Russ Falconer is a litigation partner in Gibson Dunn’s Dallas office.  He practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and focuses his practice on  complex, high-value disputes, including appellate work, class actions, and multidistrict litigation.  He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America© as “One to Watch,” as a Super Lawyers Texas Rising Star, and by D Magazine in its Best Lawyers in Dallas list.

Mr. Falconer’s practice focuses on effective communication—on taking the complex and making it simple. He works with his clients to come up with solutions to their most challenging problems and helps them present those solutions in a way that is understandable and persuasive to judges, juries, and regulators.

Mr. Falconer has successfully litigated a wide range of issues and claims, including breach of contract,, business torts, misappropriation of trade secrets, data privacy, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, personal jurisdiction, private transfer fee covenants, piercing the corporate veil, creditor derivative suits, and claims under federal aviation law, the federal securities laws, the Clean Air Act, the Copyright Act, the Lanham Act, the Texas Public Information Act, and various consumer protection statutes.

Mr. Falconer has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including food and beverage companies, electric utilities, Research 1 universities, social media companies, airlines, software companies, broker–dealers, investment firms, and pharmaceutical companies.   He practices before state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate levels, and before administrative agencies.  He has particular expertise, and has enjoyed consistent success, serving as appellate counsel to trial teams.

Recent Representative Experience

• As lead counsel, obtained dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) of a putative class action against Baylor University challenging Baylor’s use of distance learning in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Briefed and argued a successful motion for partial summary judgment on liability on behalf Keurig Dr Pepper as plaintiff in a breach-of-contract dispute against BA Sports Nutrition LLC (the manufacturer of Bodyarmor sports drink).
• Representing a major power generation company in multidistrict litigation in Texas arising out of Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
• Representing Facebook, Inc. in In re: Facebook, Inc. Consumer Privacy User Profile Litigation, the multidistrict litigation arising out of Cambridge Analytica.
• Member of the trial team representing a major insurance carrier in a contested confirmation hearing in the bankruptcy proceeding of a former manufacturer of asbestos products.
• Helped obtain a preliminary injunction allowing Delta Air Lines to continue operating at the Dallas Love Field Airport; successfully defended the preliminary injunction on appeal to the Fifth Circuit.
• Member of the trial team that successfully represented a major electricity generator in a bench trial of a Clean Air Act citizen suit; obtained a complete trial win on all claims and a post-judgment award of $6.4 million in attorneys’ fees.
• As lead counsel, obtained dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) and successfully defended that dismissal on appeal in a case challenging Delta Air Lines’ cargo ban on African big-game hunting trophies.
• Represented Facebook and Oculus as appellate counsel at trial and in post-trial proceedings after a $500 million adverse jury verdict; persuaded the district court to set aside $250 million of the verdict.
• Helped persuade the Fifth Circuit to vacate the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule “in toto.” Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor, No. 17-10238 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2018).
• Served as appellate counsel for the trial team in a complex trade-secrets case; case settled after one week of trial.
• As lead counsel, obtained a favorable settlement of litigation over the enforceability of a private transfer fee obligation.
• As lead counsel, resolved a partnership dispute without litigation by negotiating a very favorable settlement of a dispute over misappropriation of partnership assets.
• More than two dozen representations—including more than a dozen as lead counsel—of multiple clients in Texas Public Information Act proceedings before the Texas Attorney General, all of which successfully prevented public disclosure of documents containing the clients’ confidential business information.