• Trial
  • Commercial Litigation
    • Contract Disputes
    • Express and Implied Warranties
    • Partnership Disagreements
    • Property Damages
    • Commercial Loss Claims
    • Thefts
    • Escrow Losses
    • General Civil Litigation
  • Arbitration
  • Business Torts
    • Fraud
    • Breach of Fiduciary Duty
    • Business Disparagement
    • Negligence and Gross Negligence
    • Intentional Tort
    • Injuries and Property Damages
    • Loss of Use
    • Malpractice
    • Deceptive Trade Practice Claims
    • Consumer Litigation
  • Environmental
    • Drainage and Flood Damage Disputes
      • Commercial Flooding
      • Residential Flooding
    • Real Estate Development Issues
      • Trespass
      • Lien Disputes
    • Texas Water Code Disputes
    • Other Damage Claims
  • Energy and Energy Services
    • Oil & Gas Service Provider Disputes
    • Well Completions
    • Pipe Damage
    • Contract Disputes
    • Indemnification
    • Loss of Use Claims
    • Business Losses
    • Other Damage Claims
  • Insurance
    • Insurance Company Practices
    • Coverage and Claims
    • Representing Insureds
    • Representing Underwriters
• Energy Industry Team
• Policyholder Specialty Practice Group

With more than 38 years of civil litigation experience, Palmer Hutcheson has tried over 100 jury cases to a verdict and tried or settled many hundreds more before verdict and arbitrations, involving contract disputes, land title and escrow disputes, drainage design and real estate development, oil and gas drilling and completion, insurance coverage, toxic torts, mass torts and class action litigation.

Mr. Hutcheson routinely appears before both state and federal courts and arbitration panels. He has focused more recently on commercial litigation and disputes involving land titles, construction, engineering, insurance coverage, hydrology, drainage and flooding.

Mr. Hutcheson's experience includes representation of a wide variety of corporate and individual entrepreneurs and businesses including title insurance companies, oil and gas companies, oilfield service companies, manufacturers and distributors, landowners, real estate developers, homebuilders, homeowners, neighborhood associations, schools, churches, design engineers, drainage contractors, and liability insurance underwriters and their insureds in numerous commercial disputes. Representative disputes handled by Mr. Hutcheson involve drainage and flooding, Texas Water Code issues, real estate development design and land use, construction disputes, title and boundary disputes, insurance coverage and insurance underwriting disputes, escrow fund thefts, tortuous interference with employees and agents, and representation of a wide variety of product manufacturers, dealers and retailers of products as diverse as heavy off road machinery, helicopters and medical device manufacturers, including both international and domestic manufacturers and distributors, in complex international multiparty mass tort litigation.

Mr. Hutcheson successfully defended foreign manufacturers and domestic subsidiaries in two complex class action environmental injury cases wherein over 100,000 plaintiffs claimed a myriad of debilitating medical and cognitive injuries and "syndromes," eventually procuring dismissal of all claims against them in state court after procurement of favorable interlocutory appeals to the intermediate appellate courts and the Texas Supreme Court.

With significant knowledge of drainage regulations, statutes, and case law and the science of drainage design and modeling, Mr. Hutcheson has successfully represented many landowners, developers, engineers, homebuilders and homeowners in complex drainage disputes. Examples include:

