Susman Godfrey has been named as a finalist in several categories of Texas Lawyer’s 2024 Legal Awards. Partner Joe Grinstein is a finalist for Attorney of the Year, and partner Krisina Zuñiga is a finalist for the Diversity and Inclusion Champion Award. In addition, associate Ace Factor is a winner in the Texas-based publication’s On the Rise Award. The firm itself is named as a finalist for both Law Firm of the Year and Litigation Department of the Year in the General Commercial Litigation category.
In 2023, Joe Grinstein won two separate jury trials on behalf of plaintiffs – he secured just over $203 million in winning verdicts. In Finesse Wireless v. AT&T and Nokia, Grinstein served as lead counsel and first chair when he obtained a $166.3 million jury verdict for Finesse in patent infringement litigation relating to wireless networks. Judge Gilstrap later ruled on pre-judgment interest to boost Finesse’s total award to $181.2 million. In September 2023, Grinstein won a $37.5 million verdict for Atlas Global Technologies in its patent infringement case against TP-Link.
Krisina Zuñiga is a fierce advocate for diversity in the legal profession—both at Susman Godfrey and in the wider legal community. Krisina serves as co-chair of the firm’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, is a long-standing member of the firm’s Mentorship Committee, and helps run the firm’s Minority-Owned Business (MOBUS) Pro Bono Program. In 2023, Krisina secured a judgment for the full amount owed plus attorneys’ fees for one of her MOBUS clients, the owner of an event planning company who provided services and was never paid. Krisina was recently asked to serve a second term as a director of the Houston Bar Foundation and previously served as president of the Houston Young Lawyers Association.
Ace Factor represents Linde Engineering in the Texas 1st Court of Appeals defending a $43 million judgment, which Ace helped secure as trial counsel in a 5-week jury trial in a gas-plant construction dispute. The judgment was in addition to $22million+ in pretrial recoveries. In 2023, Ace secured a significant settlement for University of Pittsburgh in a patent infringement case against biomedical device company Cochlear Limited. In addition, in the past 12 months Ace dedicated over 500 hours to pro bono clients.
Attorney of the Year and Diversity and Inclusion Champion winners will be announced, and Rising Stars will be honored, at an awards dinner on October 15 at the Arts District Mansion in Dallas.
