Sal Subasinghe focuses his practice on preserving and protecting clients’ interests in international arbitration and litigation proceedings. He has also represented companies and their officers and directors in securities and shareholder litigation, SEC enforcement actions, and related investigations. Sal has experience litigating cases in both federal and state courts, including witness examinations, oral arguments and preparing multiple dispositive motions in federal securities class action litigation.
Sal maintains an active pro bono docket, including criminal and immigration cases. As a special prosecutor for the City of Austin, he has tried ten misdemeanor cases to a jury and argued an appeal. He has also represented an indigent criminal defendant indicted on conspiracy charges by a federal grand jury.
During law school, Sal was an Associate Editor for the Houston Law Review and received the LEX Award for Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Property, and Legal Research and Writing. Prior to his legal career, Sal worked for five years as a member of technical staff in the high-frequency product engineering group of a major semiconductor manufacturer, where he focused on failure analysis and simulation of radio-frequency integrated circuits.
Representative Experience
During his legal career, Sal has been involved in a broad range of matters across diverse industries. The following are some representative examples of his prior client engagements:
- Represented a south-east Asian company in an ICC arbitration seated in Hong Kong, involving breach-of-contract claims under a gas transportation agreement.
- Represented a Canadian mining company in U.S. litigation related to enforcing an arbitral award against a south-American state.
- Represented energy investors in U.S. litigation related to enforcing an arbitral award against a former Soviet republic.
- Defended the former CEO and CFO of Uni-Pixel, Inc. in a SEC enforcement action (S.D. Tex.).
- Defended former officers of ATP Oil & Gas Corporation in a suit filed by the bankruptcy trustee alleging fiduciary duty and fraudulent transfer claims (E.D. La.); the district court granted our motion to dismiss and the Fifth Circuit affirmed on appeal.
- Defended FXCM, Inc. and its officers and directors in a securities class action (S.D.N.Y.) and a derivative action (Del. Ch.).
- Defended Hanger, Inc. and its CEO in a securities class action (W.D. Tex.) and a derivative action (Texas state court).
- Defended Galena Biopharma, Inc. in a securities class action (D. Or.).
- Defended National Securities Corporation and Northland Securities, Inc. in a securities class action (S.D. Tex.).
- Defended EndoChoice, Inc. and its officers and directors in a securities class action (Georgia state court).
- Defended the CEO of a Florida based non-profit organization in a suit filed by the Texas Attorney General alleging fraud (Texas state court).
- Defended Schlumberger in a patent infringement suit involving a shale shaker apparatus (S.D. Tex.).
- Defended State Farm in a patent infringement suit (E.D. Tex.).