Andy Szygenda – Cobb Martinez Woodward

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Andy Szygenda

Member

aszygenda@cobbmartinez.com

TEL

214-220-5242

FAX

214-220-5299

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Szygenda is a practical and efficient first-chair trial attorney who typically handles high-exposure cases. After leaving his native Texas to attend Georgetown University, where he obtained both his bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate with honors, Mr. Szygenda returned home in 2001 to begin his litigation practice. He spent several years working for an Am Law 100 law firm and his own firm, Lillard Wise Szygenda PLLC, before joining CMW in 2024. Mr. Szygenda’s practice is focused on complex commercial disputes involving misrepresentation, contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and tortious interference claims, and catastrophic personal injury cases. A substantial portion of Mr. Szygenda’s work involves the energy industry, in which he frequently represents pipeline companies, gas processors, electric utilities, and construction companies in explosion, nuisance, wildfire, electrical contact, contract, defect, and lien matters.

EXPERIENCE

Favorably resolved multiple gas explosion, electric shock, wildfire, and nuisance cases involving catastrophic injuries, fatalities, and/or property damage on behalf of energy companies and utilities.

Obtained favorable verdict for plaintiff in case alleging misrepresentations and contractual and warranty breaches related to sale of subsea surveying equipment.
Obtained a summary judgment dismissing approximately $30 million claim brought by insurers, homeowners, and a resort alleging that a client power line company started Texas’s “1148 Complex Fire” in Possum Kingdom in 2009. See Club Vista Dev. II, Inc. v. Oncor Elec. Delivery Co., 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 9081 (Tex. App.–Dallas Aug. 15, 2014 pet. denied).
Obtained summary judgment dismissing nuisance claims brought by a town and certain of its residents concerning a client’s pipeline operations. See Town of Dish v. Atmos Energy Corp., No. 15-0613, 519 S.W.3d 605 (Tex. 2017).
Favorably settled subcontractor’s eight-figure claim for non-payment for the mechanical construction of two gas processing facilities in south Texas.
Successfully defended an appeal before the U.S. Sixth Circuit of a zero-liability judgment obtained after a bench trial of a $20 million claim for breach of contract. See City of Detroit v. TXU Energy Retail Co., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20588 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 21, 2005), aff’d, 221 Fed. Appx. 387 (6th Cir. Feb. 16, 2007).
Obtained a $2.5 million summary judgment award on a railway’s indemnity claim against a feed mill operator related to a railroad crossing accident. See Kan. City So. Ry. v. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30260 (W.D. La. March 29, 2010).
Obtained dismissal of a securities fraud lawsuit in federal court based on limitations. See Mathers Family Trust, et al. v. HEI Resources, Inc., et al., No. 3:13-cv-01035-M, 2013 U.S. Dist. Lexis 95019 (N.D. Tex. July 8, 2013).
Successfully represented an office building owner in a suit for loss of lateral support arising from construction of an adjacent condominium complex.

AWARDS & HONORS

Named to the list of Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2014-2023.
Named to the list of Texas Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters, 2012-2014.
Recognized as one of America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® Northern Texas (2020-2024)

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS

Co-Author, First Refusal Rights under Texas Law, 62 Baylor L. Rev. 433 (2010)
Co-Author, Of Lies and Disclaimers – Contracting Around Fraud Under Texas Law, 41 St. Mary’s L.J. 119 (2009)
Speaker/Author, Judicial Developments in Utility Law (2005), a presentation to the Edison Electric Institute
Author, Judicial Developments in Utility Law (2004), a presentation to the Edison Electric Institute
Author, The Coming Failure of Deterrence, 9 MSU-DCL J. Int’l Law 413 (2000)
Co-Author, Financial Institutions Fraud, Am. Crim. L. Rev. 551 (2000)

Biography

Practice Areas

Commercial Litigation
Construction
Premises Liability Defense
Product Liability Defense

Education

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude, 2001; Member, American Criminal Law Review

B.S.F.S., Georgetown University, cum laude, 1998

Admissions

Texas state and federal courts

W.D. Louisiana

E.D. Michigan

D. Colorado

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Experience

Favorably resolved multiple gas explosion, electric shock, wildfire, and nuisance cases involving catastrophic injuries, fatalities, and/or property damage on behalf of energy companies and utilities.

Obtained favorable verdict for plaintiff in case alleging misrepresentations and contractual and warranty breaches related to sale of subsea surveying equipment.
Obtained a summary judgment dismissing approximately $30 million claim brought by insurers, homeowners, and a resort alleging that a client power line company started Texas’s “1148 Complex Fire” in Possum Kingdom in 2009. See Club Vista Dev. II, Inc. v. Oncor Elec. Delivery Co., 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 9081 (Tex. App.–Dallas Aug. 15, 2014 pet. denied).
Obtained summary judgment dismissing nuisance claims brought by a town and certain of its residents concerning a client’s pipeline operations. See Town of Dish v. Atmos Energy Corp., No. 15-0613, 519 S.W.3d 605 (Tex. 2017).
Favorably settled subcontractor’s eight-figure claim for non-payment for the mechanical construction of two gas processing facilities in south Texas.
Successfully defended an appeal before the U.S. Sixth Circuit of a zero-liability judgment obtained after a bench trial of a $20 million claim for breach of contract. See City of Detroit v. TXU Energy Retail Co., 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20588 (E.D. Mich. Sept. 21, 2005), aff’d, 221 Fed. Appx. 387 (6th Cir. Feb. 16, 2007).
Obtained a $2.5 million summary judgment award on a railway’s indemnity claim against a feed mill operator related to a railroad crossing accident. See Kan. City So. Ry. v. Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30260 (W.D. La. March 29, 2010).
Obtained dismissal of a securities fraud lawsuit in federal court based on limitations. See Mathers Family Trust, et al. v. HEI Resources, Inc., et al., No. 3:13-cv-01035-M, 2013 U.S. Dist. Lexis 95019 (N.D. Tex. July 8, 2013).
Successfully represented an office building owner in a suit for loss of lateral support arising from construction of an adjacent condominium complex.

Awards & Honors

Named to the list of Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2014-2023.
Named to the list of Texas Rising Stars by Thomson Reuters, 2012-2014.
Recognized as one of America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators® Northern Texas (2020-2024)

Memberships

State Bar of Texas
Dallas Bar Association

Co-Author, First Refusal Rights under Texas Law, 62 Baylor L. Rev. 433 (2010)
Co-Author, Of Lies and Disclaimers – Contracting Around Fraud Under Texas Law, 41 St. Mary’s L.J. 119 (2009)
Speaker/Author, Judicial Developments in Utility Law (2005), a presentation to the Edison Electric Institute
Author, Judicial Developments in Utility Law (2004), a presentation to the Edison Electric Institute
Author, The Coming Failure of Deterrence, 9 MSU-DCL J. Int’l Law 413 (2000)
Co-Author, Financial Institutions Fraud, Am. Crim. L. Rev. 551 (2000)