Laurens is a partner in Houston and Global Head of Infrastructure Disputes.
His practice focuses on complex civil litigation in state and federal courts as well as arbitrations highlighting infrastructure, fiduciary duty, fraud and products liability disputes. He represents clients in the construction, transportation, aerospace, energy, energy transition and financial industries in litigation, counselling and regulatory matters.
Laurens has represented numerous US and international infrastructure and construction companies in the US and across the world in commercial disputes, including both domestic and international litigation and arbitrations.
He is an active member of the Construction Law Sections of the American Bar Association and State Bar of Texas and is a noted trial lawyer and arbitration lawyer in the construction and infrastructure sector globally.
Within the infrastructure and construction industry, he represents both contractors and owners/sponsors as well as lenders. He handles the full range of infrastructure related matters from front end bid/procurement disputes and risk counselling to breach of contract, administrative actions, products liability, fraud and fiduciary duty, trade secret, restructuring and tort matters. He has experience with traditional construction related issues, including delay, disruption and acceleration claims, with extra-contractual claims occurring across projects. He has led many trial and arbitration matters involving multibillion dollar disputes from preliminary restraining orders and injunctions to jury trials and final arbitration hearings.
Additionally, Laurens implements and manages e-discovery policies and practices for clients around the globe related to major multiparty and multiforum litigation. He also served as co-chair of the Special Olympics Committee and he served on the United Way Young Leaders council.
- Represented the subsidiary of an infrastructure contractor and technology solutions provider company in a construction arbitration arising out of a large-scale construction project in Tennessee. A subcontractor on the project filed a claim seeking declaratory judgment as well as damages for breach of contract. After navigating a series of disputed motions and raising certain affirmative claims against the subcontractor, the matter successfully resolved at mediation.*
- Assisted a major infrastructure manufacturer of environmental equipment in resolving claims related to components installed at two large power plants.*
- Defended a Canadian private equity fund and its portfolio company against various state law claims, including fraud and fiduciary duty. After raising procedural and venue issues and various defenses to such claims, successfully assisted in resolving the matter.*
- Secured a complete dismissal for Babcock Power Environmental, Inc. (BPE) against allegations of breach of contract in a Florida construction dispute. After reviewing BPE’s motion to dismiss, the federal district court adopted many of BPE’s arguments and found that no plausible basis for the lawsuit existed on the facts pled. The matter was dismissed in its entirety and without leave to amend.*
- Defended an international infrastructure company in Texas federal court against fiduciary duty and fraudulent transfer claims stemming from construction and bankruptcy disputes.*
- Defended Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. in a wrongful death action arising out of the deaths of four workers at DuPont’s insecticide plant in LaPorte, Texas after a toxic chemical release in November 2014.*
- Filed an arbitration proceeding against an international oil and gas company seeking damages for the destruction of Newpark Mats and Integrated Service LLC’s property. Newpark owned numerous industrial mats that were on lease at the site of a gas well explosion and fire in Ohio. Newpark asserted claims for breach of contract, among others, and sought damages for the destroyed property. The matter was successfully resolved for Newpark.*
- Successfully defended a global pharmaceutical manufacturer in a wrongful death suit filed by the parents of a young woman with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia who died in a clinical trial for CAR-T cell therapy. Following fact and expert discovery involving nine experts, secured summary judgment on all claims in favor of the client. In addition to dismissing all claims against the client, the reasoned decision by the Chief Judge of the Southern District of Texas added valuable clarity to the application of the learned intermediary doctrine to clinical trials.*
- Advised senior creditors holding in excess of US$7.4B in iHeartCommunications, Inc.’s prepetition indebtedness in connection with all aspects of the restructuring of iHeart’s debt in a chapter 11 proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, including the negotiation and issuance of an approximately US$3.5B senior secured exit term loan credit facility for iHeartCommunications, Inc. that was distributed to creditors under the plan.*
- Defended a major drug manufacturer against public nuisance and related tort and statutory claims asserted in actions consolidated for pretrial proceedings in In re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation, No. 1:17-MD-2804 (Northern District of Ohio), as well as in analogous state court actions in Arkansas, New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Texas.*
* Experience prior joining Clifford Chance
News and client work
Contact details
- Clifford Chance, Houston
- +18322002540
- Email me
- Sector Energy & resources
Career & qualifications
- Tufts University (BA, Philosophy summa cum laude) 2002
- The University of Texas at Austin (JD with honors) 2005
- Admitted as an Attorney-at-Law in Georgia, 2005
- Admitted as an Attorney-at-Law in Texas, 2006
- Joined Clifford Chance as partner 2026
Professional bodies
- Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
- Fellow, American Bar Foundation
- Former Co-Chair, Special Olympics Committee
- Former Member, United Way Young Leaders Council
Awards and citations
- Recognized for Litigation, Product Liability and Global Disputes in Lawdragon's "500 Leaders in Crisis Management" guide (2026)
- Recognized for Global Energy Disputes & Litigation in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Energy Lawyers” guide (2025)
- Recognized for Global Disputes & Arbitration (esp. Construction) in Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Global Litigators” guide (2024 - 2025)
- Named by Texas Super Lawyers as "Texas Rising Star" (2014 – 2020) and a "Texas Super Lawyer" (2023 – 2026)
- Recognized by Legal 500 Latin America International Counsel for City Focus: Houston: 2026
- Recognized by The Legal 500 US as a "Key Lawyer" for Construction (Including Construction Litigation) (2021 – 2022, 2024) and for Renewable/Alternative Power (2025)
- Recognized for Construction by Chambers USA (2024 – 2025)
- Selected as a "Rising Star" by Law360 (2018
- Named to “Top 100 Up-and-Coming Texas Rising Stars” by Texas Super Lawyers (2017)