Rachel Clingman, Partner-in-Charge of Sutherland's Houston office, is nationally recognized in litigation for energy, transportation and insurance companies and known for her experience in complex litigation, crisis management and related commercial issues. Rachel has counseled executives and boards of directors on how to deal with crises with billions of dollars of exposure and potential criminal consequences, and she has presented executives for litigation testimony and testimony before Congress and investigative entities. Rachel also has been honored regionally and nationally for legal excellence and industry and civic contributions. Regular clients include energy, chemical and transportation companies involved in complex litigation and/or government and regulatory investigations.
Rachel is also a member of Sutherland's Crisis Management and Complex Litigation Team, helping clients navigate crises and develop legal response strategies tailored to each specific situation. To learn more about how Sutherland defends companies facing challenges on multiple fronts, including civil litigation and parallel criminal investigations, multi-district litigation proceedings, putative class actions, Congressional investigations and hearings, regulatory investigations, internal investigations, shareholder direct and derivative claims, and corporate disclosure issues, visit sutherlandcrisismanagement.com.
Representative Experience
· Energy Litigation. Rachel represents Transocean Deepwater Drilling Inc. in litigation related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This has included testifying before Congress on behalf of the company and presenting witnesses for Congressional testimony. Rachel's other energy crisis management and litigation work includes offshore claims and litigation arising from hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike. She defended a $400M insurance and indemnity dispute arising from loss of production income from an offshore platform following Hurricane Katrina; represented an international drilling contractor in class action litigation arising from an asset sale; represented an international drilling contract in seaman disputes under maritime law and in an injunction and litigation dispute over the terms of an international drilling contract; represented a drilling contractor in contract arbitration regarding the payment of certain fees and expenses in Nigeria; and has defended claims against an international drilling company in environmental lawsuits regarding alleged offshore pollution. She has also defended an E&P and marketing company in arbitration over biodiesel delivery.
· Financial Litigation. Rachel successfully defended a national commodities trading group in trade secret and breach of contract litigation; defeated an injunction action seeking to block a stock sale of an international chemical company; represented an international chemical company in arbitration over a post-closing EBIDTA purchase price adjustment; and has conducted risk assessments in connection with the acquisition of U.S. facilities by an international, foreign-owned chemical company. Rachel defended the first shareholder oppression case tried to a jury in Texas arising out of a dispute among directors and owner of a closely held corporation.
· Insurance. In addition to the offshore energy matters discussed above, Rachel defended against a university's $300M insurance claim related to rising waters damage under a fine arts insurance policy and pursued a $100M subrogation claim for property damage following the loss of a jack up drilling rig and damage to offshore petroleum pipelines. Rachel has also represented insuring syndicates in claims for $50-plus million in business interruption losses and represented an international air carrier in nationwide litigation, and handled appellate cases before the Fifth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, in addition to other litigation.
· Trade Secret Litigation. Rachel has defended an international chemical company against claims of trade secret, misappropriation and breach of contract and several national banks in lawsuits arising from varied claims including trade name infringement, fraud and breach of contract and transfer warranties. She also defended a chemical manufacturer in an intellectual property lawsuit related to sodium per carbonate.
