Unrivaled 2025: Christopher Porter of Quinn Emanuel

You served as lead trial lawyer on behalf of HPS Investment Partners, LLC, and its former managing director in a securities fraud class action in a Texas federal court. Alta Mesa shareholders alleged that the company’s value dropped by more than $3 billion after SPAC investors were induced to vote for a transaction by statements about the company’s viability. After winning summary judgment on a number of claims, you settled the case with the class action plaintiffs in October 2024 for $6.3 million, one month before trial began. Can you tell us about your strategy in this case?

This was a sweeping 19-defendant class action lawsuit described by counsel for class plaintiffs as “a billion-dollar federal securities litigation.” We represented two defendants, HPS Investment Partners, and board member Donald Dimitrievich.

Our strategic starting point was our view that the law and facts were both on our side. But with so many defendants, we knew we needed to cut through the noise and distinguish our clients at every step of the case. Our critical focus thus became telling a story that looked at our clients individually, as opposed to looking at all 19 defendants as one.

Consistent with this, at summary judgment we showed up ready to establish the lack of evidence as to our individual clients. We were prepared with tight arguments and a clear presentation to fully tell our story.

Our strategy paid off. The court issued a summary judgment ruling that dismissed all claims against Mr. Dimitrievich and nearly all claims against HPS. This positioned us well for settlement. We would have loved to try the case (we are trial lawyers after all). But we were happy to see our work pay off. Every member of our team owns this win.

Can you describe a major hurdle that happened during the course of In re Alta Mesa Resources Securities Litigation? How did you overcome it?

While we did not try this case, the biggest hurdle by far leading up to trial was figuring out how to effectively tell our clients’ story in a case with 19 defendants and a complex set of facts. A plaintiff can turn complexity into an advantage: Where there’s smoke there’s fire. My goal in trial is always to take complex facts and turn them into a simple story that not only resonates with jurors but also sticks with them when they are deliberating.

So, leading up to trial we focused heavily on crafting a compelling, fact-based narrative that was easy to grasp and allowed us to differentiate our clients from the mass of defendants in this matter. Telling stories is what this job is about, so it was a fun challenge to meet.

When did you first know you wanted to be a trial lawyer? What clicked for you?

I played football from a very young age through college. And I learned a number of important lessons over those years including the importance of hard work, being prepared, performing under pressure, and teamwork. These lessons also apply to being a trial lawyer, which made this a natural career path for me to take.

But it wasn’t until the first trial where I had a substantive stand-up role that I was truly able to demonstrate that being a trial lawyer was right for me. I examined 17 witnesses in that federal court trial, and when it was over, the opposing counsel called to offer me a job. After that, I said to myself I might actually be pretty good at this.

What are the major keys to winning over a jury or a judge?

I believe it is important to establish trust with jurors from the beginning. For example, in the opening, when you tell a jury that the evidence will show a certain fact, you need to make sure to show that fact during the course of the trial. Jurors are very smart, and they pay close attention to what you say. So, when you tell them something, you had better deliver, because they will remember.

What is the best advice you give young trial lawyers?

“I get to tell stories for a living. And I absolutely love it. So, I tell young lawyers, as you are preparing your cases, always be thinking about the story you’re going to tell.”