HARTZ.LEGAL
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Insight / Leverage / Position /

Insight See the dispute's trajectory before it unfolds. Superior understanding is the foundation on which advantage is built.
Leverage Use insight to identify the few points where small force produces disproportionate movement. Leverage is insight made consequential.
Position Convert leverage into outcome. Position is the discipline of turning an edge into final resolution.

"Courage is willingness to take the risk once you know the odds. Optimistic overconfidence means you are taking the risk because you don't know the odds. It's a big difference."

— Daniel Kahneman

"Always check small things."

— Colin Powell

Practice

Complex disputes. Disciplined judgment.

Brad's practice centers on commercial litigation and the analytical and operational disciplines that make litigation decisions better. He serves as Assistant General Counsel for Affirmative Recoveries and Senior Commercial Litigation Counsel at HP Inc., where he manages a portfolio of the company's most significant plaintiff-side and defensive matters.

Affirmative recoveries

Affirmative claims for large enterprise clients. Commercial and supplier disputes, global antitrust and cartel enforcement, Lanham Act actions, international trade litigation. A premium on preserving business relationships and resolving disputes without litigation when possible.

Litigation defense

Class actions, multi-jurisdictional government investigations, employment litigation, False Claims Act qui tam matters, and complex contract and business tort disputes. Assess what claims are actually worth, understand the incentives driving the dispute, and pursue outcomes that serve the business.

Trials & arbitration

More than 25 cases and arbitrations to verdict or award as first-chair or co-counsel in private practice. Over ten enterprise-scale trials and arbitrations supervised in-house, with strategic and settlement authority on behalf of the company.

Quantitative case valuation. Brad applies formal decision analysis to litigation, using decision-tree modeling and expected-value calculation grounded in prospect theory to produce disciplined settlement ranges and counteract the cognitive biases that systematically distort litigation decisions.

Legal operations & AI. Brad develops AI-assisted tools and workflows for in-house litigation practice, including automated intake and routing systems, matter-management assistants, and agentic workflows for case analysis and valuation. The conviction is that competent use of modern tools is now part of competent practice.

See full Areas of Practice →

Background

Three vantage points. One craft.

Brad has practiced dispute resolution in three forms: as an Army officer, as a litigator with international law firms, and as senior in-house counsel at a Fortune 100 technology company.

Military service

Commissioned as an infantry officer following Texas A&M. Five years active duty. Deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom; his unit supported security operations in Kirkuk that enabled democratic elections on January 30, 2005. Awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge. Resigned at the rank of captain to attend law school.

Private practice

Litigation associate at Baker Botts (commercial, energy, antitrust, labor and employment); contributed to a $5 billion plaintiff's verdict and defended companies in DOJ investigations. At Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, defended wrongful death suits and service providers in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill multidistrict litigation. Served as a special prosecutor in Houston and Missouri City.

In-house

Joined HP Inc. in 2014. Now Assistant General Counsel for Affirmative Recoveries and Senior Commercial Litigation Counsel, managing a portfolio of the company's most significant plaintiff-side and defensive matters across U.S. courts, with occasional matters in Canada and Europe.

The triangle offense — intelligence, fires, and maneuver — is how the Army taught Brad to think about hard problems: know the terrain better than the opponent, apply pressure where it matters, and convert that pressure into a winning position. Insight, leverage, and position are the same three principles applied to civil dispute resolution. The Army also taught him two things about risk: that an accurate understanding of it is paramount, and that acceptance of it, including the possibility of failure, is the price of admission. All of it still shapes how he advises the business, evaluates matters, and works with outside counsel.

Read more about Brad's background →

Pro Bono & Service

Selective. Substantial.

Brad has been admitted to the Texas Pro Bono College, which recognizes attorneys who have far exceeded the State Bar of Texas's aspirational pro bono goal in addressing the unmet legal needs of the poor. Brad accepts pro bono matters on a selective basis.

Veterans

Direct representation of veterans on benefits claims through the National Veterans Legal Services Program's Lawyers Serving Warriors program. Designed and led integration of a company-wide corporate pro bono program partnering his legal department with NVLSP, expanding the program's reach to a national network of in-house attorneys.

40+ trials

More than 40 municipal cases tried to a judge or jury through the Houston and Missouri City Volunteer Prosecutor Programs (100+ volunteer hours). Several hundred hours as lead counsel for an indigent client wrongfully evicted, through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program.

Civil litigation

Discrimination and retaliation. Several hundred hours in labor and employment litigation, including prosecution of claims before an administrative judge of the EEOC.

Condominium association disputes. Several hundred hours managing nonprofit condominium association litigation, including claims against developers and property management companies.

Construction defect. 100+ hours as lead counsel in defense and prosecution of construction defect litigation and attendant fraud claims, in state court and arbitration.

Wrongful conviction

Legal research for innocence projects focused on exonerating inmates with persuasive claims of wrongful conviction, and for lawyers representing pro bono clients before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Brad's pro bono practice focuses on matters where his background and capabilities are likely to make a meaningful difference, particularly civil disputes, consumer matters, and cases involving veterans. Inquiries are accepted through established legal services organizations and directly through the contact information below. Every inquiry is reviewed.

See full Pro Bono practice →

Contact

Get in touch.

Brad does not represent paying clients. He accepts pro bono matters on a selective basis. For pro bono inquiries, the best paths are below.

Phone
(832) 736-2723
Mailing address
945 McKinney Street #11223
Houston, TX 77002
Bar admissions
State Bar of Texas
State Bar of California