STEPHEN D. SUSMAN, P.C., born Houston, Texas; admitted to bar, 1965, Texas; 1999, District of Columbia; 2000, New York, Colorado. Recognized as one of the most successful plaintiff's attorneys in the United States, Stephen Susman has built an unparalleled history of legal victory on an extremely straightforward idea — he gets paid for results not effort. A native Houstonian from a highly respected family of lawyers, Susman worked his way through Yale University, graduating magna cum laude. Returning to his home state and the University of Texas Law School, he was Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review and graduated first in his class, with the highest grade point average in the school's history. After serving as law clerk to The Honorable John R. Brown of the Fifth Circuit Court of appeals, Susman clerked for the United States Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. In his early career path, Susman joined a large Houston firm and became a partner, took a year's leave of absence to teach law at the University of Texas, and hit on the magic niche that led to a new style of law practice representing plaintiffs in complex commercial disputes. In 1980, he founded Susman Godfrey, the first firm in this part of the country to limit its specialty to commercial litigation. Susman Godfrey has 90 lawyers in Houston, Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. A board-certified civil trial specialist, Susman serves on the national board of the American Board of Trial Advocates and is co-chair of its Jury Trial Committee. He is on the Advisory Board of the Center of Civil Justice at NYU Law School, the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee and co-chair of the Judicial Nominations Task Force of the American Constitution Society. He also serves as co-chair of the Aspen Institute’s Justice Circle. University of Texas (J.D., with highest honors, 1965) Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1962)