Benchmark Litigation has recognized Mike McKool and Douglas A. Cawley among the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America” in the publication’s 2019 edition. The attorneys were selected based on the strength and consistency of positive client/peer feedback, as well as their proven achievements at bench and jury trials.
Benchmark Litigation is the only directory to focus exclusively on the U.S. litigation market. The publication's identification of the leading U.S. trial attorneys and firms is the result of extensive interviews with private practice lawyers and in-house counsel. Benchmark Litigation is published by Euromoney Institutional Investor, a leading international business-to-business media group.
Mike McKool
As chairman and a founder of McKool Smith, Mike McKool is largely responsible for creating what The Wall Street Journal describes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.” Over the course of his 40-year career, Mike has tried more than 100 jury trials and developed an enhanced understanding of the psychology that governs how juries decide cases. Recently, Mike served as lead trial for WiLAN in securing a $145 million jury verdict against Apple in a patent infringement dispute concerning two WiLAN patents that cover voice over LTE ("VoLTE") wireless communication technology. He was recognized as The American Lawyer's "Litigator of the Week" in August 2018 as a result of his success in the trial. He has been recognized as an “Icon of IP” and one of the Top 50 “Trial Aces” in the nation by Law360. Mr. McKool has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Benchmark Litigation and an “Outstanding Alumnus Award” from the University of Texas Law Alumni Association. He is also the recipient of the Texas Lawyer "Top Verdicts Hall of Fame" Lifetime Achievement Award and the Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award for “Professional Excellence,” and has been named “Trial Lawyer of the Year” by the Dallas Bar Association.
Douglas A. Cawley
For more than 40 years, Douglas A. Cawley has been engaged in the trial of complex cases and has handled major intellectual property matters throughout the United States and across the globe. He has secured six “Top 100 Verdicts” that have amounted to more than $1 billion in verdicts for the firm’s clients. He recently secured a final ruling from the International Trade Commission (ITC) on behalf of TiVo's Rovi Corp. against Comcast Corp. regarding two of Rovi's patents related to set-top boxes. The ITC also issued an exclusion order and a cease and desist order prohibiting Comcast (and others at its direction) from importing and distributing into the U.S. any set-top box that infringes any of the asserted claims of the patents. Mr. Cawley has been recognized as one of the top 50 “Trial Aces” in the nation by Law360. He has also been named Dallas "Patent Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers, "Outstanding IP Litigator (Texas)" by Managing IP, and "Litigator of the Year (South)" by Benchmark Litigation. Mr. Cawley is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the American Bar Association Section on Intellectual Property Law.
