In-House Counsel's Compass: Navigating Privilege, Immunity, and Risk in Texas and Beyond is an essential guide for modern general counsel operating in an era of heightened legal exposure and increasingly aggressive litigation tactics.
Today's in-house lawyers are no longer just advisors behind the scenes. They are strategic leaders, crisis managers, and guardians of corporate integrity-often operating under intense scrutiny from regulators, opposing counsel, and courts. In this environment, understanding how to properly preserve privilege, protect work product, and manage personal liability is not simply technical knowledge; it is critical to survival.
Drawing on decades of high-stakes litigation experience, veteran trial lawyers Trey Cox and Alan Dabdoub provide a practical roadmap for navigating the doctrines that protect attorneys and the organizations they serve. Rather than a theoretical legal treatise, Counsel's Compass delivers clear, actionable guidance designed specifically for general counsel and the litigators who advise them.
Trey Cox is one of the nation's most accomplished trial lawyers and a recognized leader in complex commercial litigation. He serves as Co-Chair of the Global Litigation Practice Group and Co-Partner in Charge of the Dallas office at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Trey represents clients across a broad spectrum of industries in high-profile, high-stakes disputes, regularly delivering decisive victories in some of the country's most closely watched cases.
A seasoned advocate with a national reputation, Trey has been repeatedly ranked by Chambers USA in Band 1 for Trial Lawyers and General Commercial Litigation. In 2025, The American Lawyer named him "Litigator of the Week" for securing a record-setting $667 million jury verdict for Energy Transfer LP and the Dakota Access Pipeline-the largest in North Dakota history. He has also served as lead trial counsel in billion-dollar disputes for clients including Meta, GameStop, Purdue Pharma, and the world's largest windfarm operator.
Trey is Board Certified in both Civil Trial and Civil Pre-Trial Practice by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and is a distinguished fellow of both the American Board of Trial Advocates and the Litigation Counsel of America. He is consistently recognized in Benchmark Litigation, Lawdragon's 500 Leading Lawyers in America, and Best Lawyers in America, and has been profiled in major media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, and The Dallas Morning News.
Outside the courtroom, Trey is a prolific author and educator. He is the author of The Jury Rules and Winning the Jury's Attention, and a frequent speaker at top law schools such as the University of Virginia, SMU, and the University of Texas. He is widely regarded as a thought leader in trial advocacy, particularly in the use of technology to enhance persuasion and jury engagement.
With a reputation built on discipline, clarity, and strategic precision, Trey has trained generations of lawyers in the art of litigation. This book reflects the hard-earned lessons of decades in the trenches-and is written for those who understand that depositions are not preparation for trial; they are trial.
