Prerak “Pre” Shah is of counsel in the Houston office of Gibson Dunn, where he is a member of the firm’s State Attorney General Task Force. Drawing on his experience at the highest levels of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S. Congress, he advises companies and executives facing state, federal, congressional, and internal investigations. He also represents clients in high-stakes civil litigation, with a particular expertise in state attorney general enforcement actions.
Pre previously served as the Senior Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas, advising the AG directly on the most consequential legal and policy issues facing the state. He supervised landmark litigation and enforcement actions, oversaw sensitive investigations, and helped craft the state’s legal strategy in cases with nationwide impact.
Pre was instrumental in coordinating Texas’s participation in high-profile multistate lawsuits and investigations, including matters involving consumer protection, antitrust enforcement, data privacy, and environmental regulation. In this role, Pre worked closely with attorneys general across the country to advance joint legal and policy objectives, while also serving as a public-facing representative on major litigation and enforcement matters.
Pre later served as the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, where he led one of the largest and busiest districts in the nation. As the chief federal law enforcement officer for a population of more than 8 million, he oversaw a team of 120 prosecutors handling matters involving securities and healthcare fraud, the False Claims Act, public corruption, cybercrimes, and national security threats. Under his leadership, the office handled numerous high-profile matters, including convicting a cryptocurrency founder for securities fraud, investigating the death of MLB pitcher Tyler Skaggs, prosecuting a would-be bomber plotting to attack an Amazon facility, and capturing a capital murder suspect on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list.
Before joining the Justice Department, Pre served as Chief of Staff to Senator Ted Cruz and as his Chief Counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where he provided strategic counsel on all policy, communications, political, and legal issues. He played a key role in numerous high-profile congressional investigations and hearings, including testimony from the CEOs or General Counsels of Facebook, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Twitter, SoftBank, and Equifax, as well as the confirmation hearings of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Pre also helped shape the federal judiciary, personally spearheading the selection, nomination, and confirmation of over 20 federal judges in Texas, as well as working on the confirmation of over 150 federal judges nationwide. He currently serves on the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, appointed by Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to advise them on all judicial and U.S. Attorney appointments in Texas. He has also twice been appointed by the judges of the Eastern District of Texas to their Magistrate Judge Selection Committee.
Pre also held multiple senior leadership positions at the Department of Justice, including Deputy Associate Attorney General in the office overseeing the divisions responsible for antitrust, civil rights, environmental litigation, and tax matters. He also served as the Deputy Assistant Attorney General leading the Department’s Natural Resources Section, handling litigation over the Keystone XL Pipeline, the Dakota Access Pipeline, federal fracking regulations, and even the salvage of the wreckage of the infamous RMS Titanic.
Pre earned his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Capabilities
- Litigation
- Appellate and Constitutional Law
- Consumer Protection
- National Security
- Public Policy
- Trials
- White Collar Defense and Investigations
Credentials
Education:
- University of Chicago - 2010 Juris Doctor
- Drexel University, Pennsylvania - 2007 Bachelor of Science
Admissions:
- Texas Bar
Clerkships:
- US Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit, Hon. Jerry E. Smith, 2010 - 2011