Daniel Charest, founding partner of Burns Charest LLP, has been named “Attorney of the Year” in the Lone Star State for 2020 by Texas Lawyer. The honor underscores the breadth of success Charest has achieved for his clients during the past 18 months and the importance of those cases in the Texas legal landscape. [Story Here]

Earlier this month Mr. Charest was recognized among 26 “Winning Litigators” for 2020 by the National Law Journal. [Story Here]

As part of the Texas Lawyer virtual ceremony on Sept. 17, Charest was particularly recognized for his work as lead trial counsel in securing a landmark win for Houston-area property owners before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The court held that the United States is liable for flooding and property damage caused by the Army Corps of Engineers’ management of Houston-area reservoirs during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The ruling allows more than 10,000 property owners to recover significant flood-damage compensation for their Fifth Amendment taking claims. 

“No one achieves a successful outcome for clients without the support of a great team of other attorneys and staff, so I share this award with everyone at Burns Charest and the co-counsel we have worked with during the past 18 months,” said Charest in accepting the award. 

Among other significant victories, in July 2019 Charest worked on a litigation team that obtained an international arbitration ruling in favor of the firm’s client, Dallas-based Kosmos Energy. The January 2019 arbitration in London secured deep-water drilling rights off the coast of Africa and resulted in a multimillion-dollar award. In addition to the London arbitration, Charest led related litigation involving subsidiaries in Houston.   

Charest also served as co-lead counsel in reaching a $52 million settlement on behalf of a multistate class alleging that Facebook failed to properly support and care for content moderators, who frequently suffer psychological damage from monitoring violent and unlawful activity posted on Facebook. In addition to significant injunctive relief, the May 2020 settlement provides class members funding for diagnosis and treatment.