Houston · Texas · Nationwide
Schaffer Kennedy Johnson tries and argues its own cases. We take a small number of matters — complex business disputes, appeals, and federal and state criminal defense — where the outcome turns on facts nobody has developed yet and questions nobody has answered yet.
The Firm
Defending a person’s liberty in federal court and trying a nine-figure business dispute are not the same work, but they are the same discipline: out-investigate the other side, find the issue everyone else missed, and be ready to try the case from the first pleading forward.
Our lawyers built their practices at that level and kept them small on purpose. When you hire us, the lawyer you met is the lawyer who stands up.
Civil & Commercial
High-stakes commercial cases where money moved and somebody has to prove where it went — and the appeals that follow.
Criminal Defense
Four decades of first-chair defense work in the cases the government most wants to win.
Representative Results
$157 million jury verdict; judgment for more than $55 million to the client
Complex breach of fiduciary duty and unfair competition case, resulting in a judgment for a direct award of derivative damages to the client of more than $55 million.
Laura Elizabeth Yosowitz v. Martin Lee Kay et al., No. 2018-37750, 334th District Court, Harris County, Texas (Feb. 21, 2023).
Disqualification of opposing counsel upheld by the Supreme Court of Texas
Obtained disqualification of opposing counsel and his law firm based on a side-switching legal assistant, upheld on mandamus review by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Texas.
In re Zaidi, 732 S.W.3d 525 (Tex. 2026) (orig. proceeding); Apex Katy Physicians, LLC v. Zaidi, No. 2009-02578, 61st District Court, Harris County, Texas (July 20, 2023).
$2.2 million judgment reversed; take-nothing judgment rendered
Reversal and rendition for a pastor in a suit alleging transmission of a sexually transmitted disease, establishing that expert testimony is required to prove causation in disease-transmission cases, after defeating the plaintiff’s post-judgment turnover and receivership motion.
West v. D.C., 718 S.W.3d 331 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] June 26, 2025, pet. filed).
Petition for writ of certiorari defeated in the Supreme Court of the United States
Successfully defended, as lead counsel, against certiorari review of the Nevada Supreme Court’s finding of personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant.
Ralph Lewis v. Power Research, Inc., No. 21-494 (U.S. Mar. 7, 2022).
Each matter depends on its own facts and law. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any other matter.
The Lawyers
Criminal Defense & Investigations
Forty years of federal white-collar, government investigation, narcotics, and high-profile state defense work. Chambers-ranked; Best Lawyers since 2003; AV rated.
Criminal Defense
More than two decades of federal and state criminal trial practice, concentrated on complex investigations, fraud prosecutions, and trial defense.
Civil Trial & Appellate
Civil trial and appellate lawyer and licensed CPA. Clerked for the Supreme Court of Texas. J.D. summa cum laude, first in his class.
Criminal Appeals & Post-Conviction
Board Certified in Criminal Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. More than thirty years of criminal practice.
Careers
This is not a volume practice, and it is not a document-review job. You will argue your own motions, take your own depositions, and put your name on your own briefs — with the training and the review to make that a good idea.
Contact
Call (713) 228-8500 or send a short description of the matter. We respond to every inquiry, and we tell you straight away if we are not the right firm for it.