Patrick King is an experienced partner and trial lawyer in Quinn Emanuel’s Houston office with a proven track record leading complex, high-stakes litigation matters in jurisdictions across the country for plaintiffs and defendants. Patrick’s practice focuses on the most challenging business disputes, products liability, class action, mass tort, and environmental issues facing his clients. He represents publicly traded and private equity-backed clients in the energy and chemical industries, among others, in both plaintiff and defense-side cases. He has also represented European and Asian companies in some of their largest and most complicated U.S. litigation matters.
Patrick’s cases have been featured in national media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Houston Chronicle, The American Lawyer, and many others. In the last decade, Patrick has represented clients in federal and state courts in over twenty states, including Texas, New York, California, Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, Delaware, and Louisiana.
- Currently representing one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers in connection with the nationwide opioid litigation. Case pending in both the federal MDL and in numerous state courts across the country.
- Currently representing a leading international helicopter manufacturer in connection with a helicopter crash in the Grand Canyon.
- Currently representing thousands of veterans pursuing claims for hearing-related injuries against 3M in connection with defective combat earplugs manufactured by 3M in the largest multi-district litigation in U.S. history.
- Currently representing automotive parts client in connection with a nationwide friction asbestos product docket.
- Co-lead counsel for petrochemical storage client in connection with a large business interruption commercial claim arising out of a fire at a storage terminal which led to the closure of the Houston Ship Channel.
- Co-lead counsel for co-Founder and allied Board members of a midstream energy company in a judicial dissolution and corporate control dispute in the Delaware Court of Chancery. After expedited, pre-trial litigation, the case settled on favorable terms on the eve of trial.
- Co-lead counsel for UMB Bank as indenture trustee for the holders of approximately $1.4 billion in notes issued by Valaris, one of the world’s largest offshore drilling companies. Litigation commenced in the District Court of Harris County, Texas, seeking to avoid and recover over $1 billion in alleged fraudulent transfers, damages on account of breaches of fiduciary duty, and other claims before the claims were ultimately resolved in connection with an ensuing chapter 11 case.
- Lead trial counsel for private equity sponsor and its portfolio company in connection with fraud and unfair dealing claims in Delaware Superior Court arising out of an asset purchase agreement.
- Represented large chemical client in its nationwide talc litigation docket, involving hundreds of individual cases across 17 jurisdictions, including California, Missouri, Louisiana, and New Jersey state courts.
- Represented several energy clients in connection with Louisiana legacy property damage litigation matters.
- Lead trial counsel for E&P client in post-closing arbitration relating to title defects and post-production cost claims.
- Lead trial counsel for private equity fund and its portfolio company in connection with breach of contract and fraud claims arising out of executive compensation negotiations with a target company.
- Successfully represented several E&P clients in connection with contested chapter 11 plans of reorganization during the recent crisis caused by a substantial dip in oil prices, including valuation disputes, fiduciary duty claims, and contract disputes with midstream providers.
- Defeated all claims brought against large health insurance client in putative class action alleging breaches of fiduciary duty.
- Defeated all claims brought against chemical client in putative class action alleging property damage caused by legacy industrial activities.
- Defeated claims brought against large oil & gas client alleging corruption in connection with projects in Kazakhstan.
- Represented W.R. Grace in case billed by the Department of Justice as the "largest criminal environmental case in history" arising out of Grace’s closed vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana. After complex pretrial litigation and three-month trial, a jury acquitted Grace and its codefendants of all charges.
- Represented chemical client in connection with thousands of mass tort claims arising out of fire at a Louisiana industrial facility.
- Represented large private equity fund in an $8 billion fraudulent conveyance lawsuit concerning the sale of Extended Stay America—a lawsuit identified in The American Lawyer as "one of the largest claims ever filed over a failed LBO" and the case most closely watched by litigators across the country.
- Advised numerous private equity clients on strategic litigation issues arising in connection with M&A activities in the energy sector, including on partnership issues, royalty litigation risk, and fiduciary duty issues.
- Represented hotel REIT in civil litigation arising out of a private equity investor’s attempt to terminate its $1.1 billion acquisition of client’s hotel portfolio due to an alleged material adverse change to the assets. After conducting expedited fact and expert discovery, the client obtained a favorable settlement on the first day of trial. A revised transaction closed successfully days later.
- Represented E&P client in connection with mass tort claims arising out of legacy refining facility in the Caribbean.
- Antitrust & Competition
- Class Action Litigation
- Crisis Law & Strategy Group
- Domestic U.S. Arbitration
- Energy Sector Disputes
- Environmental Litigation
- Health Care Litigation
- Private Equity Fund Litigation
- Life Sciences Litigation
- Life Science: Mass Torts and Product Liability Litigation
- Product Liability & Mass Torts Litigation
- Accounting & Financial Reporting Litigation
- Georgetown University Law Center
(J.D., 2007) - Georgetown University
(B.A., 2004)
- The State Bar of Texas
- United States District Court:
- Southern District of Texas
- Eastern District of Texas
- United States Bankruptcy Court:
- Southern District of Texas
- Kirkland & Ellis:
- Partner, 2013-2019
- Associate, 2007-2013
- Ranked by Legal 500 USA, “Recommended Lawyers”, Energy Litigation: Oil and Gas, 2023
- Ranked in Lawdragon 500 Leading Energy Lawyers, Energy Litigation (2023-2024)
- Recognized as a “Key Lawyer” in Energy litigation: oil and gas, Legal 500 (2022)
- Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
- Georgetown University Alumni Association