Thad Behrens specializes in navigating clients through a major business crisis. When the stakes are high, the pressure is great and the public spotlight shines bright, clients turn to Thad to calm the waters and chart the path to the best possible outcome. Clients describe him as “trusted,” “very client-friendly, very smart and very strategic in his thinking,” an “excellent writer, thoughtful and cost efficient,” who “works well with other law firms” and “always has in mind the overarching goal and our broader interests, as opposed to just trying to win litigation.”
With more than 20 years of experience, Thad is regarded by his peers as one of the nation’s leading defense lawyers for securities litigation and class actions. Recognized by Chambers USA for his work in securities litigation, Thad frequently represents companies, boards of directors, executives or underwriters in securities class actions, shareholder derivative cases, M&A litigation, tender offer litigation, proxy contest lawsuits and internal investigations. Thad also is deeply experienced in defending other types of class actions, including those involving consumer protection, environmental issues, healthcare, and telecommunications.
During his career, Thad has scored major victories for some of the most recognizable companies in the United States. For example, Thad recently obtained dismissals of two class actions for Tenet Healthcare, one a securities case and the other a medical care case.
Thad also led the firm’s successful defense of the National Football League in a consumer class action brought by ticketholders to Super Bowl XLV—first obtaining a denial of class certification and then winning the subsequent federal jury trial against the remaining individual plaintiffs.
Before that, he led BP Products North America, Inc. to victory by defeating class certification and securing a voluntary dismissal in a $10 billion environmental class action brought by property owners who claimed to have been harmed by alleged air emissions from one of the company’s oil refineries.
Thad also has won high profile cases outside of the class action arena, including recently obtaining summary judgment for the National Football League in two different state court lawsuits brought in Texas state courts by a fantasy football convention company.
EDUCATION :
- J.D., McGeorge School of Law, 1997, with great distinction;Valedictorian Award; Outstanding Graduate Award; Order of the Coif; Chief Articles Editor, Pacific Law Journal (now McGeorge Law Review)
- B.A., Bucknell University, 1990
CLERKSHIPS:
- Law clerk for the Honorable Garland E. Burrell, Jr. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1997-1998
ADMISSIONS : California , Texas
PROFESSIONAL AND COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:
- President, Federal Bar Association, Dallas Chapter, 2007-2008
- Executive Committee, Federal Bar Association, Dallas Chapter, 2003-2009
- Barrister, Patrick E. Higginbotham Inn of Court, 2010-2013
- Dallas Bar Association
- Board of Directors, Dallas Education Foundation
Cost
Rate : $$$