Neal Manne is a partner of Susman Godfrey LLP. He handles cases across the country for plaintiffs and defendants in all areas of law. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Lawdragon perennially includes Neal on its list of the top 500 lawyers in America, and profiled him as a “Lawdragon Legend.” In five different years, The Best Lawyers in America named Neal “Lawyer of the Year” for “Bet-the-Company Litigation” or “Antitrust Litigation” in Houston. In 2021, Neal became the only person ever to receive in the same year both the ABA’s Pro Bono Publico Award and the ABA Litigation Section’s John Minor Wisdom Award.
Neal is a 1976 graduate (highest honors) of the University of Texas, and a 1980 graduate (high honors) of UT law school, where he was a Chancellor, Order of the Coif, Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review, and won multiple awards for writing and scholarship. Neal also is a member of the University’s Friars Society. After law school, Neal clerked for the Hon. William A. Norris on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Los Angeles, CA., and practiced in Washington, D.C. for 6 years, including at the Senate Judiciary Committee.
In addition to the ABA awards noted above, for his pro bono legal work and community service Neal has received the ADL’s Jurisprudence Award, the Houston Bar Foundation’s Leon Jaworski Award, UT law school’s award as the Distinguished Alumnus for Community Service, and awards from various organizations including Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, Texas Abortion Rights Action League, and the Center for AIDS.
Neal has served on nearly two dozen boards for a wide range of organizations. In addition to serving the Foundation, Neal’s activities in support of UT have included serving as a director of the University of Texas Foundation, President of the Texas Law Review Association, executive committee member of the University Development Board, and member of the Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee.
Neal and his wife, Nancy McGregor, live in Houston and have three grown children.