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Reid Collins & Tsai: The Firm That Won $121 Million Against Credit Suisse — Twice, in the Same Case

In 2014–15, Reid Collins & Tsai founding partner Bill Reid tried tandem jury and bench trials over two separate three-week trials against Credit Suisse — and won both, proving the bank had fraudulently syndicated a $540 million real estate development loan. By June 2021, the trial court had awarded $40 million on the primary market loss and another $23 million on the secondary market loss; with pre- and post-verdict interest and settlement offsets, the final judgment against Credit Suisse reached $121 million. That’s not a single lucky verdict — it’s a multi-year litigation the firm saw through from trial to final judgment.

Origin and Background

Reid Collins & Tsai LLP was formed in November 2009 by nine lawyers who had previously worked together at Diamond McCarthy and the U.S. Department of Justice, including founding partners William T. Reid, IV and Lisa S. Tsai. The firm has grown into a national trial boutique with offices in Austin, New York, Dallas, Wilmington, and Washington, D.C., and 42 lawyers firmwide, including a team of former federal prosecutors, judicial law clerks, and forensic accountants. Bill Reid has tried a wide range of civil and criminal cases to verdict before judges and juries for more than 25 years. The Austin office alone has 16 attorneys currently holding Super Lawyers or Rising Stars selections. The firm was named the 2024 U.S. Bankruptcy Firm of the Year at the Benchmark Litigation Awards.

Practice Concentration

Reid Collins & Tsai represents plaintiffs exclusively — trustees, liquidators, foreign governments, international banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, offshore liquidators, receivers, bankruptcy trustees, and individuals and companies pursuing claims — in complex commercial litigation on a mixed-fee or contingency-fee basis. Core practice areas include financial fraud, Ponzi scheme-related litigation, professional liability and fiduciary liability claims, bankruptcy and insolvency litigation, cross-border disputes, securities and shareholder derivative litigation, and whistleblower actions. This is a genuinely different business model than most firms in this Business & Corporate Litigation directory, which typically represent both sides of a dispute depending on who retains them; Reid Collins is structured specifically around plaintiff-side recovery work.

Notable Work / Track Record

Reid Collins has secured more than $2 billion in total judgments and settlements for its clients in recent years, according to Benchmark Litigation’s independent firm profile. Specific, independently documented results include the $121 million final judgment against Credit Suisse described above; a $112.3 million jury verdict secured for client JW Aluminum in early 2026, led by Bill Reid alongside partners Craig Boneau and Scott Saldaña; and a confidential settlement reached on behalf of the GTAT Litigation Trust after the firm defeated a motion to dismiss in a lengthy reported federal court opinion in New Hampshire. This is one of the more substantial, independently corroborated verdict-and-settlement records Awesome Attorneys has documented among Austin business litigation firms.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a substantial independent consumer review sample (Google, Avvo, Yelp) for this firm, which is expected for a boutique whose clients are hedge funds, corporations, foreign governments, and institutional trustees rather than individual consumers who post consumer reviews. Awesome Attorneys is disclosing that directly; the firm’s reputation is instead documented through its independently reported verdicts, judgments, and industry awards described above rather than platform-based client reviews.

Beyond the Courtroom

The firm’s own account of its 2026 JW Aluminum verdict specifically credits its “next-generation” attorneys — partners who joined the firm at the start of their careers and were “instrumental” in securing the $112.3 million result more than a decade later — reflecting a deliberate internal talent-development approach rather than relying solely on founding partners for major trial work.

Recognition for This Austin Business Litigation Firm

Peer-reviewed and third-party credentials: 2024 U.S. Bankruptcy Firm of the Year at the Benchmark Litigation Awards; national and regional Best Lawyers – Best Law Firms honors in Litigation-Bankruptcy; 16 Austin-office attorneys holding current Super Lawyers or Rising Stars selections; and individual Best Lawyers recognition for multiple partners. Awesome Attorneys did not identify Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification specifically documented for the firm’s Austin partners and notes that directly, since the firm’s national litigation-boutique credentials (Benchmark, Best Lawyers, independently reported nine-figure verdicts) are independently substantial regardless.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Fraudulent transfer and Ponzi scheme litigation — a core firm specialty — often proceeds under the Texas Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (or its federal bankruptcy equivalent when a bankruptcy trustee is involved), which allows creditors or a trustee to claw back assets transferred with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud creditors, even from parties who received the funds without knowing about the underlying fraud, subject to certain good-faith defenses. Securities and shareholder derivative litigation, another practice area, requires navigating both federal securities law (including SEC enforcement overlap) and Texas corporate law’s specific requirements for a shareholder to bring a derivative claim on behalf of a corporation rather than individually. None of this is legal advice; a specific fraud, insolvency, or securities matter should be evaluated by a licensed attorney with relevant complex litigation experience based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Reid Collins & Tsai’s clearest, most specific differentiator is a national-caliber, plaintiff-focused litigation practice with independently documented, nine-figure verdict and judgment results — the Credit Suisse and JW Aluminum matters alone represent more than $230 million in combined outcomes — reinforced by a 2024 national bankruptcy firm-of-the-year award and a deep bench of Super Lawyers-recognized attorneys. The honest trade-off is structural: this firm represents plaintiffs exclusively and works with institutional and high-value claims (fraud, insolvency, securities, fiduciary liability), meaning it is not a general-purpose commercial litigation option for a smaller business dispute or for a defendant needing representation. For a plaintiff — an institution, trustee, or individual — facing a genuinely large-scale financial fraud, insolvency, or fiduciary liability claim, that specific track record and specialization make this firm a strong, differentiated basis for a shortlist. For routine commercial disputes or defense-side representation, a broader-practice firm elsewhere in this directory would be a better fit.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Reid Collins & Tsai LLP’s Wikipedia entry, its Lawdragon and Benchmark Litigation firm profiles, its Best Lawyers firm page, its Super Lawyers Austin office listing, and independent legal-press reporting (Lawdragon, Texas Lawyer, Law360) on the firm’s verdicts and office expansions. Case outcomes are drawn from independently reported court judgments and legal-press coverage rather than the firm’s own marketing materials alone.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Reid Collins & Tsai LLP or its attorneys prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.