Sy Polky

Recognized as a litigator who is “On the Rise” by Texas Lawyer and as a member of “The Next Generation of Leading Lawyers” by Lawdragon, Sy Polky handles high stakes litigation across the United States, including complex commercial litigation, public nuisance litigation, and probate litigation.

Sy routinely handles nine and ten-figure lawsuits and arbitrations for both plaintiffs and defendants. He has helped his plaintiff clients achieve recoveries worth hundreds of millions of dollars and has helped defeat numerous multi-million-dollar claims against his defense-side clients.

Sy’s recent matters and wins include:

• Marshall Probate Litigation, where Sy oversees litigation pending in multiple courts in Texas and Louisiana, including Texas Probate and District Courts. Sy has helped his client achieve numerous successful results, including recovery of substantial assets and a 2022 Texas Probate Court jury verdict that ruled in Sy’s client favor on all claims, including breach of fiduciary duty and breach of trust claims, and awarded a recovery worth millions of dollars.
• Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. Purdue Pharma L.P. et al., where Sy helps lead the City of Baltimore’s litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and prescribers.
• Servpro Industries, LLC v. Cotton Holdings, Inc., where Sy helped his client overcome a tortious interference with contract claim related to a non-compete agreement at the summary judgment stage, leaving the plaintiff with no recovery.
• Confidential Probate Arbitration, where Sy helped his client favorably navigate and resolve an eight-figure probate dispute. At the conclusion of the matter, Sy’s client described his work with Sy as the, “highest caliber and professional experience. We were amazed by [his] brilliance, communication, counsel and strategy.”
• In re Arena Energy, LP, a bankruptcy proceeding, where Sy cross-examined the CEO and founder of a publicly traded oil and gas company regarding the company’s effort to challenge the bankruptcy proceeding. At the end of Sy’s cross-examination, the Court declared the company’s conduct “abhorrent.” The company dropped its challenge a few days later.
• Confidential Business Dispute Arbitration, where Sy helped several oil and gas limited partnerships and their owners defeat a departing partner’s effort to challenge the valuation process for departing partners and obtain over $100 million in damages. After significant motion practice, the departing partner abandoned its claims and walked away with zero dollars.

Sy also makes time for substantial pro bono litigation. He currently represents several Harris County elected officials in election contests brought by unsuccessful candidates that are challenging the results of the 2022 election. Sy has also worked pro bono to secure a successful result for a juvenile immigrant seeking to establish parental rights with his mother.

Sy joined Susman Godfrey after clerking for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.  Sy graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School after serving as Executive Editor to the Harvard Law Review. Before attending law school, Sy worked as a fifth-grade teacher in Houston with Teach for America. Sy graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University.

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