Michael Holmes

Michael is the Head of Vinson & Elkins’ Litigation Department. He is Vice Chair of the firm and a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Michael is a trial lawyer who focuses his practice on business litigation. He is a seasoned trial lawyer with particular experience in securities and corporate governance matters, including fiduciary duty cases, litigation arising from M&A transactions, securities class actions, corporate governance matter and alternative entity litigation, among other areas. He has appeared as lead counsel in numerous cases pending in federal and state courts around the country, including the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as arbitral tribunals.

Michael got his first taste for being a lead trial lawyer in a Justice of the Peace Court in Atlanta, Texas shortly after joining the firm in 1997. Since then, he has litigated and tried several significant cases, including some of the largest, most high-profile cases. As examples: In 2009, Michael was on the trial team that a won a judgment ordering Hexion to close its merger with Huntsman. In 2016, Michael led a trial team that won a judgment allowing Energy Transfer to terminate its transaction with The Williams Companies, and in 2019 he led a trial team that won a take-nothing judgment for a publicly-traded company against a $1.6 billion entire fairness claim.

Admitted to practice: Texas, 1997. Member of V&E's litigation department since 1997. Currently serves as head of the firm's Complex Commercial Litigation practice group.

American Bar Association, Antitrust, Litigation, and International Law Sections; State Bar of Texas; Houston Bar Association; Houston Young Lawyers Association