Stephen Susman, a founding partner of trial firm Susman Godfrey in Houston, passed away on Tuesday, after he was injured in a cycling accident in April and later contracted COVID-19 while recovering from his injury.

Susman’s wife Ellen announced his death on the CaringBridge website Tuesday evening.

“Our gallant Steve left us today. He fought a valiant battle, from his accident to rehab, but the combination of COVID and his weakened lungs were finally too much for his body. We are brokenhearted, but at peace with the fact that he is free and whole at last. He went peacefully, and we were by his side,” Ellen Susman wrote in a posting on behalf of his family.

Susman, 79, was unconscious after a cycling accident on April 22 in Houston, but by mid-May, he had regained consciousness and was recovering in a Houston rehabilitation hospital. However, his recovery was complicated after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 and an underlying pneumonia in June.

Neal Manne, a managing partner of Susman Godfrey, wrote in an email that the firm will release a statement on Wednesday about Susman.

Manne said Tuesday has been a “very sad day for our firm and for me personally.”

Susman, an avid cyclist, was riding in the Old Braeswood area of Houston on the morning of April 22, when his tire hit a crack in the road, causing him to be thrown from the bike and hit his head, Manne said in an earlier interview.

Susman, a dean of the trial bar and pioneer of the use of contingency fees, split his time between the firm’s Houston and New York offices. He founded a prior iteration of Susman Godfrey in 1976 and had helped grow the firm to more than 150 lawyers.

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