When trial kicked off last month in a $1.37 billion trade secrets case against Russian natural gas giant OAO Gazprom, Baker Botts partners Van Beckwith and Michael Calhoon knew they faced a stiff challenge.

Moncrief Oil International, an 80-year-old Texas company with deep roots in Fort Worth, claimed that Gazprom used stolen data and strong-arm tactics to sideline the company from a venture with Occidental Petroleum to sell Russian liquefied natural gas in the U.S. The job that fell to Beckwith and Calhoon—at a time when Russia was busy rebuilding its reputation as a global villain—was to persuade a jury in Moncrief’s hometown that the company’s narrative was bogus, and that its evidence against Gazprom was too.

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