Alexander L. Kaplan

Antitrust, Energy, M&A disputes, Corporate governance/fiduciary duty, Securities, valuation, and financial, Technology/IP, Constitutional law/civil rights, Professional liability, Aggregate litigation, Insurance coverage, Arbitration

Alex Kaplan is a leading commercial trial and appellate lawyer and a member of Susman Godfrey’s Executive Committee. Kaplan represents clients in a wide range of antitrust, energy, financial, technology, and M&A related disputes. He also advises clients on internal and external investigation matters.

A gifted advocate, strategist, and analyst, Kaplan represents clients in their most complex and high-value disputes in courts across the US and domestic and international arbitrations. He has an impressive record of success, recovering more than $1.5 billion in settlements or judgments for plaintiff-side clients, and defeating exposures for multiples of that figure for defense-side clients. His wins have been reported in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The American Lawyer, Houston Chronicle, Texas Lawyer, and Law360.

Clients and peers describe Kaplan as a “forceful advocate” (The Legal 500) and “extremely smart” (Benchmark Litigation). In its 2022 rankings, Chambers USA recognized Kaplan for his skill in antitrust matters, complex arbitrations, and class actions, with a client reporting that Kaplan “is a very good trial lawyer,” who provides “top-notch legal advice and good trial strategy, and he is also incredibly responsive.”

Kaplan excels at presenting complex matters in clear terms that resonate with judges, juries, and arbitrators. His writing has been featured in leading books on effective advocacy. A brief he wrote with Steve Susman in the securities litigation arising from Bank of America’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch was featured in Point Made: How to Write Like the Nations’ Top Advocates (University of Chicago Press). And a Daubert motion he wrote for an actuarial malpractice case was described as “devastating,” an example of how to “frontload critical facts so that trial judges can assess the relevant issues quickly,” in The Art of Advocacy (Noah Messing, Yale Law School Writing Instructor).

Kaplan joined Susman Godfrey in 2005 and was elected to the partnership just four years later. Over his 15-plus years at Susman Godfrey, Kaplan has served in a number of roles, including as the youngest partner on the Executive Committee, National Hiring Partner, and Chair of the Docket Committee, responsible for staffing client engagements across all offices.

• Member, University of Texas School of Law Alumni Executive Committee

• Director, Texas Law Review Association

• Adjunct Law Professor (civil procedure), University of Houston

• American Bar Association

• Federal Bar Association

• Houston Bar Association

• Arbitrator, Fee Disputes Committee (Houston Bar Association)

• Co-Chair, Houston Bar Association Speakers Bureau (2018-2019)

• State Bar of Texas

• Supreme Court of the United States

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

• All U.S. District Courts in Texas (Southern, Eastern, Western & Northern)

• U.S. District Court of Southern District of New York

• U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico

• U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Wisconsin