practice areas
honors + affiliations
Listed, Texas Super Lawyers (2010–2012)
Listed, The Best Lawyers in America (2013)
Member, American Bar Association
Member, Houston Bar Association
Sustaining Life Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
Life Fellow, Houston Bar Foundation
AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
bar admissions
- Texas
Court Admissions
- U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Fifth Circuits
- U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas
- Houston
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1000 Louisiana St., Suite 4000
Houston, TX 77002-5006
Phone: 713.890.5185
Fax: 713.890.5001
Lucas T. Elliot is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Litigation and Intellectual Property Practices, the hiring partner for the Houston office, and a member of the firmwide Legal Personnel Committee.
Mr. Elliot concentrates his practice in the areas of patent litigation and commercial litigation, representing U.S. and Asian clients as both plaintiffs and defendants. He regularly litigates intellectual property, commercial, and complex tort matters in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels. Mr. Elliot has represented a wide variety of corporate and individual clients in the telecommunications, computer hardware and software, eCommerce, technology development and consulting, real estate, and insurance industries. He also lectures and conducts training seminars regarding litigation and intellectual property issues, most recently in Texas, China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Elliot practiced primarily in the area of complex tort litigation, defending commercial property owners in complex premises liability litigation involving criminal acts of third parties, defending law firms and attorneys in professional malpractice litigation, and handling bad faith insurance litigation. He also has handled several matters involving bankruptcy and real estate litigation.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Mr. Elliot was a partner in the Litigation, International, and Intellectual Property and Technology Departments and a member of the Asia-Pacific and Information Technology Practice Groups at a full-service international law firm. Prior to that, Mr. Elliot served as a law clerk for Judge Sim Lake of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Mr. Elliot is a former member of the State Bar District 4F Grievance Committee and served as the chairman from 1999 to 2001. He has also served as a governing director of the board of trustees for the Houston Symphony Society, a member of the board of directors of the Friends of Fondren Library at Rice University, and has been a member of the United Way's Alexis de Tocqueville Society.
Mr. Elliot received his J.D., cum laude, from Tulane University Law School in 1989. While in law school, he was articles editor for the Tulane Maritime Law Journal. Mr. Elliot received his B.A. in anthropology and behavioral sciences (pre-med) from Rice University in 1986.
Mr. Elliot is admitted to practice in Texas and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal and Fifth Circuits and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of Texas.
Selected Representations
Note: This list includes engagements completed prior to joining Morgan Lewis.
Intellectual Property Cases:
- Defended a major technology company as lead counsel in several multidefendant patent infringement actions in the Marshall, Sherman, and Tyler divisions of the Eastern District of Texas involving computer architecture.
- Lead counsel for the third largest worldwide PC vendor (Taiwan's largest) in a patent infringement action concerning JPEG image compression technology. The patentee brought claims against dozens of major manufacturers in the electronics and software industry in the Eastern District of Texas, which were transferred to the Northern District of California in an MDL proceeding. Following a favorable Markman ruling, the case settled for a nominal payment on the client's behalf.
- Co-lead counsel for the world leader in hand-carried diagnostic ultrasound medical devices in a patent infringement action concerning a patent for a portable medical ultrasound device. The district court granted summary judgment of invalidity against the plaintiff shortly before trial, which was affirmed by the Federal Circuit on appeal.
- One of the lead counsels for a leading architect, designer and provider of digital wireless telephony technology and product platforms in a patent infringement action involving 2G and 2.5G GSM/GPRS/TDMA technology. After 10 years of litigation, the case settled shortly before trial with our client receiving worldwide, royalty-bearing license agreements from the alleged infringer, a major manufacturer of GSM/GPRS/TDMA compliant terminal units and infrastructure products.
- Co-lead counsel for a Taiwanese company, the world's leading supplier of DVD playback software, in a patent infringement action regarding the supply of DVD software to personal computer and laptop manufacturers. The case settled favorably in the early stages of the litigation with our client entering into a license agreement for a significantly smaller amount than the amount later paid by our co-defendant.
- Co-lead counsel for Korea's second largest PC manufacturer and one of Korea's largest computer monitor manufacturers in a patent infringement suit brought by one of the world's largest PC manufacturers involving 11 computer hardware and software patents. The case settled shortly before trial.
- Co-lead counsel for a major motion picture studio and an independent film studio in a copyright infringement action involving "The Sixth Day" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The case settled shortly before trial, while defendants' motion for summary judgment of noninfringement was pending before the court, on very favorable terms for our clients.
- Lead counsel for an integrated worldwide aviation product and support company that custom designs maintenance, repair, and overhaul software for use with on-ground aircraft maintenance programs in a state court action brought by two regional commercial airlines alleging breach of contract and fraud in connection with the delivery and performance of the software. The case settled at mediation.
- Lead counsel for an Internet website design and software implementation company in an arbitration action before the American Arbitration Association brought by a leading Internet-based provider of at-home groceries alleging negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation, and fraud in connection with the design, development, and implementation of the hardware and software necessary to create a new Internet website. The arbitration was ultimately dismissed by the plaintiff without any payment by our client.
- Lead counsel for a leading systems integration and business consulting firm in a state court action brought by a diversified facilities service company alleging negligence, misrepresentation, and fraud in connection with the installation and implementation of an Oracle payroll software package and technical support services. The claims against our client were dismissed by the court.
- Lead counsel for the nation's leading provider of back office systems for the securities brokerage industry in a pre-suit dispute with a broker/dealer involving the installation and maintenance of the client's software package and related modules. The case was settled on favorable terms without litigation.
education
- Tulane University Law School, 1989, J.D., Cum Laude
- Rice University, 1986, B.A.