Nicholas O. Kennedy

Practice Areas

At the trial level, Nick has recovered nearly a billion dollars for his clients. His clients have avoided claims for many hundred million more through successful defense verdicts or arbitration awards. Nick also argued and won at the United States Supreme Court in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin, a case about an international RICO conspiracy to prevent enforcement of a $150 million arbitration award.

Nick’s success has been widely recognized. He was named as a 2023 40 Under 40 honoree by Bloomberg News. He was also one of just a dozen finalists for the National Law Journal’s Winning Litigator award, which honors the most significant nationwide victories in 2022 and 2023.

Unlike many others at large law firms, Nick regularly tries high-stakes cases—at least one per year, and often more. These cases have regularly had tens of millions, hundreds of millions, and in one case more than a billion dollars in dispute. Nick has first chaired multiple arbitrations with more than $100 million in controversy. While Nick thrives at trial, he also has a successful pre-and post-trial practice with scores of successful dispositive and expert motions, along with appeals all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Nick is a dedicated mentor to others, helping to guide several younger attorneys through their first trials, depositions, and hearings. He is also a member of Baker McKenzie’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee through which he most recently led the Dallas office’s partnership with the Street Law program where more than a dozen Baker McKenzie professionals taught legal concepts and provided career counseling to more than fifty local high school students.

Nick's practice crosses industry and borders. He focuses heavily on the software, technology franchise, and consumer goods industries. Nick uses his ability to make complex technologies simple for jurors and arbitrators to represent technology owners in disputes about trade secrets, software performance, and contractual issues. He adeptly handles complicated financial concepts to represent business owners and partners in complex valuation, investment fraud, and fiduciary duty disputes. Nick regularly handles the damages portion of all types of complex cases, working closely with experts to do so. Nick also has a strong background with trade secrets and non-competes across industries, allowing him to help his clients protect their own IP and employees and defend against claims of misuse by others.

Nick routinely represents foreign clients in US disputes, or US clients in foreign disputes. He has arbitrated cases with all major arbitral institutions, including the ICC, ICDR, ICSID, UNCITRAL, JAMS, SCC, AAA, and LCIA. He has acted on behalf of investors against states in investor-state disputes under ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, and SCC Arbitration Rules and in related enforcement proceedings. He has handled disputes in or related to several dozen countries. This diverse experience helps Nick to advise clients on how to craft appropriate dispute resolution clauses when drafting contracts, and how to maximize their benefits when a dispute arises. Finally, Nick's international experience includes a strong track record of enforcing foreign judgments or arbitration awards in the US and abroad, including identifying and collecting upon assets of uncooperative debtors.

Professional Memberships

• American Bar Association – Member

• Institute for Transnational Arbitration-Young Arbitrator's Forum

• Dallas Bar Association – Member, International Law Section

• Dallas Association of Young Lawyers - Member

Publications

• Author, "United States: Texas governor lifts COVID-19 mask requirements and business occupancy limits," Global Compliance News, 2021

• Author, "Should I Stay or Should I Close? COVID-19 Issues Across US Jurisdictions," Global Compliance News, April 2020

• Author, "Contagious: Class Actions and Anticipated Trends Based on the COVID-19 Pandemic," Baker McKenzie Client Alert, March 2020

• Author, "COVID-19: Impacts on Pending Litigation and Mitigating Litigation Risk in the US," Baker McKenzie Client Alert, March 2020

• Author, "Texas’ Response to COVID-19 and the Impact on Businesses and Critical Infrastructure," Baker McKenzie Client Alert, March 2020

• Author, "Agreements to Arbitrate (Chapter)," Arbitration of M&A Transactions, Globe Law and Business, 2nd Edition, 2020

Education

Expert in these Jurisdictions

USA

Languages Spoken

English

Spanish