Representative Matters
Bill Matthews has tried and arbitrated alleged corporate fraud, mismanagement, shareholder oppression and other securities litigation issues, representing corporate officers and board members, as well as their accountants and attorneys. He has defended numerous trustees, administrators, and their attorneys in contested estate matters, in addition to more than 100 legal malpractice lawsuits for Houston firms and law firms of national scope. He also has handled the contested evaluation of numerous offshore properties; cogeneration pricing and gas supply contract disputes for E&P companies and five pipelines; offshore drilling rig contract disputes; and alleged design defects for several engineering and construction companies and over 10 offshore drilling companies, both foreign and domestic, and defended various product manufacturers, primarily in the aviation and automobile industries.
Corporations and their Board Members, Directors, and Executives
- Represented directors in a series of claims filed by security class action plaintiffs in derivative suits.
- Represented former Controller of a public company in an SEC investigation and in continuing discovery in the resulting ERISA and security class actions.
- Represented the worldwide operations officer for an international mutual fund family in SEC investigations regarding market timing.
- Defended an insurance brokerage firm and its officers from charges brought by another international brokerage firm alleging fraud, conspiracy, interference with contractual relations, unfair trade practices, and breaches of non-competition agreements.
Merger/Squeeze Out of Minority Shareholders and Officers
- Defended public and privately-held companies (their board members and their law firms) from derivative claims, fraud and conspiracy charges, and asserted “squeeze outs” of minority shareholders, as well as representing shareholders in other litigation asserting minority oppression, and supervising special litigation committee investigations.
Construction Disputes
- Arbitrator in multimillion-dollar construction disputes regarding erection of out of state gas processing facility/plant and construction of a gas gathering system.
- Served on arbitration panel ruling on lease interpretation for chemical plant along Houston ship channel.
- Represented a national engineering consulting firm in disputes regarding construction of a West Texas gas processing plant.
- Represented a NY architectural firm on problems with design/construction of an office tower in Denver.
- Defended contractor’s design and construction of a plant expansion, as well as seeking its recovery in another construction matter (a gambling ship, of all things) in arbitration.
- Represented Scandinavian contractor in disputes with major oil companies involving design and construction of deep water drilling unit for the North Sea.
- Defended in arbitration manufacturer of large industrial turbines installed in chemical plant.
- Represented a Finnish shipyard on problems associated with the construction and operation of a semi-submersible drilling rig.
Offshore Drilling and Gas Contract Disputes
- Obtained injunction after a two-week trial requiring gas takes by utility resulting in additional $1 billion over life of client’s contract.
- Secured a $20 million arbitration award on untimely termination of a drilling contract.
- Negotiated a new multi-year contract from the government of India in an international arbitration.
- Defended a Finnish shipyard from breach allegations in a semi-submersible construction contract.
Design Liability in Products Litigation
- Successfully defended in jury trials and appeals assertion of product design failures in a series of multi-million dollar helicopter crash deaths and single-vehicle turnover crashes.
- Defended defective design of a major downtown office tower and the results of an internal gasket explosion in a chemical plant.
Estate and Probate Litigation
- Successfully defended bank fiduciaries, individual executors and administrators (and their legal advisors) from attack by beneficiaries and third parties for asserted breach of fiduciary duties., waste of assets and self dealing.