Mark Trachtenberg

Mark Trachtenberg, who represents major companies in high-stakes appeals, is proud to be recognized by his peers as a top lawyer in his field. He was named as the 2023 Lawyer of the Year—Appellate Practice in Houston by The Best Lawyers in America directory. He was recognized as one of the top 100 lawyers in Texas and as one of the top appellate lawyers in the state by Texas Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters). And he is ranked in Chambers USA, 2019-2023 (Chambers and Partners) for appellate law in Texas, in which clients called Mark a “thought leader” and a “very effective” advocate who “comes across as trustworthy and persuasive in his work,” and whose “broad knowledge of Texas law serves his clients really well.”

Mark’s accomplishments for clients include:

• Obtaining reversal reversal in the Texas Supreme Court of a $22 million tortious interference and trade secret misappropriation judgment;
• After being hired to appeal the largest actual damages verdict for an injured worker in Texas history, obtaining (1) a historic $117 million remittitur (reduction in the judgment) from the trial court and (2) a mediated settlement for a fraction of the original verdict after filing our opening brief on appeal;
• Obtaining a summary judgment in a False Claims Act case in which the plaintiffs had sought billions of dollars in damages against a major oil company, and successfully defending the appeal of the take-nothing judgment in the Fifth Circuit;
• Obtaining take-nothing summary judgments against 23 plaintiffs in significant permissive appeal that vindicated a premises owner’s right to immunity under Texas’s workers’ compensation laws against personal-injury claims arising from an explosion;
• Persuading the court of appeals to vacate a $7 million arbitration award on the basis of evident partiality;
• Obtaining a reversal in the Texas Supreme Court of a $14 million products liability judgment; and
• Prevailing on a special appearance that shielded a Singaporean client from a potential $500 million judgment.

A highlight of Mark’s career has been his work on behalf of Texas public schools, an opportunity that arose from a law review article he authored on the history of Texas’s school finance litigation while at Yale Law School. Mark played a lead role in a lawsuit that resulted in an infusion of more than $2 billion for public schools in Texas. He later served as lead counsel at trial and on appeal for a coalition of 88 school districts in a second lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state’s school finance system.

Mark is a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the American Law Institute. He recently served as the chair of the Houston Bar Association’s Appellate Practice Section and currently serves as an officer with the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society and with Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists (TACTAS). Mark is also dedicated to his community, previously serving as the chair of the Southwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League and on the Education Policy Committee of the United Way of Greater Houston.

Mark writes and speaks prolifically on a variety of topics, with a recent focus on arbitration issues, brief writing, and Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court trends. He is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.