Dr. Pierre Grosdidier is an associate in the Business Litigation practice group in the Houston office of Haynes and Boone, LLP. Pierre’s practice focuses on complex commercial and technology litigation. He litigates and tries lawsuits that arise from disputes in engineering, technology, software, and the sciences. He has litigated cases stemming from construction defects, industrial accidents (stemming from equipment failures), engineering services projects, computer and software projects, copyright and software copyright infringements, and trade secret thefts. Pierre makes full use of his engineering experience to identify and get beyond the core technical issues that drive these lawsuits, in order to focus on their legal merits. Pierre also leverages his engineering, software and project management background to efficiently organize and lead complex ESI preservation, collection, and review projects. Pierre enjoys writing papers in his spare time, and researching the case law for issues of law that uniquely affect foreign litigants (especially litigants from French-speaking countries) in U.S. Courts. He has represented clients in both Texas state and federal courts, and has solo jury-trial experience. 

Before law school, Pierre practiced engineering, and was a recognized expert in multivariable process control and process operation information systems. He has more than eighteen years of experience in leading-edge software application development and implementation in the petroleum refining industry.

Pierre was born in Douala, Cameroon, and grew up in the Côte d’Ivoire. He received his engineering education at McGill University in Montréal, and at Caltech. He obtained his law degree with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin.

Pierre has been involved in the following significant litigation and arbitration matters:

• Representation of an ultra-high-purity chemical production equipment manufacturer in a civil action involving breach-of-contract and tort claims regarding engineering services, technology licensing, and joint sales agreements.
• Representation of a software company in a dispute that involved claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the Texas Computer Crime Law against a former employee. The case settled quickly under terms very favorable to the client.
• Representation of an oil company in a pipeline construction dispute; acted as second chair in a two-week trial that fully vindicated the defendant oil company where plaintiff sought a $24 million verdict.
• Representation of two different real estate investment groups (based in Texas and Colorado) whose commercial buildings suffered from pervasive roof-construction defects. One of these cases settled under very favorable terms for the client; the other case is pending.
• Representation of an energy partnership in a complex technical breach-of-contract and negligence dispute wherein an equipment failure caused considerable material and lost profit damages. The case settled under favorable terms for the client. 
• Representation of a landlord in breach of lease cases. Obtained a directed verdict in one case and a favorable settlement in the other. 
• Obtained a favorable disposition that fully vindicated the defendant in a software copyright infringement case.
• Successful representation of a defendant in a lawsuit involving the unauthorized sale of copyrighted pictures on Internet.
• Prevailed in a trespass-to-try-title action and recovered a building stolen from its owner through a forged deed.
• Managed a complex e-discovery project in a DOJ anti-trust investigation. Electronic documents were collected at four client locations in the United States. Documents were processed and reviewed in the United States and in the Far East with the assistance of two computer solutions providers (one in the United States and one in the Far East).
• Part of a team that successfully represented a chip-maker in a breach of contract and trade secret theft lawsuit.
• Managed a complex e-discovery project in a breach-of-contract lawsuit. Electronic documents were collected at two client locations in the United States and Europe with the help of a computer solutions provider. Documents were reviewed in the United States through contract attorneys.
• Part of a team that successfully represented an engineering software vendor in several breach of contract claims arising out of multi-million dollar software license and development projects.
• Part of a team that successfully represented an international retail chain in ICC arbitration. Pierre used his French-language fluency to locate ICC tribunal decisions favorable to Haynes and Boone's client's position.
• Part of a team that represented a multi-national corporation in a DOJ FCPA investigation.

Selected Professional and Business Activities

• Chairman of the Legal and Banking Committee and the Membership Committee of the French-American Chamber of Commerce (FACC). www.facchouston.com

Recent Legal Publications

• "Computer & Internet Crimes - Where Will it End? The Ninth Circuit Decides to Revisit when a User "Exceeds Authorized Access" under the CFAA," Bloomberg Law Reports, January 2012.
• "Direct and Consequential Damages in Contract Disputes," Law360, November 2011.
• "The Danger With Time Bombs - Can Your Software Vendor Lock Up Your Software so That  You Have to Buy an Upgrade? Maybe not," ControlGlobal.com, October 2011.
• "A Case Study of Data Manipulation by a Prominent Expert Witness," contributor, with Michael J. Mazzone, Forsensic Expert Witness Association, July 2011.
• "Un litige commercial aux Etats-Unis (en deux parties)," (2011).
• "Annual Review of Litigation, Chapter 3: Appellate Practice," contributor, with Kendyl Hanks and Mark Trachtenberg, American Bar Association, Section of Business Law, April 2011.
• "The French Blocking Statute, the Hague Evidence Convention, and the Case Law: Lessons for French Parties Responding to American Discovery," (2010).
• "ESI Preservation and Collection - Issues and Solutions," (2010).
• "Devenir avocat aux Etats-Unis," (2009).
• "Two Issues of Interest to Franchisors and Franchisees," (2009).
• "Analysis of Records Hold Issues and Case Law on the Duty to Preserve Data," (2008).

Selected Technical Publications

• "Improve APC Project Success," P. Grosdidier, Hydrocarbon Processing, Vol. 83, No. 10, (2004).
• "Value Proposition for Oil Accounting - Parts 1 and 2," P. Grosdidier and M. McLaughlin, Hydrocarbon Processing, Vol. 82, Nos. 4 and 5, (2003).
• "Understand Operation Information Systems," P. Grosdidier, Hydrocarbon Processing, Vol. 77, No. 9, (1998).
• "Economics of Blend Giveaway," P. Grosdidier, Hydrocarbon Processing, Vol. 76, No. 11, 55, (1997).
• "FCC Unit Reactor-Regenerator Control," P. Grosdidier, A. Mason, A. Aitolahti, P. Heinonen and V. Vanhamäki, Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 17, 165, (1993).
• "Crude Unit Product Quality Control," K. Muske, J. Young, P. Grosdidier and S. Tani, Computers and Chemical Engineering, Vol. 15, 629, (1991).
• "Integral Controllability of Integrating Systems," P. Grosdidier and M. Morari, Ind. Eng. Res., Vol. 29, 2160, (1990).
• "Interaction Measures for Systems Under Decentralized Control," P. Grosdidier and M. Morari, Vol. 22, 309, Automatica, (1986).
• "Closed-Loop properties from Steady-State Gain Information," P. Grosdidier, M. Morari and B. R. Holt, Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam., Vol.24, 221, (1985).

Memberships

• State Bar of Texas
• Houston Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute (DRI)
• Texas Board of Professional Engineers (inactive)
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
• American Association for the Advancement of Science

Online Publications