens of special and conflicts committees of boards of directors for publicly traded companies and master limited partnerships in state and federal courts in Delaware and Texas.
  • Represented a publicly traded, worldwide automotive consumer products company in multiple matters, including securities claims, derivative actions, challenges to acquisitions/divestitures and Lanham Act cases.
  • Represented an industrial conglomerate in trade secret litigation.
  • Represented a mining company in its multibillion-dollar sale and defended it against multiple challenges in Texas and Arkansas state and federal courts.
  • Represented a major electricity provider in multiple securities and derivative actions.
  • Represented a cable television provider in an antitrust suit over an acquisition.
  • Represented a chemical company in various securities matters, commercial disputes and trade secret litigation.
  • Represented a major chemical company in various commercial matters.
  • Represented the corporate operator of hospitals and health systems in qui tam actions, tax disputes and other commercial litigation.

Professional Recognition

  • Fellow of the Houston Bar Foundation
  • Chambers & Partners USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers: Profiled as one of the leading Litigation: Securities lawyers in Texas, 2007-2017.
  • The Best Lawyers in America: Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions; Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy); Litigation – Securities, 2001-2024. Lawyer of the Year in Litigation – Securities for Houston, 2013.
  • Texas Super Lawyers: Securities Litigation, 2003-2023.
  • The Legal 500: Profiled as one of the leading Securities Shareholder Litigation lawyers in the United States, 2015.
  • Benchmark Litigation: Local Litigation Star in Texas, 2013-2022.
  • AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated in Martindale-Hubbell.
  • Featured in Law360 “Trial Pros” series for 2016.
Houston Bar Foundation
Texas Bar Sustaining Life Fellow