Mr. Cox is a business trial lawyer who represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial cases.  He has been a lead trial lawyer in computer software trade secrets cases, several actions related to the Bernard L. Madoff fraud, royalty disputes, patent litigation, and other business crisis situations.  In each of his representations, he prides himself on his ability to get to the heart of a complex matter, making everything as simple as possible, but not simpler (to quote Einstein), to tell a winning story to a jury or judge.

He continues to be one of the youngest trial lawyers in Texas to receive band ranking recognition in commercial litigation from Chambers USA, in which clients have praised him as “a go-to trial lawyer” who is commercially savvy and a strategic thinker.

Mr. Cox was one of 59 Americans selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar, completing a year-long leadership curriculum centered around four presidential administrations.  He currently serves on the board of directors for the Houston Bar Association, on the Executive Committee of UTHealth Development, and as Vice President of Da Camera of Houston.  Mr. Cox is the past Chairman of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and the Texas Lyceum, the pre-eminent leadership organization for Texans younger than 45.

Mr. Cox maintains a close connection to Duke Law School, serving on its Board of Visitors and on its Adjunct Faculty, teaching a class on Hearings Practice each of the last four years.  He is named in Best Lawyers in America for commercial and intellectual property litigation and is noted as a “Texas Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters and a “Houston Top Lawyer” by H Magazine.  In 2012, he was recognized as the Woodrow B. Seals Outstanding Young Lawyer in Houston.

Prior to joining the firm, he practiced with Yetter Coleman LLP and Williams & Connolly LLP.  Mr. Cox was a law clerk for the Honorable Anthony J. Scirica, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, in Philadelphia.

Representative Matters*

• GHP Nail Systems, LLC v. Benelux Cosmetics B.V. Obtained a $2.7 million jury verdict on counterclaims while defending Benelux, a Netherlands-based cosmetic distributor in a trial involving poor-quality gel nail polish manufactured by the plaintiff. We were hired four months before a three-week trial, after discovery and expert selection.  We prevailed on all counterclaims and successfully defeated seven claims by GHP.  The final award for our client included actual damages, penalty damages, and attorney fees.
• Ruben Rodriguez v. Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. Secured a complete dismissal of a breach of contract claim brought against client Helmerich & Payne by a subcontract employee who allegedly was injured on an H&P rig located on Encana’s property.  Granting our motion to dismiss, the Court held that the plaintiff could not establish he was a third-party beneficiary of his daywork drilling contract where he only pleaded that he received incidental benefits from H&P’s obligations under the contract.
• Sanchez v. Noble Energy. Secured dismissal of a nuisance and personal injury lawsuit brought against Noble Energy in Texas state court involving an alleged accident that occurred in Colorado.  After briefing and argument, the court granted our motion to dismiss for forum non conveniens, dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice.
• Joseph Hardesty, et al. v. County of Sacramento.  Helped secure a unanimous $107 million federal jury trial win (after five weeks of testimony) for two mining families in California.  Plaintiffs alleged that the County of Sacramento violated their procedural and substantive due process rights by improperly shutting down a sand-gravel mine at the urging of a large competitor (#21 U.S. verdict of 2017).  Liability was affirmed on appeal but remanded for excessive damages.
• Business Logic Holding Corporation v. Morningstar et al.  In a complex case involving financial software in the retirement sector, first-chaired a trial team that secured a $61 million cash recovery that represented 95% maximum claimed damages by our client, Business Logic.  Reached the last business day before jury selection, the agreement is the 9th largest disclosed trade-secrets settlement in the U.S.  Also argued summary judgment, which preserved our misappropriation and breach-of-contract claims and disposed of Morningstar’s counterclaim against our client.
• Polyzen, Inc. v. RadiaDyne, L.L.C. First-chaired a defense victory in a four-day jury trial in Raleigh representing defendant RadiaDyne, the designer of balloons used in prostate cancer therapy.  Before trial, the court dismissed all patent claims brought by the plaintiff, a manufacturer of medical balloons.  At trial, the jury unanimously found for our client on plaintiff’s trade secret claim and its claim for unpurchased inventory.  The jury also found that plaintiff breached the relevant contract, competed unfairly with our client, and failed to return tooling paid for by RadiaDyne.  After a seven-year journey, the case resulted in a judgment for monetary damages for RadiaDyne, which has since been affirmed by the Federal Circuit.

Professional Honors & Affiliations

• Lawdragon: “500 Leading Litigators in America,” 2022
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Business Lawyers in Texas Commercial Litigation, 2015-2022
• Best Lawyers in America® in Commercial and Intellectual Property Litigation, 2016-2023
• “Texas Super Lawyer” in Business Litigation, Thomson Reuters, 2013-2020
• “Top 100 Super Lawyer” in Houston, 2020-2022
• “Texas Super Lawyer,” 2013-2021
• “Houston Top Lawyer” in Business Litigation, H Magazine
• “Texas Rising Star,” by Thomson Reuters, 2008-2013
• 2012 Woodrow B. Seals Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, Houston Young Lawyers Association
• Outstanding Young Alumnus of Baylor University, 2008

Presentations & Publications

• “Business Disputes 2022 Course,” State Bar of Texas, September 2022 (speaker)
• “Helping Clients Overcome Financial Hurdles Mid-Litigation,” Law360, July 16, 2020 (co-author)
• “Nuisance – Trespass and Limitations Issues,” 42nd Annual Advanced Civil Trial Course, 2019 (presenter)
• “Discovery of Damages in TCPA Cases,” 32nd Annual Advanced Evidence and Discovery Course, 2019 (presenter and co-author)
• “Business Development, Marketing and Networking Strategies,” Practice Skills for Young Lawyers, Texas Young Lawyers Association of State Bar of Texas, March 2017 (panelist)
• Adjunct Professor (Wintersession), Hearings Practice, Duke Law School, 2017-2020
• “Commercial Litigation Trends in Texas,” Financier Worldwide, November 2016  
• “Trends in Commercial Litigation,” State Bar 8th Annual Business Disputes Conference, September 2016 (presenter and co-author)

Education & Professional Background

• Duke University, J.D., summa cum laude, 2001 (Order of the Coif, Editor-in-Chief, 2000-2001, Duke Law Journal)
• University of Cambridge, M.Phil., First Class Honors, 1999
• Baylor University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1997 (Phi Beta Kappa, Outstanding Graduate, College of Arts & Sciences, Student Body President, Permanent Class President)
• Law Clerk to The Hon. Anthony J. Scirica, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 2001-2002
• Temple Bar Scholar
• Admitted to Practice: Texas, 2001, District of Columbia, 2003, New York, 2015

* Includes matters handled prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher