Attorneys

Biography

An established and seasoned AV-rated trial lawyer with a focus on business, employment, and intellectual property disputes, Michael Marconi has successfully tried numerous cases to verdict and worked on some of the highest profile cases in the history of American jurisprudence, including both the Enron and Allen Stanford disputes.

Michael has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the broadest spectrum of litigation matters, including disputes relating to contracts, unfair competition, personal injury, products liability, construction defects, premises liability, real estate, mineral leases, intellectual property, trade secrets, non-competition and non-soliciting agreements, and business divorces.

As a natural extension of his experience handling sophisticated complex commercial disputes, Michael has also coordinated investigations relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by the Department of Justice. Michael has also represented clients facing workplace enforcement actions before OSHA and has appeared as a counsel in proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service. Michael routinely advises clients with respect to risk management, immigration, and employment issues affecting their business.

After living overseas for sixteen years in Spain, Sweden, and Italy and graduating high school at the American School of Madrid, Michael attended Boston College where he was introduced into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, awarded an Army R.O.T.C. scholarship, and he graduated summa cum laude. Already fluent in Spanish and Italian, Michael concurrently studied Russian and Mandarin Chinese.

Following college, Michael was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, completing both the Field Artillery Officer Basic Course and Basic Airborne School. He was then assigned to the Second Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas, where he served in various positions of increasing responsibility. Following his selection for promotion to Captain, Michael chose to leave active-duty service to attend law school at The University of Texas School of Law. He subsequently began his law practice in the Securities and Antitrust Litigation section of a prominent Texas-based national law firm.

Admission to Practice

• Texas, 1992
• U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Supreme Court of Texas

Memberships & Affiliations

• State Bar of Texas
• Dallas Bar Association

Education

The University of Texas School of Law
Austin, Texas
J.D., 1992

• Carl W. Wilson Mock Trial Finalist
• Gibbs & Ratliff First Year Moot Court Finalist

Boston College
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
A.B., Political Science, summa cum laude, 1985

• Phi Beta Kappa
• Alpha Sigma Nu (National Jesuit Honor Society)
• Army R.O.T.C. Scholarship Recipient

Military Service

United States Army

2nd Armored Division
Fort Hood, Texas, 1985 - 1989

• Fire Support Team Chief - HHB, 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery
• Battery Executive Officer - Service Battery, 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery
• Battalion Adjutant - HHB, 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery
• Assistant Division Artillery Adjutant - HHB, 2nd Armored Division Artillery

Representative Cases

• Lead counsel trial representation of a Dallas-based electrical engineering firm in connection with a multi-million-dollar shareholder action filed in state district court. After a one-week trial and a demand for $2.5 million on the morning of closing arguments, the Court rendered a take nothing verdict in favor of the engineering firm.
• Responsible for the day-to-day operations of a national firm's representation of the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Enron Corporation against the former officers and professionals of Enron. In that capacity, coordinated the efforts of a large team of lawyers and outside professionals including consulting and testifying experts. This litigation, which flowed from one of the largest bankruptcies in American history, resulted in settlements in excess of $100 million for the Enron Estate.
  
• Lead counsel trial representation of a landlord sued in connection with a commercial lease dispute relating to a restaurant site in Tarrant County, Texas. After a one-week trial, the jury rendered a verdict in favor of the landlord and awarded him his attorney's fees and costs of court. Plaintiff was seeking nearly $1 million in damages.
  
• Lead counsel trial representation of investors who sued a business owner for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and conversion in state court. After a one-week trial, the jury awarded the investors both compensatory and exemplary damages and found against the Defendant on his counterclaim.
  
• Lead counsel for an Indiana corporation sued in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas for trademark infringement, false advertising, and cybersquatting under the Lanham Act, as well as several state law claims including misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference, and breach of contract. After taking over the case, which had been ongoing for several years with less than 30 days left to conclude discovery and in the face of demands for tens of millions of dollars, the case settled on the eve of trial for less than a fraction of the anticipated remaining costs of defense.
  
• Represented a senior corporate officer in connection with the Allen Stanford litigation. In this capacity, Michael worked closely with the corporate officer's high-profile criminal defense team to help navigate millions of pages of records produced in connection with one of the largest corporate fraud cases pursued by the United States Government.
  
• Represented a Canadian pharmaceutical company sued in connection with allegations that bulk pharmaceutical ingredients it supplied to a compounding pharmacy resulted in several racehorses testing positive for banned substances as well as the disqualification of a well-established quarter horse trainer from future competitions for more than a decade. While the case has been ongoing for several years, Michael was hired to take over the representation from an old-line Dallas firm with just months to go before trial. After three years of litigation and demands for millions of dollars, the case against the Canadian company was dismissed pursuant to a summary judgment only weeks before trial.
  
• Representation of a construction business before OSHA in connection with contested proceedings relating to several significant workplace safety citations.
  
• Lead counsel representation of an international direct sales company sued in the Northern District of Texas in connection with a multi-million-dollar claim relating to the termination of one of the company's master distributors. After three years of litigation and demands for millions of dollars, the case settled for a nominal amount on the eve of trial.
  
• Successful first and second chair trial representation of one of the largest residential telecommunications carriers in the United States, in a series of arbitration proceedings in Texas, Ohio, Missouri, and Hawaii relating to franchise agreements and other distributor contracts.
  
• Lead counsel representation of a Fortune 500 company in connection with an expedited arbitration proceeding relating to a multi-million-dollar technical services contract in Hong Kong.
  
• Successful trial representation of a restaurant group in a wrongful death action filed by the family of the decedent.
  
• Major role representing a leading manufacturer of commercial explosives in connection with an industry-wide price-fixing investigation conducted by the Department of Justice.
  
• Successful trial representation of a retail energy provider sued for breach of contract. After a one-week trial, the Court rendered a take nothing judgment against the Plaintiff and awarded the retail energy provider actual and exemplary damages in connection with its counterclaim for usury.