A partner in Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s Austin office, Peter Stokes has spent his entire career representing clients in securities lawsuits and other complex commercial litigation, arbitration and appellate matters. He has substantial experience defending clients against shareholder class and derivative lawsuits involving numerous issues, including financial restatements, mergers and acquisitions, going private transactions, auction rate securities, IPO litigation, tender offers and cases involving allegations of GAAP violations, insider trading, antitrust and regulatory violations, "channel stuffing," options backdating, illegal short sales and breaches of fiduciary duty. Peter also enjoys speaking and publishing on securities-related issues and has co-authored the annual State Bar of Texas Fifth Circuit Securities Update for seven consecutive years, as well as three recent guest columns in Securities Law 360 and two recent articles in the Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions. Peter was also featured in an April 12, 2011, article in Compliance Week addressing the Supreme Court's recent decision in Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano.

In addition to defending against shareholder lawsuits, Peter has successfully represented clients in Sherman Act cases, qui tam actions under the False Claims Act, complex commercial disputes involving supply and "earnout" contracts, commercial foreclosures and other complex commercial matters. Peter also gained significant trial experience through Fulbright's attorney loan program with the City of Austin Municipal Prosecutor's Office, having tried more than 15 misdemeanor jury trials to verdict. Peter has also represented clients in several major appellate matters in the Texas courts of appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Peter's clients include brokerage firms, energy companies, retailers, hospitals and individual officers and directors.

Peter joined the Houston office of Fulbright & Jaworski in 2001 and relocated to the Austin office in August 2005. Prior to joining the firm, Peter served a one-year judicial clerkship for Justice Craig T. Enoch of the Supreme Court of Texas. 

• The January 2011 dismissal of a shareholder derivative case in federal court involving allegations of antitrust violations
• The September 2010 dismissal of a Rule 10b-5 securities fraud class action filed against an oilfield services company
• The March 2010 denial of a motion to enjoin a $4.5 billion M&A transaction following a contested hearing
• The April 2009 Fifth Circuit affirmance of a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of a securities class action arising from a $1.4 billion self-tender offer, followed by denial of certiorari in the Supreme Court 
• A 2009 appellate court victory in a shareholder derivative lawsuit alleging excessive executive compensation
• The dismissal of a consolidated state court shareholder class action filed to challenge the largest going private transaction in history
• The Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of a securities class action filed against a pharmaceutical company
• The Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of a shareholder derivative lawsuit filed to block a $1.1 billion acquisition
• The denial of a shareholder's motion to enjoin a $2-plus billion corporate transaction
• The defeat of a motion for class certification in a federal securities fraud action
• The Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of all claims in a federal securities fraud action in which Fulbright successfully defended more than 30 brokerage firms against allegations relating to naked short selling
• The recent denial of a motion to enjoin a $4.5 million commercial foreclosure following a contested evidentiary hearing
• The representation of an E&P company in a breach of contract and fraud action involving a master limited partnership
• The defeat of two federal Sherman Act cases involving the termination of hospital privileges
• Significant deposition and trial experience, including the depositions of class representatives whom the court determined to be inadequate based on their testimony and a two-week trial of a commercial arbitration matter
• The ongoing defense of numerous other securities and complex litigation matters
• Substantial work on several additional appellate matters, including the affirmance by the Fifth Circuit of a Sherman Act dismissal and the successful defense in the Austin Court of Appeals of a municipal court jury verdict that Peter obtained in an environmental matter

• State Bar of Texas
• Austin Bar Association
• Austin Young Lawyers Association
  • Board of Directors (2008 - 2010)
  • Co-Chair of CLE Committee (2006 - present)

• "Rising Star," Securities Litigation, Law & Politics (2006, 2008 - 2011)

