Stephani Cink

Stephani Cink focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation and eDiscovery. She represents clients in state and federal courts in a range of high-stakes matters.

Stephani practiced at Yetter Coleman for more than a decade, where she focused on litigation and served as eDiscovery counsel. In that role, she advised clients on defensible eDiscovery and information governance and oversaw all aspects of eDiscovery in complex matters. She later served as Senior Counsel at ConocoPhillips, a global energy company, where she managed litigation matters and led enterprise-wide eDiscovery and legal hold programs. Her work included advising on eDiscovery issues in active matters and, at the enterprise level, developing and implementing data governance strategies to manage information risk across the organization.

Representative Experience

• Venoco Liquidating Trustee v. Plains All American Pipeline – Advised on eDiscovery strategy in a high-stakes environmental and bankruptcy matter arising from a pipeline rupture and shutdown. Managed large-scale, complex ESI involving technical operational data and coordinated defensible collection and review workflows, contributing to an eventual $100 million mid-trial settlement in California.
• Confidential Client – Assisted in pre-suit investigation involving offshore drilling equipment failure by conducting detailed fact investigation and assessing its potential liability.
• Sisoian v. IBM – Advised on eDiscovery strategy in a trade secret dispute involving alleged misappropriation of computer architecture and telecommunications software. Managed complex, cross-border ESI, including source code discovery and technical data, and developed defensible workflows for collection and review. The case involved nine-figure damages claims and was resolved very favorably for IBM following summary judgment, prior to trial.
• M.D. v. Abbott – Helped secure a historic federal verdict after trial, finding that Texas violates the civil rights of 12,000 foster children; upheld on appeal on key issues of overloaded caseworkers, poor oversight, and ongoing federal oversight/monitoring.
• Confidential Client – Assisted in representing a sports media and marketing company that runs high school sporting events on behalf of national sponsors in connection with a contract dispute involving exclusive production of an annual football event. After a three-week trial in Houston, the jury returned a verdict vindicating our client and finding no liability on any count.
• American Airlines v. Sabre, Inc., Travelport Ltd., and Orbitz Worldwide Inc. – Assisted with representation of the airline in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit against the largest U.S. global distribution systems arising from the GDSs’ efforts to stop American from using competitive ticket distribution technology, including by organizing an industry boycott against American. After three weeks of trial to a Texas state court jury, the firm secured a substantial settlement of American’s state antitrust claims against Sabre, including a renewed multi-year distribution agreement for American’s flights, negotiation for future technology services, and a confidential monetary payment. Subsequently, the firm also secured a favorable settlement in federal court of American’s federal claims against Travelport and Orbitz, including a renewed distribution agreement and a confidential monetary payment.