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Amy Hefley
Amy Pharr Hefley
Partner | Deputy Department Chair - Litigation (Firmwide) & Practice Group Chair - Securities & Shareholder Litigation (Firmwide)
amy.hefley@bakerbotts.com
Amy Hefley
Amy Pharr Hefley
Partner
amy.hefley@bakerbotts.com
Details
Overview
Overview Admission & Affiliations Experience News Thought Leadership Awards and Community
Practices
Appellate and Supreme Court
Crisis Management
Energy Litigation
Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
General Commercial Litigation
Intellectual Property Litigation
Litigation
Securities and Shareholder Litigation
Trade Secrets

Overview

Amy Hefley is Deputy Department Chair of the firmwide Litigation Practice and Co-Chair of the firmwide Securities & Shareholder Litigation Practice Group at Baker Botts. She is a seasoned courtroom lawyer with extensive experience representing companies and their officers and directors in all types of securities litigation, ranging from securities fraud class actions, to proxy litigation and appraisal actions, to breach of fiduciary duty and derivative suits. Chambers USA (2022) has recognized Amy's securities practice and describes her as “terrific” and “super smart.” The Legal 500 (2022) also has recognized Amy's leadership in the field. In addition to her securities practice, Amy has substantial experience representing companies in a broad range of complex commercial disputes involving contracts, fraud claims, trade secret misappropriation claims, and other business torts, and in energy litigation involving lease termination claims, joint operating and joint development agreements, midstream agreements, and title disputes.

Houston Board of Directors Forum 2020

Following graduation from law school, Ms. Hefley served as a law clerk to the Honorable Emilio M. Garza of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and to the Honorable Ewing Werlein, Jr. of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Admission & Affiliations

  • State Bar of Texas
  • New York State Bar
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas and District of Colorado
  • Houston Bar Association, Securities Litigation & Arbitration Section, Appellate Practice Section
  • Women's Energy Network
  • Federal Bar Association - Southern District of Texas Chapter, Board of Directors
  • Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association of Greater Houston, Board of Directors
  • J.D., The University of Texas School of Law 2004
    with high honors
    Order of the Coif
  • B.A., history, University of Oklahoma 2001
    summa cum laude
    Phi Beta Kappa

Experience

Securities and Shareholder Litigation

  • Defense of international E&P company and its officers and directors in securities fraud class action and related government investigations
  • Defense of energy infrastructure company and certain officers and directors in securities fraud class action and related derivative lawsuit
  • Defense of well-servicing contractor in securities fraud class action following SEC investigation
  • Defense of chemical producer and certain of its directors in shareholder suits challenging company’s acquisition by two private equity firms
  • Defense of titanium producer and its inside directors in litigation challenging its acquisition
  • Defense of an offshore drilling company in a series of shareholder class actions seeking to enjoin a merger
  • Defense of an oil and gas refining and marketing company and its officers and directors in class actions seeking to enjoin a merger
  • Defense of an oilfield services company and its officers and directors in shareholder class actions seeking to enjoin a merger
  • Defense of a biotechnology company and its officers and directors in a federal class action securities fraud suit, resulting in dismissal at the pleading stage
  • Defense of a private equity firm in derivative litigation concerning its investment in an oil and gas company, resulting in dismissal of successive cases for breach of fiduciary duty

Commercial Trial Matters

  • Represented petrochemical company in prosecuting $10 million breach of contract claim and defending against $4.5 million breach of contract claim; after two-week jury trial in Harris County, received a favorable judgment of over $10　million and a take nothing judgment on opposing side’s counterclaims
  • Prosecuted a patent infringement action for a major oilfield services company, resulting in a multi-million dollar verdict from a Dallas federal court jury
  • Obtained numerous verdicts in jury and bench trials for an electric and gas utility in a variety of lawsuits, including contract, property rights, property damage, and personal injury disputes
  • Prosecuted trade secret misappropriation and breach of license agreement claims for a provider of safety lighting products
  • Obtained dismissal of a putative federal court class action involving various antitrust claims for an international energy company
  • Prosecuted claims for breaches of representations and warranties in an asset purchase agreement, resulting in a favorable arbitration award

Corporate Investigations

  • Represented special litigation committee of oilfield services company and obtained dismissal of derivative suits
  • Represented audit committees of publicly traded companies in whistleblower investigations alleging code of conduct violations and other misconduct by senior executives
  • Represented audit committee of publicly traded company in internal investigation involving internal control and accounting issues
  • Represented audit committee of a publicly traded company in internal investigation to determine whether employees had participated in a transaction to defraud the company

