Lewis T. LeClair

Lewis LeClair has been handling complex commercial and intellectual property litigation on both the plaintiff and defense side for almost four decades. He is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has a particular specialization in complex financial litigation, antitrust, and accounting issues.

Lew is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and consistently recognized as a leading lawyer in his field by major legal directories, including Benchmark Litigation and Chambers USA. He is also ranked by Best Lawyers in several practice areas, including Bet-the-Company, Commercial, Securities, Bankruptcy, IP, and Patent Litigation.

• Soaring Wind Energy AVIC - LeClair served as counsel for Soaring Wind Energy against a top level Chinese state-owned entity (and various affiliates including a US entity). An arbitration award for $63 Million was confirmed by the Northern District of Texas against the US entity and the award and judgment were severed from the claims against the Chinese entities which claims were stayed pending appeal of the US entity arbitration award. After affirmance by the  5th Circuit, and failure to  pay the judgment, and lack of response to post-judgment discovery, contempt proceedings were begun against AVIC USA, and on the response date, AVIC USA filed bankruptcy in Los Angeles. Proceedings in bankruptcy revealed transfers of assets overseas, and after further litigation, the matter was settled.

• Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., et. al. v. Anthem, Inc. (and a large number of Blue Cross entities and affiliates) - LeClair is counsel for the Plaintiff corporate entities who opted out the settlement of antitrust Section 1 litigation claims against the Blue Cross entities following a $2.1 billion settlement in the Northern District of Alabama. The settled case was litigated for almost ten years before Judge Proctor, but most of the opt-out claimants are larger self-funded entities who had contractual relationships with the Blue Cross entities and did not receive an adequate sharing percentage in the approved settlement. Several different opt-out cases were filed and all were recently transferred to Judge Proctor.

• Motista, LLP v. Ernst & Young, LLP - LeClair is counsel for Plaintiff, a marketing and consulting business entity that entered into negotiations with Ernst & Young and claims that EY misappropriated its trade secrets and breached various agreements regarding non-disclosure. The case was originally filed in the Eastern District of Texas, but was sent to arbitration because of a delegation clause giving the arbitrator the power to determine arbitrability. Injunction is excluded from arbitration and Motista has filed claims for injunctive relief that remain pending. The arbitration is proceeding and scheduled for final hearing in February 2023.

• Blockchain Innovation, LLC v. Franklin Templeton - LeClair is counsel for a start-up tech company that was acquired by an affiliate of the defendant. The case alleges misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty to the acquired entity. The defendants implemented an assignment for the benefit of creditors for the predecessor of the Plaintiff which allowed Plaintiffs, the former owners of the start-up to acquire the assets and claims of the entity.

• Cruson v Jackson Nat. Life Ins. Co. - LeClair was counsel for Plaintiffs and the class in asserting claims of breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. After the class was certified, a Rule 26(f) petition was granted and the class certification was appealed to the 5th Circuit. The 5th Circuit vacated the certification order in 2020 on various grounds. Although the primary basis of the appeal was lack of personal jurisdiction which raised procedural issues that were matters of first impression in the 5th Circuit, Jackson counsel chose to rely on certification attacks rather than personal jurisdiction. The matter returned to the district court, and after discovery, a settlement was reached and approved in 2021 by the District Court.

• Richard W. Tredinnick v Transamerica Life Insurance Co. - LeClair is counsel for Plaintiffs and the class asserting securities and breach of contract claims. Motions to dismiss the action were recently filed and remain pending in November 2022.

• SC Innovations v. Uber (N.D. Cal) Lead counsel for plaintiff asserting antitrust claims under federal and state law, including predatory pricing.

• Archer Dental v Schein, et. al. (E.D. Texas) Lead counsel for dental supply distributor claiming illegal group boycott and conspiracy in dental supply industry.

• Dial Corporation, et. al., v News Corp. (S.D. NY) Co-lead trial counsel for class of consumer product good companies claiming monopolization of the in-store advertising market. Case settled for $250 million on the first day of trial.

• Lake Las Vegas Creditors Trust. (D. Nev) Lead counsel for Creditors Trust in action for recovery of $470 million fraudulent transfer arising from transfers from real estate resort prior to bankruptcy.

• Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation v Deloitte Touche LLP. (M.D. Fla) Counsel in action pending in Florida seeking recovery of damages in excess of $1 billion arising from the failure of the Taylor, Bean & Whitaker mortgage corporation and audits performed by Deloitte.

• John DeGroote Services LLC, et. al. v John F. Harbach, et. al. (E.D. Va.) Co-lead counsel in trustee action in Virginia against the former officers and directors of BearingPoint Inc. for damages arising from the failure of the international consulting firm.

• MetroPCS v Merrill Lynch (TX state and FINRA arbitration) Lead counsel on $100 million claim for securities fraud and negligent misrepresentation relating to auction rate securities with claims brought both in state court in Texas and in FINRA arbitration.

• In re ACS Securities Litigation. Consolidated C.A. No. 4940-VCP (Chancery Court of Delaware) Served as lead counsel for founder and chairman of ACS in connection with merger of company with Xerox Corporation and significant issues regarding dual class stock. Cases pending in both Texas and Delaware consolidated and managed largely in the Chancery Court. Very favorable settlement for client, who obtained significant premium over common shareholders.

• Recognized in the guide to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America, (2022, 2024, 2025)
• Named a "Texas Trailblazer" by Texas Lawyer, 2020
• Named the Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" for Banking and Finance, 2022
• Named the Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" for Securities Litigation, 2019
• Recognized among Lawdragon's 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers, 2019-2024
• Named Texas Lawyer “Appellate Lawyer of the Week,” 2017
• Ranked in Chambers USA as a leading commercial litigator. The 2024 publication notes that he “is an outstanding lawyer.”
• Ranked as a Commercial and Intellectual Property "Litigation Star" by Benchmark Litigation, 2015-2025
• Ranked by Best Lawyers in America as a leading lawyer in Litigation: Bet-the-Company, Commercial, Bankruptcy, Insurance Law, Banking and Finance, IP, Patent, Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, and Securities, 2015-2025
• Named twice to the Dallas Business Journal listing of top litigators in Dallas
• Named by his peers to the list of Texas Super Lawyers, 2003-present
• Listed in the Lawdragon 500