Don Godwin ’73 Joins the Trailblazer Speaker Series
A 1973 graduate of SMU Dedman Law, Godwin serves as the Chairman and CEO of Godwin Bowman, a firm that he and two other lawyers founded in 1980 as a trial and appellate firm. The firm has evolved over the last 40 years to be one of the highest profile trial and appellate firms in Texas, as well as being recognized and highly regarded in many other states where the firm has handled significant cases. Godwin Bowman has been listed in several prestigious publications as one of the top trial firms in the United States.
Speaking at the SMU Trailblazer Series in September, Godwin shared stories of his career and gave advice to the many students in attendance about how to succeed in law school and as a young lawyer. Trailblazer events serve as unique networking opportunities for law students to learn the profession through the lives of its most successful practitioners.
Born and raised in North Carolina in a family that had its beginnings on a tobacco and cotton farm, Godwin received his undergraduate degree in accounting and finance from the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). He passed the CPA exam (as his plan and intention was to become a practicing CPA), but ended up attending law school instead, after he graduated from the University of Memphis with a Masters in Accounting.
“What you want to do in law school is be open minded about your possibilities, your opportunities, and don't expect these opportunities to come your way,” said Godwin. “Oftentimes, you’ve got to go find them. You can't sit back and wait for things to happen.”
After graduating from SMU Dedman Law in 1973, Godwin joined Lyne, Klein, French & Womble, thinking he would be a tax lawyer. That firm was highly respected and regarded for representing high-net-worth individuals, mid-size companies in all types of litigation and business matters, and a firm specializing in labor law on the management side. “For nine months, I was doing tax work of all kinds, mergers, acquisitions, estate and trust matters — anything involving tax I was doing, and I enjoyed it,” he said. “But something seemed like it just wasn't keeping me challenged as much as I wanted.”
Only months into the job, he was asked by Dawson French, a senior partner at the firm, to join a team representing several physicians in a significant tax dispute with the Department of Justice, Tax Division. This was Godwin’s first exposure to litigation and he found it very exciting and challenging.
“I loved it because I'd get to go to the courthouse on a regular basis to hear motions and try cases. I started trying one case after another to juries, and I just fell in love with it,” he said.
The biggest case in Godwin’s career would come in 2010, just as he and his wife had traveled to the Kentucky Derby for the weekend. “The two of us went up there the night before to go to the Governor's Ball,” said Godwin. Early the next morning the phone rang. It was a Halliburton representative telling him there had been an explosion on an oil rig off the Louisiana coast and that they would likely need him in the litigation to come. It would become known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and would dominate the next few years of Godwin’s career.
That following Monday, he flew to Halliburton’s headquarters in Houston to attend federal hearings with the Coast Guard, determining who was responsible for the more than 4 million barrels of oil that gushed into the Gulf of Mexico. Ultimately, Godwin would have to face federal teams of investigators and their lawyers, not to mention lawsuits filed by civilians who had been affected by the spill.
The legal battle would take years to fully play out and included several different parties with conflicting interests. Close to a million lawsuits were filed in total. “BP was really trying to place the liability on Halliburton, saying it was their fault that the well blew out,” said Godwin.
The work for Halliburton would take Godwin around the country, from New Orleans, where cases where filed, to Texas; Washington, D. C.; London; and Florida. All the cases eventually ended up in multi-district litigation in New Orleans before U. S. District Judge Carl Barbier.
After years of taking depositions and other discovery and months of trial, Judge Barbier rejected BP’s claim that their partners, including Halliburton, were equally responsible for the disaster. He ruled that BP must legally accept 67 percent of the responsibility with Transocean being found liable for 30 percent, while Halliburton was only found liable for three percent.
BP ended up paying many billions in restitution to the states affected by the oil spill, while Halliburton paid minimal damages.
His message for students: “All I would say to you is, whatever you think you're doing — maybe you're not fulfilling what your dreams are — don't ever get stuck in something to where you're not willing to take a chance on something else. I left what I was comfortable doing, as a tax lawyer, went into litigation and could have failed miserably. But I was willing to take that chance, and it worked out.”
After almost 50 years as trial lawyer, Godwin shows no signs of slowing down. He still works at his firm and savors the relentless grind. He continues looking for the next challenge and encouraged the law students to do the same in law school and beyond.