Neal Manne is one of the premier trial lawyers in America.
Lawdragon’s founder called Manne a “brilliant and incisive advocate as well as a leader in the profession.” When Lawdragon named Susman Godfrey as “America’s Leading Trial Firm” and “the nation’s most elite litigation firm,” it described Manne as “the emotional core of the firm.”
Lawdragon Honors
Manne has an extraordinarily broad and diverse litigation practice, having tried dozens of cases around the country.
ANTITRUST
Antitrust litigation has been a specialty of Manne and his firm for decades. He has handled antitrust cases in a wide range of industries for both plaintiffs and defendants. In 2024, Susman Godfrey (without even a bit of help from Manne) won the largest antitrust verdict in American history.
ENERGY LITIGATION
Energy litigation takes Manne to the courthouse often. He represents Chevron in dozens of coastal land loss cases in Louisiana and in global climate change cases around the country. Manne represented Vitol in major antitrust litigation in California regarding gasoline pricing. In 2021, after more than a decade of litigation, he and his team won dismissal of a $3.8 billion claim against Vitol by Puerto Rico’s electric power utility. The court also granted Vitol summary judgment on its $28 million counterclaim.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
Manne is one of very few lawyers to win constitutional cases at trial. Manne tried a case in San Juan, Puerto Rico challenging the constitutionality of an onerous transfer tax. The federal district judge struck down the statute as unconstitutional, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit unanimously affirmed. In addition, Manne won a landmark ruling in federal court in Houston, affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, that the system of cash bail used in Harris County, Texas, violated the constitutional rights of thousands of misdemeanor arrestees. Manne also tried a case in federal court in Austin, Texas challenging the constitutionality of Texas statutes prohibiting public companies from selling liquor. The federal district judge agreed that the statutes were unconstitutional; the Fifth Circuit begged to differ.
TORT LAW
Manne handles complex tort cases for both plaintiffs and defendants. He is lead counsel for Live Nation in injury cases filed by thousands of plaintiffs regarding the 2021 Astroworld Music Festival. Manne helped devise the first mass subrogation claim, which allowed Susman Godfrey to make large recoveries for hundreds of health care plans in national class action litigation involving products as diverse as Vioxx, silicone breast implants and diet drugs. Manne was lead counsel for defendants in the Rio Piedras Explosion Litigation in San Juan, Puerto Rico, directing the efforts of seven law firms in the defense of more than 500 consolidated lawsuits. He has been Walmart’s national trial counsel on hundreds of high-exposure tort cases involving serious injuries or death.
CLASS ACTIONS
Manne handles class actions for plaintiffs and defendants throughout the country. He was national trial counsel for Walmart in the largest wage & hour class actions in the country, trying cases in California, Minnesota, andPennsylvania. He tried an antitrust class action for more than 4 months in Alaska for a class of salmon fishermen. In Kentucky, for Rawlings Group, he won a defense verdict in a jury trial of an employment class action. Manne has resolved class actions for Chevron, ACE Insurance, Ltd., and many other companies.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTES
Manne handles intellectual property litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants. He defended Dealix on patent infringement claims by Autobytel and won large recoveries for SuperSpeed Software in separate patent infringement cases against Oracle and IBM. Manne defended Walmart at trial on claims of misappropriation of trade secrets brought by a former vendor. The 8th Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s judgment in favor of Walmart on the majority of the trade secret claims. The award to the former vendor was smaller than its own attorney’s fees, and the vendor later went bankrupt.
Pro Bono Service to the Community
Manne takes seriously the legal profession’s mandate that lawyers provide free legal services to the underprivledged. His fast-paced trial practice and his work as a Managing Partner of Susman Godfrey have not stopped him from serving the community and the legal profession.
