Charles Penot

Charles Penot

With over 30 years of legal experience, Charlie practices in the areas of consumer, commercial, and business litigation. Over the course of his career, he has handled a broad range of cases arising in varied industries, including matters involving construction, intellectual property, business co-owner disputes, insurance coverage and bad faith, ERISA, financial services (including lender liability and consumer credit class actions), various types of contracts, civil RICO, and securities litigation. Charlie has also litigated casualty matters, for both defendants and plaintiffs, and mass tort actions. He has managed massive e-discovery efforts.

While primarily focused on litigation, Charlie has also provided general business counsel and advice on matters ranging from litigation risk and evaluation to the purchase and sale of assets and stock. He has negotiated and drafted commercial leases, license agreements, and stock and asset purchase agreements. Charlie has over 80 hours of mediator training and substantial combined mediation experience as an advocate and mediator. He is available to serve as a mediator in Dallas and New Orleans

Notable Cases/Work

  • Fluor Enterprises, Inc. v. Orion Refining Corp., 372 B.R. 688(Bankr. D. Del. 2007). As first-chair trial counsel, won $29 million judgment for a major,international EPCM contractor in connection with the rebuilding of a bankrupt debtor.
  • In re FEMA Trailer Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation, Alana Alexander et al. v. Gulf Stream Coach, Inc., et al., obtained defense verdict as first-chair trial counsel in initial bellwether trial.
  • Chrysler Credit Corp. v. Whitney Nat’l Bank, 51 F.3d 553 (5thCir.1995). Won verdictof over $3 million against a National Bank in case of vehicle floor plan lender alleging Bank facilitated auto dealer's sales "out of trust."
  • Dixon v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 137 F. Supp. 2d 702
    (E.D. La.2000). Obtained dismissal of a putative class action asserting federal consumer credit and RICO claims.

Publications and Lectures

  • Why Mediators Shouldn’t Believe Everything They Think, Part 1, ALTERNATIVE RESOLUTIONS, Summer 2016: Vol. 25, No. 3 (Newsletter of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Texas); and Why Mediators Shouldn’t Believe Everything They Think, Part 2, ALTERNATIVE RESOLUTIONS, Fall 2016: Vol. 25, No. 4 (Newsletter of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Texas).
  • “Cognitive Bias: It Happens to You!” Headnotes, Vol. 40, No. 3, at 13 (published by the Dallas Bar Association).
  • Cognitive Bias in Negotiation: Because It Happens to You! (Presentations made to Dallas Bar Association ADR Section on January 12, 2015, to Advance Mediation Seminar at El Centro College on January 24, 2015, Mediation and Family Law Seminars at Texas A&M School of Law on January 31, and May 31, 2015, respectively).
  • Mastering Negotiation: Practical Tips and Ethics (Co-presenter with Thomas A. Noble at Dallas Bar Association North Dallas Friday CLE Clinic, June 12, 2015).
  • Bad Faith Litigation in Louisiana (1999) (National Business Institute CLE).
  • Magazine Article, Protecting Your Trademark on the Internet, Inc. Magazine (2001).
  • The Basics of Trademarks (Summer 2003 presentation as part of University of New Orleans Small Business Development Center Seminar Series on Intellectual Property).

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association;
  • Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Texas State Bar Association
  • Dallas Bar Association

Contact Information

Dallas Office
Founders Square
900 Jackson Street, Suite 440
Dallas, Texas 75202

Direct: (214) 741-3009
Cell: (214) 205-5660
Office: (214) 741-3001
Fax: 214-741-3098

Email: cpenot@sessions.legal


Areas of Law

Education

  • LL.M, Yale Law School
  • J.D., summa cum laude, Loyola University School of Law
  • B.P.A, summa cum laude, Loyola University

Admissions

  • Louisiana, Texas, U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • U.S. District Courts, Eastern
  • Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana
  • Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Districts of Texas

FOUNDED IN NEW ORLEANS, WE NOW SERVICE CLIENTS THROUGHOUT THE NATION


  • ACA
  • Brand Elite
  • RMA
  • Super Lawyers
  • AV 2020