Education

J.D., with Honors, University of Texas School of Law, 1974. Order of the Coif. Texas Law Review.
B.A., magna cum laude, University of Notre Dame, 1971. Debate team president. Phi Beta Kappa.

Court Admissions

State of Texas
The U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Fifth, and Federal Circuits
The U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas
The New York Supreme Court

Bar Admissions

American Bar Association
State Bar of Texas
Dallas Bar Association

Mike McKool

Principal

Download vCard

As a Principal and a Founder of McKool Smith, Mike McKool is trial counsel for some of the largest corporations in the world. These include major airlines, energy companies, telecommunications firms and investment banking houses.

During his legal career of more than 30 years, Mr. McKool has built a reputation for rigorous trial preparation and superlative trial skills. His ability and commitment have helped the firm earn verdicts and settlements worth billions of dollars for clients. Mr. McKool’s ability to fully comprehend and control the most complex cases has earned courtroom victories for such high profile clients. He also works to protect the intellectual property rights of technology leaders.

Representative Matters

Ericsson. Mr. McKool represented Ericsson in Ericsson v. Interdigital Communications, a defense of patent infringement action involving mobile telephones, and in Ericsson v. Qualcomm, litigation involving digital wireless communications patents.

EDS. Represented Electronic Data Systems, EDS, in some of its most significant litigation, including EDS v. Xerox, a breach of contract matter involving a $3 billion outsourcing contract. In EDS v. Computer Associates, represented EDS in case involving its right to use CA software for its outsourcing clients. In both cases, Mr. McKool negotiated settlements and licensing agreements that benefited both parties.

Excel Communications. Mr. McKool successfully represented Excel in landmark software patent litigation.

National Instruments. National Instruments Corp. v. The MathWorks, Inc. Represented National Instruments in patent infringement action involving software technology. Jury verdict in favor of National Instruments was upheld on appeal.

Parental Guide. Represented plaintiff Parental Guide in patent infringement action involving V-Chip technology. Case settled favorably for client. Parental Guide v. Funai.

Holly Corporation. Mr. McKool served as lead trial counsel for Holly Corporation in Frontier Oil Company v. Holly Corporation. The suit alleged that Holly wrongfully failed to perform under an agreement to merge the two companies when it invoked a material adverse change. The case was tried in the Delaware Chancery Court in February 2004, resulting in Mr. McKool's client being absolved of all wrongdoing.

Professional Activities

American Board of Trial Advocates

Awards & Recognition

Named Best Lawyer in Dallas four different times by D Magazine; Texas Lawyer named him one of only five Go-To Attorneys in the field of civil litigation in Texas in 2007; featured in the guide to The Best Lawyers in America® in Commercial Litigation every year since 1993 and in Bet-the-Company Litigation every year since 2006; his peers named him to the list of Texas Super Lawyers in every year since 2003; he was named by the Dallas Business Journal as one of the five Top Business Trial Lawyers in the DFW Metroplex in 2006; and he is listed in Chambers USA in Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation.

Recent Matters

News

View All »