Eric D. Wade

Education

J.D., South Texas College of Law, 1995

South Texas Law Review, Managing Editor, 1994 to 1995

B.A., Vanderbilt University, Economics, 1992

Admissions

Texas

All Federal District Courts Texas

United States District Court Fifth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals Federal Circuit

Clerkships

• The Hon. Norman W. Black, Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, 1995 to 1997

Eric Wade’s representations include the following:

General Business Litigation

• Trial counsel for former officers and directors of a public refining and petrochemical company regarding bankruptcy-related claims for fraudulent transfers and breach of fiduciary duty.
• Lead trial counsel for an international cardiovascular research and education institute in a lengthy, multi-party qui tam case involving Medicare fraud. The case was favorably resolved after the scope of the relator’s expert witness on liability was greatly limited under a Daubert challenge.
• Lead trial counsel for a real estate developer's several disputes regarding operational and partnership issues.
• Lead trial counsel for investors in a real estate investment scam involving financial fraud.
• Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in a case to take over ownership and control of a company engaged in the manufacture of products in an emerging field of fiber technology.
• Lead trial counsel defending a company against breach of contract and negligence claims brought by a franchise owner.
• Lead trial counsel for plaintiffs seeking to recover amounts owed by a public company on the purchase of the plaintiff's business and other monies owed for performance under employment agreements.
• Lead trial counsel for a shareholder pursuing claims against a privately held company and its other shareholders for breach of obligations contained in a shareholder's agreement.
• Lead trial counsel for a supplier of steel to a public transportation project in a case against the general contractor, its owners and officers and the surety.
• Trial counsel for an international plastics manufacturer in a trial defending against fraud claims brought by an international construction company concerning work on a $1.8 billion dollar expansion of the plastic manufacturer's facilities.
• Trial counsel for a bankruptcy trustee in a case against the managers and advisors for several mutual funds for breach of contract and self-dealing.
• Trial counsel for a commercial bank in a case against a bank client and its owners for fraud concerning the company's manipulation of a factoring line of credit.
• Lead trial counsel for a public company and its officers in a case against an individual who had posted defamatory e-mails concerning the company's practices and personnel on Internet bulletin boards.

Energy Industry Litigation 

• Lead trial counsel for an exploration and production company in a post-closing dispute regarding severance tax liability on a multi-million-dollar acquisition of assets in the northern Rocky Mountains.
• Lead trial counsel for a natural gas pipeline company in matters before state and bankruptcy courts concerning the delivery and storage of natural gas. The suite of cases was resolved following the trial of certain issues before the bankruptcy court.
• Lead counsel to exploration and production companies regarding potential force majeure claims stemming from orders from the United States Minerals Management Service to cease offshore drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico. All disputes with drilling companies were resolved before litigation was filed.
• Lead trial counsel for an international energy company in a dispute regarding damage to subsea fiber optic cables that link offshore drilling platforms and onshore control centers. The case involved the use of satellite tracking technology and deep-water survey techniques and was resolved before trial.
• Lead trial counsel for working interest owners in a dispute with the operator of several offshore drilling platforms.
• Lead trial counsel for a major energy company in post-closing litigation concerning the sale of an onshore natural gas pipeline system and related gas processing facilities.
• Lead plaintiff’s trial counsel for an international energy company in a dispute regarding damage to subsea pipelines and the attending business interruption due to an inability to transport natural gas production to shore. The liability issues were tried to a verdict in federal court, and the case settled favorable during the first day of trial on damages.
• Lead counsel for an executive in his separation from one of the nation's largest fee mineral and royalty interest holding partnerships. The separation was rewarded before litigation was filed.
• Trial counsel for a large independent oil and gas company in a dispute against other working interest owners regarding the construction of a joint operating agreement.
• Trial counsel for a large natural gas pipeline and natural gas storage company in several adversarial proceedings associated with the Enron bankruptcy.
• Trial counsel for royalty owners seeking payment of royalties owed by an international oil company over a 25-year period for production from natural gas wells.

Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets Litigation 

• Lead trial counsel for owners of intellectual property in a trade secret dispute involving seismic survey technology. The case was resolved before trial upon exposing fatal flaws in the opposition's analysis and public disclosure of trade secrets.
• Lead counsel to an international cardiovascular research and education institute on intellectual property issues stemming from joint ventures with other research institutions.
• Trial counsel for an international power and technology company in intellectual property litigation concerning patent infringement and patent licensing of biodegradable dielectric fluids used in electrical transformers.
• Trial counsel for patent owners in cases against two infringing multinational corporations concerning methods used to efficiently and economically manufacture electric circuit boards.
• Trial counsel for a private company and the owner of several patents in numerous infringement cases concerning the separation of solids from drilling fluids.
• Appellate counsel for a patent owner before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concerning the issue of inequitable conduct in the procurement of a patent.

Securities 

• Lead trial counsel for an investment bank in securities cases filed by alleged holders of Enron Corp.-related debt.
• Lead trial counsel for an investment bank executive concerning a dispute over compensation.
• Lead trial counsel for an investment banking firm in a partnership dispute regarding the ownership of warrants, executive compensation, and financial fraud.
• Lead trial counsel to several individuals under investigation by the SEC concerning Sarbanes-Oxley liability associated with the reporting of oil and gas reserves.
• Lead trial counsel in an SEC investigation brought against individuals concerning securities fraud related to natural gas production estimates.
• Trial counsel for a bankruptcy trustee in a case against an international securities firm concerning the fraudulent transfer of millions of dollars used to collateralize high-risk investments in Russian and Ukrainian debt instruments.

Environmental Litigation

• Lead trial counsel for a national real estate development company in environmental litigation concerning perchloroethylene contamination.
• Trial counsel for a large exploration and production company in defense of claims that drilling operations contaminated the fresh water aquifers above the production zone. This case was resolved before trial after the plaintiffs' experts were compromised through Daubert motions.

News

Media Mentions

Publications

State Bar of Texas, Member

Houston Bar Association, Member

American Bar Association, Member

South Texas College of Law Alumni Association, former Board Member

Federal Bar Association for the Southern District of Texas, former Board Member

A.G. Bell Foundation for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, former Academy Board Member (former Board Member for Auditory Verbal International during its merger with A.G. Bell)

Vestry, Saint John the Divine Episcopal Church

Trustee, Camp for All

Trustee and Chairman of the Board, Texas Heart Institute

Former board member, Auditory Verbal International

Former board member, St. John the Divine Episcopal Church