Seth Hopkins
Managing Counsel/Appellate Litigator/Instructor

Harris County Attorney's Office, Houston, Texas

Special Assistant County Attorney for Litigation  

February 2022 - Present

Appellate litigator in high-profile, complex civil cases for the nation’s third-largest county. Primary practice areas include civil rights, contracts, tort, and government litigation.  Manage training for 300 attorneys and paralegals and manage the implementation of software to track 110,000 cases and 13.5 TB of sensitive client data. Manage special projects such as developing a $5.95 million program to improve court appearance rates by working with County stakeholders to make local government more transparent and court records easier to access, and by creating materials to educate 100,000 arrestees per year on the criminal justice process. Serve on Harris County’s Joint Technology Committee, Records Management Committee, and Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Committee.

 

Managing Counsel of Defensive Litigation & Real Estate          

January 2021 - February 2022

Managed 30 attorneys and paralegals responsible for defending all litigation against Harris County and its 18,000 employees. This includes approximately 500 civil rights, torts, employment, and real estate matters. Rebuilt one division after it lost nearly half its staff during the pandemic by hiring experienced litigators, conducting weekly training, and improving morale and quality of client representation. Supervised attorneys during jury trials, appeals, hearings, and mediations, and developed litigation policies and practice guides and an online case monitoring application.  

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Assistant County Attorney, Litigation Practice Group                 

January 2017 - December 2020

Served as lead counsel in high-profile litigation for the nation’s third-largest sheriff’s office, district attorney, medical examiner, district and county clerks, budget management office, public health department, flood control district, juvenile justice center, county and district judges, commissioners, auditor, and elected officials. Maintained a heavy docket, which included:    

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• Harris County v. Annab, 547 S.W.3d 609 (Tex.2018). Obtained unanimous Supreme Court reversal of significant sovereign immunity case. The Texas Solicitor General joined in oral argument as an amicus curiae. Oral argument at: Annab oral argument. 

• Brown v. City of Houston. Represented Harris County in civil proceedings before the federal district court, appellate court, and on certified question to the Texas Supreme Court following the wrongful conviction of a death-row inmate. The case was featured on Netflix's Innocence Files.  

• Election strike team. Successfully defended the county clerk and voter registrar before the Texas appellate courts and Supreme Court in numerous challenges to the 2020 elections.

• COVID-19 litigation. Successfully defended emergency COVID-19 orders affecting 4.8 million residents during eight emergency hearings to the district courts, Texas Supreme Court, and federal appellate court. Also developed the County’s Public Health quarantine forms.

• Green v. Harris County. Secured summary judgment in a highly technical case where a jail detainee died from a rare and virulent form of meningitis caused by Streptococcus sanguinis bacteria.

• Grant v. Harris County. Successfully defended Harris County in federal trial and appellate courts in two complex employment cases and appeals involving a juvenile supervision officer.

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Raley & Bowick, L.L.P., Houston, Texas

Commercial Litigation Associate  

June 2013 – August 2016

Served as commercial and intellectual property litigation associate for boutique Galleria firm that recovered $200 million for its clients in four years.

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• Commercial litigation & insurance: Represented clients in multi-million dollar disputes regarding offshore oil platform assets, employment and shareholder litigation, legal malpractice, and a Louisiana legacy oilfield contamination case. Initiated arbitration under the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in Singapore on behalf of National Oilwell Varco to recover $19 million owed by a Kazakhstani company for offshore oilfield equipment.

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• Intellectual property: Assisted in defense and prosecution of oilfield patent litigation for NOV and Peak Completion Technologies and patent prosecution of Kaneka Corporation’s proprietary microbe and fermentation process for making Co-Q10, a pharmaceutical enzyme. 

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• Appellate: Prepared appellate briefs in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in significant intellectual property and civil cases.

 

• Civil rights: Represented the longest-serving exonerated Texas inmate in a § 1983 case following his release after 31 years in prison.  The case resulted in approximately $2.5 million in state compensation (plus a comparable annuity) in the largest award of its kind in history.

 

• Government: Assisted in successful representation of former Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz’s family after the University of Houston sought to rename the Hofheinz Pavilion in violation of a donor agreement.

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The Hopkins Law Firm, Houston, Texas

Litigation & Transaction Attorney

October 2009 - June 2013

Advised and litigated in corporate, wrongful death, civil rights, and contract disputes.  Notable clients include regional entertainers, corporate and non-profit organizations, and Major League Baseball players Prince Fielder, Joseph Crede, and Bruce Chen. Served as lead counsel in a 12-year landmark case argued three times to the Louisiana Supreme Court, resulting in the largest single-client Title II Americans with Disabilities Act recovery in history. The case prompted a U.S. DOJ civil rights investigation, a $13.8 million injunction to correct 15,000 violations on a 1.3 million square foot campus, systemic changes at eight public universities, and national media coverage. See, e.g., “Texas lawyer wins hard-fought fees in bitter disability case”, The National Law Journal (9/6/2012). In awarding $1.5 million in fees, the appellate court referred to “young Hopkins” as “eloquent,” “truly devoted,” “gallant,” and presenting “a well-orchestrated case worthy of emulation by the most seasoned attorneys” for his “superior performance” in a “rare and exceptional” case. Covington v. McNeese, 98 So.3d 414 (La.App. 3 Cir. 9/5/12).

 

Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, Houston, Texas 

Litigation Attorney

February 2005 - October 2009

Assisted in the defense and prosecution of complex litigation for this Am Law 250 Fast Rise to the Top national firm.  Conducted all facets of trial preparation, including extensive deposition coverage (more than 100 depositions), document review and production, and substantial research, motion filings and argument.  Work included assisting with the defense of a significant premises liability docket in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Massachusetts, and Louisiana.  Also assisted with a major New England soil contamination case, a significant international shipping antitrust case, a polyester staples antitrust case, a pipeline construction defect dispute, and a $65 billion chemical company merger. 

 

U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana

Federal Judicial Law Clerk

June 2003 – November 2004

Served as an elbow law clerk to the Hon. Patricia Minaldi, the only active Article III judge in a six-parish area with a major federal prison and immigration detention center.  Employment began on this newly appointed judge’s first day of work.  Assisted with administrative and legal aspects of setting up a new federal office.  Duties included writing and editing opinions, judgments, and jury charges, scheduling dockets, research, assisting with trials, and communicating with attorneys and other federal offices on behalf of the Court. Docket of more than 450 civil suits included a $1 billion telecommunications RICO suit and a complex international dispute between the Republic of Venezuela and numerous parties over the ownership of an offshore research module to be placed along its disputed border with Columbia. 

 

14th Judicial District Court of Louisiana, Lake Charles, Louisiana

Judicial Law Clerk

August 1999 - August 2000 

Served as a pool law clerk for nine judges in this court of general jurisdiction.  Workload focused on assisting judges with a diverse caseload of civil, criminal, and family matters. Duties included preparing jury charges, orders, and opinions, research, handling correspondence with attorneys, pre and post conviction relief applications, and helping to schedule dockets.  Responsible for drafting several regional landmark opinions, including judgments resolving challenges to the Louisiana tobacco litigation and Louisiana’s legalized gaming industry. 

 

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Federal Law Clerk

May 1998 - June 1999

Assisted Criminal and Civil Division Assistant U.S. Attorneys in prosecuting defendants and representing the United States. Duties included research, drafting pleadings, and participating with prosecutors and FBI agents in grand jury target and defendant interviews.  Areas of law included white collar and drug crimes, bank robbery, forfeiture, tort defense, civil rights, and environmental.

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