Paul Hastings Continues Texas Growth With Commercial Litigation Pair in Dallas

DALLAS – Further strengthening its premier litigation practice and fast-growing Texas platform, Paul Hastings LLP announced today the addition of accomplished litigators Stephanie D. Clouston and Matthew Durfee as partners in Dallas.

“Stephanie and Matt have a proven record in high-stakes, high-profile cases. They bring to our practice the experience and firepower clients seek to handle their most complex and significant matters,” said firm Chair Frank Lopez. “Their arrival strengthens a litigation practice that is already among the most competitive in the market and further establishes our Texas platform as a destination for top-of-market talent.”

Clouston has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation, government investigations, enforcement and compliance. She has successfully represented clients in both federal and state courts, handling bet-the-company commercial disputes, consumer class actions, and product liability and mass tort cases. Her practice covers various industries, including telecommunications, energy and infrastructure, consumer products and manufacturing.

She also advises clients on regulatory and investigative matters before government agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Communications Commission and Department of Energy, as well as state attorneys general.

Her recent work includes serving as lead counsel in a multimillion-dollar dispute for a global construction products company, counseling an energy company in a Texas attorney general’s investigation, defending a telecommunications company in a large competitor trade secret dispute, leading the defense of a HVAC company in multi-district litigation related to the bankruptcy of a transportation carrier, representing a multinational conglomerate in a Texas wrongful death suit and defending a major wireless provider in federal 911 liability cases.

Chambers-ranked in Litigation: General Commercial, Clouston is also recognized as a Key Lawyer for Dispute Resolution: Product Liability, Mass Tort, and Class Action by Legal 500 and listed among D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas.

Durfee focuses on high-stakes commercial litigation, including product liability, class actions, breach of contract, negligence, fraud and international disputes. He has deep experience in both state and federal courts, as well as multidistrict litigations. The pair joins from Winston & Strawn.

“Paul Hastings’ rapid rise in Texas is impossible to miss. What excites me most is the opportunity to plug directly into that momentum,” said Clouston. “Our clients gain the strength of a powerhouse litigation platform that can protect their interests and advance their businesses both in Texas and globally.”

Clouston and Durfee are the latest in a stream of premier leading litigators joining the Paul Hastings team in Texas over the past two years. They follow leading complex commercial litigator Paul Genender, accomplished trial and regulatory enforcement partner Manuel Berrelez, data privacy and cybersecurity litigation partner Michelle Reed, environmental litigator Stephen Fitzgerald and first-chair trial attorney Craig Stanfield.

Paul Hastings has been the fastest-growing law firm in Texas over the past year, according to American Lawyer Media, and has more than tripled its team in Texas over the past two years, from 30 to nearly 100 lawyers. Recent joiners also include energy M&A partners Erin Hopkins and Peter Hays, and energy and infrastructure partner Chris Richardson — all in Houston.

About Paul Hastings

With widely recognized elite teams across 17 core practices, Paul Hastings is a premier law firm with a culture of excellence focused on providing intellectual capital and superior execution globally to the world’s leading investment banks, asset managers and corporations.