• Multimillion dollar recovery for more than 25 homeowners in high damage neighborhood flooding case against widely acclaimed Houston developer and engineering firm for fraudulently misrepresenting flood plain location and drainage law violations. Mr. Hutcheson was then retained as part of settlement by the defendants to advise them on other ongoing claims and future flooding litigation.
• Assumed mid-trial defense of local engineering firm. Presented Daubert and Robinson motions to exclude plaintiffs' expert witness evidence, whereupon existing claim settled for a nominal amount, thus avoiding future claims by many others.
• Represented Houston valve manufacturer as claimant in dispute with commercial business park developer which imported excess fill and failed to properly design and operate stormwater detention pond, causing significant flooding of client's business and threat to continued operations and significant business interruption losses. Rather than filing a lawsuit, Mr. Hutcheson instead invoked assistance at top levels of Harris County Department of Infrastructure and Engineering and Flood Control who, with Mr. Hutcheson's assistance, ultimately forced developer to mitigate and redesign drainage, resolving drainage issue and avoiding time and expense of litigation.
• Defended engineering company which designed and oversaw installation of drainage for major real estate development along White Oak Bayou in Houston. More than 500 plaintiffs claimed their homes flooded after a major tropical storm event, alleging negligence, negligence per se, nuisance, trespass, inverse condemnation, and intentional tort, contending our engineer knew there was no more storage capacity within this Bayou before drainage was designed and installed After concluding his cross examination of plaintiffs' liability expert, Mr. Hutcheson was immediately asked by lead counsel, a highly respected plaintiffs' environmental lawyer, to settle out for very nominal undisclosed amount, provided Mr. Hutcheson discontinued cross examination of this and any other plaintiffs' experts. Settlement avoided almost a decade more of expensive litigation by co-defendant.
• Defended large central Texas homebuilder from claims in Fort Worth for alleged excess runoff being directed at down slope owner causing purported erosion, flooding, and diminution in value of large undeveloped tract. Assumed lead in negating plaintiffs' expert's theories, whereupon case settled.
• Defending drilling company from claims by entire neighborhood of claimants who claim company illegally built 10' berm to alter natural pre-development flows without permitting, causing their homes to flood.
• Defending commercial business and landowners in Austin from damage claims and requested injunctive relief by down slope purchaser alleging that excess runoff and improperly engineered drainage and detention pond is causing over $1 million in delay costs, loss of use, lost rental, and expensive changes required for down slope owner's drainage and damage to his expected shopping center.
• Defending Pearland, Texas manufacturer against abutting oil company and pipe storage yard owners' claims of Texas Water Code violations causing flooding by blocking drainage ditches through clients' property to prevent migration of claimant's contaminated oil-laden runoff. Mr. Hutcheson investigated and, within days, determined that claimant was the party who repeatedly violated drainage laws and permitting regulations—resulting in Mr. Hutcheson asserting claims against original claimant with his client's own demand letter, and, ultimately, claimant's capitulation and agreement to design and install, at its sole expense, costly drainage facilities on its own property and to comply with all local, state, and federal drainage and environmental regulations and dropping its claims against our client.
• Successfully defended Houston homebuilder against claimant in Lake Houston area who was president of local MUD and whose house flooded in major rainfall event. After investigation of historical neighborhood drainage patterns and local MUD's involvement in drainage permitting, design, and construction, Mr. Hutcheson joined local MUD as third party defendant and plaintiff no suited all its claims that same day. Successful dismissal discouraged other residents from moving forward with their own purported lawsuit and claims.

• J.D., The University of Texas School of Law (1973)
• B.A., University of Virginia, with distinction (1970)

• Member, State Bar of Texas
• Member, American Bar Association
• Member, Houston Bar Association
• Elected Member, American Board of Trial Advocates

• Recognized, The Best Lawyers in America (Steven Naifeh & Gregory White Smith eds., Woodward/White, Inc.) (2013)
  • Litigation – Construction
  • Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions Defense
• Recognized, AV^® Preeminent^™ 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell^® PEER REVIEW RATINGS^™

• Past President, Boulevard Oaks Civic Association (1,200 homes)
  • Board member (multiple years)
  • Former Chairman, Deed Restrictions Committee
  • Leadership Positions, Cresmere/W. Ormond Place Homeowners' Association (multiple years)
    • Director
    • President
    • Vice President
    • Secretary
    • Former Chairman, Deed Restrictions Committee
  • Recognized, Outstanding Volunteer, BOCA (June 2005)
  • Recipient, Evie Joe Wilson Lifetime Service Award (neighborhood preservation and volunteerism for Boulevard Oaks neighborhood and local elementary school)
• Active Leadership Participant, Church of St. John the Divine (Episcopal), Houston
  • Senior Warden
  • Chancellor (chief legal counsel)
  • Member, Vestry (two terms) and Associate Vestry
  • Member, Human Resources Committee
  • Vestry Liaison, Music Committee
  • Member, Parish Choir
  • Group Leader, Men's Life Series
  • Provided substantial pro bono representation to Church and Diocese as plaintiff in litigation, procuring contractor's agreement to replace entire HVAC system for entire campus at no charge or expense to Church.
  • Represented Church and Diocese in substantial insurance coverage and bad faith litigation claim resulting in very favorable settlement.
• Former Board Member, The Briar Club
• Home Builder, Habitat for Humanity (multiple years)