Shantrise Hall

713.651.2822

Notable Experience

  • Lead counsel in coastal land loss cases for a major oil company.
  • Successfully tried multi-billion dollar land contamination case (one of the first) for a major oil company.

Michael has years of trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States, with particular emphasis in Texas and Louisiana. Below is a brief summary of a few of the many cases Michael has handled:

  • Successfully defended a major oil company in a well blowout case
  • Successfully defended major oil companies in multi-billion dollar environmental litigation
  • Successfully defended energy companies in the mass tort litigation involving alleged releases of toxic substances
  • Successfully defended businesses facing class action litigation, in a variety of settings
  • Successfully defended national companies in employment litigation brought by the EEOC and by individual plaintiffs in courts throughout the U.S.
  • Successfully defended energy companies, chemical companies and others in catastrophic injury and death cases
  • Successfully defended a Texas Governor’s Chief of Staff and Press Secretary, in defamation suits
  • Successfully defended a former Enron director in securities litigation
  • In addition to his work as a defense lawyer, Michael is unique in that he has also represented various corporate clients as plaintiffs in numerous cases throughout the U.S. in a variety of areas of law including legal malpractice, accounting malpractice, indemnity claims and others, and has represented individual Plaintiffs in catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims. Michael has assisted his business and individual Plaintiff clients, in recovering tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements.

“When an in-house corporate counsel hires me, a big part of my job is to keep them well-informed. My job is to be collaborative and focused on solutions…with an early, candid risk assessment and, above all, to make sure that there are no surprises. We become teammates.”

Involvement

Professional

  • National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Faculty
  • American Board of Trial Advocates
  • American Bar Association – Section of Litigation
  • State Bar of Texas
  • Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Houston Bar Association
  • Houston Bar Foundation, Fellow
  • Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Litigation Counsel of America

Community

  • Michael believes that his support of various community charities and causes is a personal matter, best accomplished quietly.

Recognition

  • American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow
  • Best Lawyers in America, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants, Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions - Defendants, Commercial Litigation, Personal Injury Litigation, 2010-2026
  • Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, Houston, 2020
  • Texas Super Lawyers, Civil Litigation Defense, Business Litigation, General Litigation, 2004-2015, 2017-2019
  • Recognized as one of Houston’s Top Lawyers, H Texas Magazine, in the area of Commercial Litigation

Credentials

Education

  • Baylor University School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1985)
    • Baylor Law Review, Editor and Contributing Author
    • International Order of Barristers; National Mock Trial Team, Member
  • University of Northern Colorado (B.A., 1982)

Bar Admissions

  • Texas, 1985
  • Louisiana, 2008

Presentations

  • "Trial Trends in Energy Litigation," Liskow's Energy Law Seminar, October 30, 2025, Houston, TX
  • "Jury Trends in Energy Litigation," Liskow's Energy Law Seminar, October 26, 2023, Houston, TX

Publications

After Hours

“What do I like to do for fun? Go to trial! But other than that, in what little spare time I have, I love to bird hunt, fish, and golf. But more than anything I love to spend time at the lake with my wife, kids and now grandkids. God and family keep you grounded.”

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