Overview
Hector Chavez maintains an active general civil litigation practice representing defendants and plaintiffs in complex lawsuits, arbitrations, and appeals. His areas of focus include intellectual property disputes and strategy, commercial litigation, energy litigation, cross-border matters, and white-collar defense.
Hector leverages his engineering background when distilling complex technology issues in order to tell his client's story, educate judges and juries, and deliver successful results in the courtroom and at the negotiation table. He also draws from his international background and experience to provide legal advice and victories to his clients based in Latin America and other regions around the world that are involved in various complex litigation and intellectual property disputes.
Hector leads the firm's Latin American Lawyers affinity group. He is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French and Portuguese.
- Texas
- US District Court, Western District of Texas
- US District Court, Southern District of Texas
- US District Court, Northern District of Texas
- US District Court, Eastern District of Texas
- US Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
- US Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- US Patent & Trademark Office
- US Court of Federal Claims
- J.D., Harvard Law School, 2011, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology (Editor), Cravath International Fellow
- B.S., Columbia University School of Engineering & Applied Science, 2006, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors, Electrical Engineering
Representative Matters
Intellectual Property Litigation
- Win favorable outcomes for defendant and plaintiff corporations in patent infringement lawsuits.
- Defend against and sue under federal and state law trademark and unfair competition cases in state and federal courts.
- Successfully represent individuals and companies in IP licensing disputes and strategy.
- Represent clients in copyright infringement lawsuits.
Energy Litigation
- Represent energy companies in gas processing and midstream disputes before state and federal courts.
- Win favorable rulings and outcomes for mineral interest owners in oil and gas lease and royalty disputes.
International and Domestic Commercial Disputes
- Represented Latin American companies and individual defendants in complex litigation and arbitrations.
- Represent companies and individuals in investment and securities disputes in state and federal courts.
- Argued and won jurisdictional, choice of law, and forum non conveniens disputes before US federal courts.
- Tried and won corporate governance cases for nonprofit business organizations.
- Represented hospital systems in cases involving contractual disputes, securities regulations, intellectual property violations, and civil right defenses.
Speaking Engagements
- "Patent Damages Updates: Extraterritorial Damages and Expert Challenges," University of Houston / HIPLA Fall Institute, September 2024
- "Understanding Licensing: Types, Rights, and Considerations," Hispanic National Bar Association, June 2024
- "Strategic Law and & Leadership (course)," University of St. Thomas, May-July 2024
- "Legal Ethics and Data Security," SKV Decoding Cybersecurity in the Legal Industry
- "Developments on Venue in Texas Federal Courts," University of Houston / HIPLA Fall Institute
- Presenter, Alumni Engineering Forum, University of Houston
- "Intellectual Property: A Crash Course on Protecting Your Ideas," Rice University
- "Litigation Funding in IP Cases," University of Houston / HIPLA Fall Institute
Events
Seminars & Events
Mexico's Judicial Reform: Considering the Impact, Implications, and Options Moving Forward
January 23, 2025
Speakers: Hector R. Chavez, Christophe Bondy, Jarod Stewart
Noteworthy
- Benchmark Litigation, "Texas Future Star" (2015-2024)
- Benchmark Litigation, 40 & Under List – South (2023-2024)
- Best Lawyers, Litigation - Intellectual Property (2025)
- Super Lawyers, Texas, Intellectual Property Litigation, Civil Litigation (2024)
- Super Lawyers, Texas, "Rising Star – Intellectual Property Litigation" (2017-2021)
- Harvard Law School, Cravath International Fellow (2011)
Authored Articles
- "On the role of context and prosody in the interpretation of 'okay'," Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL), co-author, January 2007
Professional Affiliations
- Barrister, Executive Committee Member, Nancy Atlas IP Inn of Court (2017 – Present)
- Houston Intellectual Property Law Association
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
- Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
- Adjunct Professor on "Strategy, Law and Leadership,", University of St. Thomas Houston