Rick Houghton


  • Associate, Smyser Kaplan & Veselka LLP

  • Law Clerk to the Hon. Gregg J. Costa, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

  • Law Clerk to the Hon. Lee H. Rosenthal, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

  • J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School

  • MSt in History, University of Oxford

  • B.S., with honors, United States Military Academy at West Point


Rick is a sharp, versatile, trusted litigator who thrives in high-stakes environments. Before becoming a lawyer, Rick served as a U.S. Army officer for six years in a variety of domestic and overseas assignments, including as the commander of an Air Defense Artillery training battery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. It's little wonder, then, that he has distinguished himself in each of MBS's core practice areas. He has deep experience and successful results in all phases of civil litigation and commercial arbitration, routinely writing and arguing to obtain or resist early dismissal or summary judgment, taking and defending depositions, going to trial, and handling appeals (whether in his own cases or in those tried by other firms). Rick has also represented white-collar criminal defendants in plea negotiations, cooperation trial testimony, and sentencing.

Rick’s generous spirit is obvious to all who know him. An active member of the Houston legal community, Rick has facilitated several legal services clinics for veterans in need.  He is also an Eagle Scout.

Representative Matters

    • Represented Taiwanese electronics manufacturer in $10 million contract and product-liability dispute with buyer, developing arguments that resulted in partial summary judgment; case settled favorably on eve of trial (Safety Vision, LLC v. LEI Technology Canada and Lanner Electronics, Inc., No. 4:21-CV-03306 in the Southern District of Texas)

    • Representing former corporate officers defending against breach-of-fiduciary-duty and related claims by company (Alpine Summit Funding, LLC v. Perry et al., No. 4:24-CV-3327 in the Southern District of Texas)

    • Represented litigation trust in adversary proceeding involving breach-of-fiduciary-duty and fraudulent-transfer claims, cross-examining key fact witness at trial and obtaining $17.6 million judgment (RPA Asset Mgm’t Servs, LLC v. Siffin et al., Adv. Proc. No. 21-51255 in the District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court)

    • Represented medical-device manufacturer in contract and fraud dispute against distributor, developing case strategy, supervising key aspects of discovery, and developing and briefing summary-judgment arguments; case settled favorably (Vivorte, Inc. v. Acumed LLC, No. N22C-04-077 in Delaware Superior Court)

    • Represented defendant health insurance company in multi-week jury trial that resulted in plaintiffs receiving only a small fraction of requested damages (ACS Primary Care Physicians Sw., PA v. Molina Healthcare of Texas, No. 2017-777084 in Harris County District Court)

  • Represents major energy company in high-stakes dispute over $600 million asset sale, briefing and arguing critical motion to compel arbitration that resulted in opposing party’s claims being ordered to arbitration (BP America Prod. Co. v. SIMCOE LLC, No. 2022-02516 in Harris County

    Represents manufacturer in multi-million-dollar dispute involving breach-of-contract, breach-of-warranty, and negligence claims (Killam Oil Co., Ltd. v. Drillformance LLC et al., No. 2022CVI001768D2 in Webb County)

    Represented individuals and entity defending against trade-secret and Lanham Act claims, briefing a motion to compel arbitration that resulted in an agreed stay in favor of arbitration (Tally Personnel LLC et al. v. Liberty Lift Solutions, et al., No. 4:24-cv-02415 in the Southern District of Texas)

    Represented family business in royalty dispute against several energy companies, briefing a crucial summary-judgment motion about the meaning and effect of a mineral lease’s severance-tax provision that resulted in a $3 million partial summary judgment, securing a multi-million dollar victory at trial, and negotiating a favorable global settlement (Petty Business Enter., LP v. Chesapeake Explo., LLC et al., Adv. Pro. No. 20-03433 in the Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court)

  • Represents individual accused of violating the federal conflict-of-interest statute (U.S. v. Henry, No. 2:24-cr-00111 in the Eastern District of Virginia)

    Represented individual accused of conspiracy to commit bank fraud (U.S. v. Calloway, No. 2:20-cr-00065 in the Eastern District of Louisiana)

    • Representing individual defending against copyright-infringement claim (Santa Fe Goldworks, Inc v. Suleiman et al., No. 1:24-cv-01005 in the District of New Mexico)

    • Represents several entities defending against Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 202 petition (New World Assets LLC v. Pinto Western Retail Holdings LP et al., No. 2024-58566 in Harris County district court)

  • Represented individuals in False Claims Act case seeking more than $100 million from a large government contractor for improprieties during the U.S. War in Afghanistan, defeating motion to dismiss and settling favorably (Carrow et al. v. AECOM Tech. Corp., et al., No. 4:15-cv-00089 in the Southern District of Texas)

    • Secured recognition of Canadian final judgment as lead counsel in Texas state court (Zeste Agence Motivation inc. v. Judson Trucking LLC et al., No. 21-CV-2092 in Galveston County district court)

    • Represented entities in title dispute, briefing and winning summary judgment and then successfully defending judgment on appeal (MBRV I, LLC v. Reynolds, No. 048-315357-20 in Tarrant County district court)

  • Represented major hospital system against purported class of individuals asserting Telephone Consumer Protection Act claims, filing summary-judgment motion that led to favorable settlement (Sims v. Memorial Hermann Health System, No. 4:21-cv-04225 in the Southern District of Texas)

Noteworthy

    • “Ones to Watch” by Best Lawyers in Commercial Litigation

    • Houston Bar Association President’s Award for Outstanding Service

    • Joseph H. Beale Prize for Excellence in Conflict of Laws, Harvard Law School

    • Dean’s Scholar Prizes in Conflicts of Laws and Property, Harvard Law School

    • Paul and Jean Elder Endowed Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to the University of Oxford

    • State Bars of Texas and Pennsylvania

    • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

    • United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

    • Leadership Class, Institute for Energy Law

    • Trustee, Houston Young Lawyers Foundation

    • Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation

    • Fellow, Houston Bar Foundation

    • Former Co-Chair, Houston Bar Association’s Military & Veterans Committee

    • Former Director, Houston Young Lawyers Association (HYLA)

    • Former Co-Chair, HYLA Military & Veterans Committee

    • Former Member, HYLA Leadership Academy Committee

    • “The New Texas Business Courts” CLE, Houston Young Lawyers Foundation (2024)

    • “Jurisdictional Discovery,” The Advocate: Threshold Issues in Litigation, Vol. 97, 21-24 (2021)

1001 Fannin Street, Suite 720, Houston, TX 77002
650 Poydras Street, Suite 1400, New Orleans,  LA 70130