Tom Graves

Thomas Graves is a Principal in the Dallas office of McKool Smith whose practice deals with complex commercial litigation

Mr. Graves served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Robert M. Hill, U.S. District Court Judge, Northern District of Texas, 1978-79.  He also served as Adjunct Professor, Texas Civil Procedure, at SMU School of Law 1987-89.

Representative Matters

• Abraham v. BP America Production Co. Represented a class of over 4,000 royalty and overriding royalty owners. After a seven day trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff class and the trial court has entered judgment on the verdict.
• City of San Antonio, Texas, et al. v. Hotels.com, L.P.  Represents the plaintiffs, including more that 170 Texas cities, in this class action against online travel companies for non-payment of transient occupancy taxes.  After a 4-week trial the jury found in favor of the cities.
• Laura Dichter, et al. v. BP America Production Company.  Represented a class which included owners of private royalty interests and overriding royalty interests that burdened BP leases in the San Jan Basin, New Mexico, which were productive of natural gas processed at the New Blanco Plant near Bloomfield, New Mexico. A favorable settlement for the class was approved by the Court.
• Powell v. BP Amoco, et al. Represented the State of New Mexico in royalty litigation against a number of major oil companies that resulted in a favorable settlement for the State related to royalty underpayments.
• Feerer v. Amoco Production, et al. Represented the plaintiff class of royalty owners against major oil companies in royalty litigation, resulting in a settlement in favor of the class worth approximately $50 million.
• Snelling and Snelling Arbitration. Represented Snelling & Snelling, one of the nation’s largest personnel companies, in a major dispute related to ownership and operation of the company. After an arbitration hearing lasting approximately two weeks, an award was rendered in favor of the company.
• Crow Partners. Over a period of several years, Mr. Graves successfully represented a number of former partners of the Trammel Crow Company in litigation and disputes related to their departure from the company.
• Public Service Co. of New Mexico. Represented PNM, a NYSE utility company, in major securities class and derivative actions which resulted in a settlement funded entirely by insurance proceeds. The company recouped significant funds for fees and costs.

Awards & Recognition

• Listed in the guide to The Best Lawyers in America
  
• Selected by his peers to the list of Texas Super Lawyers every year since 2003

News

Press Releases

Articles

Co-authored “Annual Survey of Texas Law-Texas Civil Procedure,” Southwestern Law Journal and SMU Law Review (1982-89, 1996, and 2000-01).