Professional Honors and Awards
· Member, American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) (2010-present)
· Nominated by the Association of Women Attorneys as one of 12 "Premier Woman in Law" (2012)
· Selected for The American Lawyer's "45 Under 45" list (2011)
· Honored with BTI Consulting Group's Client Service Award for delivering unsurpassed client service (2007, 2011)
· Named to Super Lawyers "Top 100 Houston Texas Super Lawyers" list (2011)
· Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America (2008-present)
· Selected as a Texas Local Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation (2010-2012)
· Named 1 of 25 "Extraordinary Women in the Law" by Texas Lawyer (2008)
· Recognized by Chambers USA: Guide to Leading Business Lawyers in the area of transportation law (2008-2010)
· Named to The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of commercial litigation and transportation law (2007-2012)
· Named to the "Top 5 Women in Energy" by Energy Law360 (2007)
Professional and Community Involvement
· Board of Directors, Houston Area Women's Center (2007-2010)
· Co-Chair, 2010 Annual Benefit for Houston Area Women's Center
· Member-at-Large, Executive Women's Partnership Steering Committee, Greater Houston Partnership (2008-present)
· Steering Committee, Women's Initiative, United Way of Texas Gulf Coast (2007-2011)
· Co-founder, Legal Advisory Board, Children at Risk (2006-2007)
· Advisory Board, World Oil Women's Global Leadership Conference in Energy and Technology (since inception, 2005-2009)
· Economic Advisory Board, Greater Houston Partnership (2009, 2010)
· United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast's Alexis de Tocqueville Society (2006-present)
· Advisory Council and Past President, Women's Energy Network of Houston
· Past Member, Corporate Guild, Dress for Success Houston
· Former Director, Houston Downtown Alliance
Recent Publications and Speaking Engagements
· Speaker, in-house presentation, "Insuring and Indemnity Agreements," (May 2012)
· Speaker, ACC Webinar: "Risk and Crisis Management: What In-House Counsel Should Know About Preparing for and Managing a Crisis" (December 6, 2011)
· Moderator, "State of the Energy Industry," National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI): Energy, Oil and Gas Symposium (September 15, 2011)
· Speaker, "Crisis Management," Women's Energy Network (July 26, 2011)
· Speaker, "Crisis Management," ACC Best Practices Committee (April 21, 2011)
· Speaker, "Crisis Management in the Public Eye," International Association of Claim Professionals (November 18, 2010)
· Speaker, "International Data Privacy," the International Section of the Texas Bar Association (March 4, 2010)
· Speaker, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act training
· Editor, Litigation Management, American Lawyer Media; Chapter Author, "In-House Counsel Perspectives" and "Multi-District Litigation" (October 2010)
· "Admissibility and Use of NTSB and FAA Reports in Civil Litigation," Litigating the Aviation Case: From Pre-trial to Closing Argument, 3rd Edition (July 2008)
· "Bank Financing of Terrorism," InsideCounsel (May 2008)
· "International Terrorism Claims: A Practical Perspective," Risk Management Magazine (February 2008)
· "Negligence Claims After Terrorist Acts," Executive Counsel Magazine (February 2008)
News
Sutherland Partnership Makes Leadership Changes
May 9, 2011
Two Sutherland Partners Recognized as All-Stars for Client Service
March 8, 2011
Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Five Sutherland Partners
October 6, 2010
Texas Super Lawyers Recognizes Three Sutherland Partners
September 13, 2010
Sutherland Earns Top Chambers USA 2010 Rankings
July 7, 2010
Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Three Sutherland Partners
October 1, 2009
Texas Lawyer Names Houston Partner-in-Charge Rachel Clingman One of 30 "Extraordinary Women in Texas Law"
October 14, 2008
Legal Alerts
Legal Alert: Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalFeeds: U.S. Supreme Court Holds that Class Arbitration Cannot be Imposed on Parties Whose Agreements Are Silent on the Issue
April 28, 2010
Legal Alert: Supreme Court Clarifies Key Portion of Diversity Jurisdiction Statute
February 25, 2010
Legal Alert: Florida Supreme Court Ends Putative Class Action Alleging Numerous Florida Insurance Code Violations
December 1, 2009
Legal Alert: Fifth Circuit Ruling May Aid Defendants with Transfer of Venue Requests in Eastern District (and Other Districts) of Texas
October 16, 2008
Legal Alert: New Federal Rule of Evidence 502 Addresses Waiver of the Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Doctrine
October 10, 2008
Legal Alert: CFTC Amends Commission Recordkeeping Rule with Goal of Improving Market Oversight
October 30, 2007
Publications
Litigation Management, American Lawyer Media
October 2010
Admissibility and Use of NTSB and FAA Reports in Civil Litigation
July 2008 Chapter Author, Litigating the Aviation Case: From Pre-trial to Closing Argument, 3rd Edition
Bank Financing of Terrorism
May 2008 InsideCounsel
International Terrorism Claims: A Practical Perspective
February 2008 Reprinted with permission Risk Management Magazine
Negligence Claims After Terrorist Acts
February 2008 Executive Counsel Magazine
Events
International Section of the Texas Bar Association
March 4, 2010
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Training