Thomas F. A. Hetherington - Edison, McDowell & Hetherington LLP

Tom Hetherington is a trial partner in the firm’s Houston office. His practice focuses on a wide range of commercial litigation matters, including financial services litigation; life, health and disability insurance litigation; stranger-owned life insurance ("STOLI")litigation; ERISA litigation; energy-related litigation; construction litigation; real estate litigation; securities fraud litigation; shareholder litigation; corporate merger litigation; business tort litigation and complex commercial disputes; stop-loss insurance litigation. Tom has extensive experience litigating tort cases and class actions, and matters involving agency disputes, commission payment disputes and related issues.

Tom’s litigation practice is national in scope. He is known as a “go-to” lawyer for some of the nation’s largest life, health and disability insurers and energy companies. Tom has extensive experience in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels across the country, including Texas, Alabama, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah and other states. Tom has trial experience in a wide variety of cases, including multimillion-dollar commercial litigation matters.

Tom is a six-time Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star and has been named one of the top attorneys in Houston by H Texas Magazine. Tom was a partner at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP before leaving in January 2009 to form Edison, McDowell & Hetherington LLP.

Tom is actively involved in his community. He serves on the board of the University of Houston Law Alumni Association; is an enthusiastic supporter of Rice University, where he was captain of the football team and volunteers as a committee member for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; among other activities.

Tom enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, is an avid wine enthusiast, and enjoys traveling and attending college and professional sporting events.

Represented The Phoenix Companies in connection with a wide variety of STOLI litigation matters around the country. Tom has obtained a number of significant opinions for his clients in STOLI cases, including from the Delaware Supreme Court, the United States District Courts for the Southern District of California and the Southern District of Florida.

Represented American General Life Insurance Company and its various affiliates in hundreds of complex insurance and financial services cases all over the country.

Represented WellPoint, Inc., and various of its subsidiary companies in numerous first-party health and disability insurance litigation matters in Texas and around the country.

Represented Enron Corporation’s General Counsel in various cases stemming from the collapse of Enron. Instrumental in obtaining one of the few dismissals in the Enron securities litigation for his client and represented his client in Enron-related proceedings in Texas and New York and in connection with the investigation by the Enron bankruptcy examiner.

Represented Kinder Morgan Inc. and its independent directors in class action shareholder lawsuits pending in state court in Kansas and in state and federal court in Texas relating to one of the largest going-private transactions in American history.

Represented W-H Energy Services, Inc., and its board of directors in connection with class action shareholder litigation filed to enjoin the acquisition of W-H by Smith International, Inc.

Represented Cornell Companies, Inc., and its board of directors in connection with shareholder class action litigation relating to a proposed buyout transaction.

Cause No. 654,877; Johnson v. Metropolitan Transit Authority; in the County Court at Law #3, Harris County, Texas. Successfully tried to conclusion and obtained no liability verdict for Metro.

Cause No. 97-51222; Aluminum Chemicals (Bolivia) Inc. v. Bechtel Corporation and Xytel-Bechtel Inc.; in the 129th District Court of Harris County, Texas. Successfully tried to conclusion and obtained no liability verdict for Bechtel Corporation in a multimillion-dollar business tort case.

Cause No. 99-36444; MTM Electrical Corporation v. Bechtel International, Inc., Bechtel Corporation and Texmarc Conveyor Company; in the 80th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Successfully tried to conclusion and obtained a no-liability verdict for Bechtel Corporation in a complex construction litigation case.

No. 70 198 00118 96; American Arbitration Association, Houston, Texas; In the Matter of the Arbitration Among Teco Pipeline Company, Individually and on behalf of TransTexas Pipeline Partnership vs. Valero Energy Corporation, et al. Arbitrated complex pipeline litigation for many months and obtained a favorable result for Valero.

Arbitration styled Claudio Herrera and Fernando Morales-O’Horan v. Service Corporation International, MFS Acquisition Corporation, and SCI Texas Funeral Services Inc. Arbitrated a contract dispute for the world’s largest funeral home company and obtained a favorable result.

Cause No. 2002-57016-A; Aeternia Enterprises U.S.A., Ltd. v. Magnitogorsk Steel and Wire Works, and PrimeSource Building Products, Inc.; in the 133rd Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas. Successfully tried to conclusion and obtained a no-liability verdict for PrimeSource Building Products in a complex commercial dispute.

Arbitration styled No. 71-459-00630-09; Donald Garland v. UniCare Life & Health Insurance Company, in the American Arbitration Association of Dallas, Texas. Successfully defended UniCare in a dispute brought by a former agent alleging wrongful termination of his agency contract. The arbitrator found that UniCare acted properly in terminating the agent contract, that the former agent take nothing, and that the former agent pay costs.

"We Were Never Told That!": Avoiding Litigation By Disclosure and Explanation of Annuity Taxation to Customers, International Claims Association Annual Education Conference, Las Vegas, NV, October 2011.

“Confusing Conflicts: National Medical Enters. Inc. v. Godbey and The Problem Of Disqualification When No Previous Attorney-Client Relationship Exists,” 34 Houston Law Review 909, 1997