Appeals

  • Successfully defended summary judgment based on exclusion of expert witnesses (Burst v. Shell Oil Co., 2016 WL 2989261 (5th Cir. May 23, 2016)
  • Briefed and argued successful defense of summary judgments on breach of contract and quantum meruit claims (Danford Maintenance Service, Inc. v. The Dow Chemical Company, 2013 WL 6388381 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] Nov. 21 2013, no pet.))
  • Briefed defense of dismissal of shareholder derivative claims (Freuler v. Parker, 803 F. Supp. 2d 630 (S.D. Tex. 2011), aff’d, 517 Fed. App’x 227 (5th Cir. 2013))
  • Argued successful appeal of sanctions order (Union Carbide Corp. v. Martin, 349 S.W.3d 137 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2011, no pet.))
  • Successfully defended directed verdict in easement dispute (Rutherford v. CenterPoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC, 2011 WL 3359712 (Tex. App.–Houston [1st Dist.] Aug. 4, 2011, no pet.))
  • Briefed successful appeal resulting in the reversal of a multi-million dollar jury award and the rendition of a take nothing judgment in a Vioxx case (Merck & Co. v. Garza, 347 S.W.3d 256 (Tex. 2011))
  • Briefed successful appeal resulting in the dismissal of inheritance claims that sought to vacate decades-old judgments distributing estates and upholding inter vivos gifts to a charitable foundation (John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Mem. Found. v. Fernandez, 315 S.W.3d 512 (Tex. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S. Ct. 1017 (Jan. 18, 2011))
  • Briefed successful appeals defending summary judgments addressing relationship among Texas Constitution, Texas Labor Code, and Texas Wrongful Death Act in an action against an employer of the deceased for exemplary damages (Ross v. Union Carbide Corp., 296 S.W.3d 206 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2009, pet. denied) (en banc))
  • Briefed successful petition for writ of mandamus, resulting in the striking of an improper intervention and vacatur of a severance order (In re Union Carbide Corp., 273 S.W.3d 152 (Tex. 2008) (per curiam))
Thought Leadership
See More Thought Leadership
13 May 2024 Client Updates Think Twice: Delaware Supreme Court Issues Three Key Opinions Guiding Special Committee Formation and Operation
17 April 2024 Client Updates Securities Litigation: Life Sciences Annual Report
15 April 2024 Client Updates Macquarie Infrastructure Corp.: U.S. Supreme Court Confirms That “Pure Omissions” Cannot Support Securities Fraud Liability
13 February 2024 Client Updates Practical Lessons for Directors After Court Rescinds Elon Musk's $55.8 Billion Award
25 January 2024 Client Updates 2024 Energy Litigation Outlook
14 December 2023 Client Updates Court of Appeals Grants Power Generator Mandamus in Winter Storm Uri Multidistrict Litigation, Dismissing Plaintiffs' Claims
26 January 2023 Client Updates Officer Fiduciary Liability, Supersized: Delaware Court Extends Duty of Care to Corporate Officers
24 January 2023 Client Updates 2023 Energy Litigation Outlook
23 September 2021 Client Updates Board Communications Cheat Sheet - What Every Director Should Know
22 September 2021 Client Updates Ninth Circuit Cuts Investors in Direct Listings Some 'Slack' in Pursuing Securities Act Claims
23 June 2021 Client Updates The Supreme Court Requires Rigorous Examination of Class Action Certification for Stock-Drop Suits Alleging Falsity of Generic Company Statements
11 February 2021 Client Updates Meme Stock Mania: SEC Provides Guidance to Companies Experiencing Volatile Trading
13 May 2024 Client Updates Think Twice: Delaware Supreme Court Issues Three Key Opinions Guiding Special Committee Formation and Operation
17 April 2024 Client Updates Securities Litigation: Life Sciences Annual Report
15 April 2024 Client Updates Macquarie Infrastructure Corp.: U.S. Supreme Court Confirms That “Pure Omissions” Cannot Support Securities Fraud Liability

Awards and Community

Recognized for Oil & Gas Litigation in Chambers USA, 2022 & 2023

Recognized for Litigation: Securities in Chambers USA, 2021, 2022 & 2023

Recognized as a "Next Generation Partner" by The Legal 500 U.S., 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023

Recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer-Rising Star (Thomson Reuters), 2012-2018

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