Paula Hinton
Partner
Paula is a go-to trial lawyer, recently recognized in the 2025 Lawdragon Hall of Fame which honors outstanding lawyers who have made remarkable contributions to the legal profession. Along with other acknowledgments of her professional capabilities, she has also been recognized by Chambers USA and Best Lawyers® and noted as one of the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” by Benchmark Litigation. Her clients have told The Best Lawyers in America® that “Paula is one of the best trial lawyers I have worked with. She easily grasps complex issues and is able to explain them to the fact finder in simple effective terms.”
Key Matters
One of Paula’s most significant cases was for a waste disposal company in a case the Texas Lawbook touted as “one of the greatest defense victories in Texas history.” Paula successfully defended against a US$4.8 billion environmental civil penalties lawsuit filed by Harris County and the State of Texas. After six weeks of trial and convincing the judge to toss two-thirds of the damage claims, Paula’s powerful arguments ultimately secured a favorable settlement just minutes before closing arguments were scheduled to begin.
Paula’s experience also includes:
- Successfully represented a life sciences company in a theft of trade secrets dispute.
- Successfully represented a wind farm company to obtain an injunction from landlord interference with lease operations.
- Successfully represented a purchaser of biomass power in a PPA dispute.
- Represented a major oil company in construction disputes before FERC and Alaska PUC.
- Helped a client resolve a three-year contract suit by finding issues in a case that other lawyers had overlooked. After being stymied in court for years, the client hired Paula and, in less than two months, she suggested a solution which led to a successful motion to compel arbitration and, ultimately, a settlement.
- Represented a major oil company in a multi-million-dollar dispute before the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) relating to the prudence of a large scale construction project.
- Successfully represented a major oil company in a summary judgment relating to the construction and maintenance of a 50-year-old pipeline and the obligations of the parties relating to Dismantle, Remove, and Restore (DR&R) responsibilities.
- Successfully defended a national gasoline retailer facing a breach of contract, tort, and RICO action brought by a terminated supplier in CPR arbitration and secured a take-nothing award.
- Successfully opposed several nationwide class certifications in consumer class actions for major oil companies across the country.
- Successfully represented a major defense contractor in a multimillion-dollar breach of warranty matter in international arbitration.
- Successfully represented a major oil company in a multimillion-dollar breach of contract fraud and RICO matter in arbitration.
- Successfully defended and obtained a take-nothing verdict for a major telecommunications company in a Federal Communications Act (FCA) suit; obtained judgment on all counterclaims.
- Successfully represented a major entertainment company relating to breach of confidentiality agreement and theft of trade secrets suit against former employees.
- Successfully defended and obtained summary judgment for a major telecommunications company in a fraud and FCA suit; secured judgments against third parties.
- Obtained in arbitration a favorable award on behalf of a major U.S. oil company relating to a claim of a right of first refusal to purchase real property; handled appeal relating to the award to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals where it was affirmed, and certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court.
- Successfully defended and obtained a take-nothing verdict in a suit for a franchisor on fraud, promissory estoppel, and claims of wrongful termination.
- Obtained favorable resolution of state court class actions alleging improper pass through of property taxes on cable bills.