• Co-author with Gerard Pecht, Darryl Anderson and Mark Oakes, "Delaware Chancery Court Grants $305 Million Fee Award in Stockholder Dispute," Fulbright Briefing, December 30, 2011
• Quoted in "Supreme Court Answers Materiality Issue," Compliance Week, April 12, 2011
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht and others, "Supreme Court Finds Adverse Event Reports 'Material' Despite Lack of Statistical Significance," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, March 23, 2011
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Fifth Circuit Securities Update," Texas Business Litigation, Summer 2002 - 2010
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, Rodney Acker, and Ellen B. Sessions, "Mandamus Relief in Shareholder Derivative Cases," Texas Business Litigation, Summer 2010
• Co-author with Alexis B. Stokes, "Short-Selling: Bogeyman or Not, Here Come More Regs," Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions, Vol. 23, January/February 2010
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Attacking Venue in Shareholder Derivative Suits," Law360, June 25, 2010
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Supreme Court Curtails Securities Suits by Foreign Plaintiffs," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, June 25, 2010
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht and Daniel J. Pirolo, "Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Securities Suit Against Pharmaceutical Company," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, June 16, 2010
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Second Circuit Curtails Private Rule 10b-5 Liability for 'Unattributed' Statements by Secondary Actors," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, May 4, 2010
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Case Summary: Somers v. Crane," Texas Business Litigation, Summer 2009
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht and Richard S. Krumholz, "Fifth Circuit Reaffirms Strict Scienter Requirement In Securities Fraud Cases," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. ALERT, April 9, 2009
• Co-author with Alexis B. Stokes, "Closing and Disclosing the Short: SEC Tightens Short-Selling Regulations," Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions, Vol. 22, November/December 2008
• Co-author with Alexis B. Stokes, "Naked No More? An Assessment of Proposed SEC Rule 10b-21," Journal of Taxation and Regulation of Financial Institutions, Vol. 22, September/October 2008
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Federal and State Regulators Take Aim at Short Sellers in Wake of Wall Street Financial Crisis," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. ALERT, September 2008
• Co-author with Anne M. Rodgers, "Fifth Circuit Emphasizes Strict Pleading Requirements for Securities Fraud Plaintiffs in Rare Interlocutory Reversal," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, August 4, 2008
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Securities Plaintiffs Face Tough Sledding After Tellabs," Securities Law 360 Guest Column, June 30, 2008
• Co-author with Gerard G. Pecht, "Closing Down Litigation Kennels: The Problem of Professional Plaintiffs in Shareholder Litigation," Securities Law 360 Guest Column, May 2, 2008
• Co-author with Daniel M. McClure, "Federal Courts Experience Surge in Class Action Activity," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, April 15, 2008
• Co-author with Anne M. Rodgers and others, "Texas Court Curtails Discovery from Delaware Corporations in Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, February 2008
• Co-author with Anne M. Rodgers and others, "Supreme Court Curbs 'Scheme Liability' Lawsuits," Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Briefing, January 2008
• Co-author with Anne M. Rodgers, "Ruling Tightens Rein on Securities Fraud Plaintiffs," Securities Law 360 Guest Column, August 9, 2007
• Co-author with Layne E. Kruse and Gerard G. Pecht, "Shareholder Litigation in Texas: A Defendants' Perspective," 4th Annual Advanced Business Law Course, State Bar of Texas, Houston, Texas, October 26-27, 2006

• Panelist/speaker, "Winter 2010 - Antitrust and Business Litigation Developments and Updates," Texas State Bar Antitrust and Business Litigation Section CLE, February 24, 2010
• Panelist/speaker, "Financial Crisis:  Actions and Reactions of the IRS and Other Regulatory Agencies," ABA Section of Taxation 2009 Mid-Year Meeting, January 9, 2009
• Presenter/speaker, "Securities Law Update," Fall 2008 Antitrust and Business Litigation Developments and Updates CLE Teleconference sponsored by Texas State Bar Antitrust and Business Litigation Section, December 2, 2008
• Presenter/speaker, "Federal Local Rules" portion of New Lawyer Orientation CLE sponsored by Austin Bar Association and Austin Young Lawyers Association, Austin, Texas, November 17, 2008
• Panelist/speaker, “Antifraud Program and Controls: Bridging the Gap Between Guidance and Implementation” (organized by Deloitte), Houston, Texas, April 23, 2008
• Presenter (with Alexis B. Stokes), "Short Attacks: Corporate Strategies for Preventing, Recognizing, and Remedying Stock Manipulation through Short Selling" at the Western Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Conference, Monterey, California, April 5, 2008
• Panelist/speaker, "The Subprime Crisis: Hot Issues for Officers, Directors, and General Counsel," State Bar of Texas CLE Webcast, Austin, Texas, March 6, 2008
• Presentation on Options Backdating Litigation to the McCoy College of Business Administration at Texas State University, April 17, 2007
• "Advanced Legal Drafting For Texas Paralegals," Institute for Paralegal Education, Houston, Texas, August 25, 2004
• "Is Secondary Liability a Primary Concern?," Securities Litigation and Arbitration Institute, Dallas, Texas, March 26, 2004

2000 - J.D., Harvard Law School
1997 - B.A., Rice University

In law school, Peter served as Senior Editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.  He is admitted to practice law before all Texas state courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.