By Fred Hagans
Hagans, Burdine, Montgomery & Rustay
Note from Papa Don: The following article is very special. First it's written by a close cigar smoking (La Gloria) friend who is the lawyer we should aspire to be. Fred Hagans', from Houston, is the nation's most successful commercial lawyer. He's the dean of the KBC focus group college and a frequent contributor here. I was in Houston not long ago and Fred and I were smoking some stogies at a favorite cigar bar, talking about the great JOE Jamil — one of the original members of the Inner Circle. I was always inspired by my time with Joe and jealous of Fred, who got to practice law with Joe and try many cases together. We talked at length about what contributed to Joe's greatness and his health at 90+ years, so I asked Fred to do this piece on Joe (not knowing that Joe would pass in just a few short weeks after we had that conversation). Read these words and for your glory.
Photos of Joe and Fred were taken shortly before Joe's passing, and are courtesy of Fred Hagans.
On Oct. 19, 2015, Joe Jamail – the King of Torts – walked into court on his 90th birthday. Prior to the hearing, the judge asked Mr. Jamail to stand, saying: “I understand that today is your birthday.”
Joe stood and told the judge: “Yessir, it is. And I have to say that there is nowhere I’d rather be on my 90th birthday than right here in this courtroom.”
Every lawyer, defendant and plaintiff alike, gave Joe a standing ovation. A week later, Joe was deposing a witness. Joe loved the law and he loved being a lawyer. Two months later, a week after preparing an order of witnesses for an upcoming trial, Joe passed away. Our profession lost a truly remarkable man.
Over the last 15 years, I had the privilege of working with Joe on a number of cases. During that time, I was introduced to Don Keenan and the Reptile©. As I learned more about the Reptile©, I had the opportunity to talk with Joe about what I learned. Given his tremendous success, it is not surprising that Joe’s practice employed many of the Reptile© principles for many years. Without any doubt, Joe was “off-code” – one part of his success with juries.
Joe is best known for his landmark Pennzoil verdict of $11.12 billion in 1985. Joe represented Pennzoil. Pennzoil sued Texaco for fraudulently inducing Getty Oil to break a contract that would have given Pennzoil a billion barrels of oil reserves. The problem was that the final papers between Pennzoil and Getty had not been signed. The trial lasted five and a half months. If you were to go back and dissect the trial, you would find many elements of the Reptile©. Joe simplified the case to the iconic imagery of a handshake – an idea that resonated. He emphasized that a handshake deal in Texas is just as binding as a hundred-page written contract. Importantly, he engaged the jury, telling them they could protect their community:
“You people here, you the jury, are the conscience, not only of this community now in this hour, but of this country. What you decide is going to set the standard of morality in business in America for years to come . . .
“There is no half justice without half injustice. Don’t compromise your morals or your verdict. They think you are not big enough to send this message. I’m not. The court is not. You are. Only you. You can turn a cold back to Pennzoil and condone this conduct, or you can say, No, no, no more.
“I ask you to remember that you are in a once-in-a-lifetime situation. It won’t happen again. It just won’t happen. You have a chance to right a wrong, a grievous wrong, a serious wrong. It’s going to take some courage. You got that . . . . You are people of morality and conscience and strength.
“Don’t let this opportunity pass you.”
Joe’s career was certainly legendary, and the aspects of his practice (and personality) that made him a legend continued. Remarkably, for anyone but Joe, at 90, he was every bit as relentless, formidable and charismatic as he had been for more than six decades of serving clients. Indeed, the passage of years seems only to have been additive for Joe – to his remarkable store of talents, experience added wisdom, political savviness, an uncanny sense of timing, and incredible insight into opposing counsel, issues, arguments, judges, juries, and witnesses. The strength of will he brought to each case made him an irrepressible force halted only when he realized his clients’ objectives.
While Joe was nationally known for the Pennzoil verdict (which was affirmed on appeal, then settled after Texaco filed bankruptcy), Joe had a long list of lawyer achievements. Noting just a few of those results demonstrates that Joe’s legend is well founded.
Photo courtesy of JoeJamil.com, “Landmark Cases”
One case I was lucky enough to work on with Joe occurred in 2010, when Joe led the landmark class arbitration Wood v. O’Quinn to a successful close with a recovery of approximately $46.5 million on behalf of a class of more than 3,400 former breast implant clients of John O’Quinn’s law firms; from whom the law firms had wrongfully taken monies improperly labeled as “expense.”
This groundbreaking case illustrates the superb lawyering that is typical of Joe Jamail. Under his guidance as lead counsel, Joe led fights exploring compelled arbitration, class arbitration, fiduciary fee forfeitures, and superseadeas bond jurisprudence. The case was filed in 1999 and included numerous hearings in the trial court, removal and remand, three tours in the Texas Supreme Court, seven mandamuses, appeal, and an arbitral hearing that spanned four separate proceedings over nearly three years. After the appeal of the trial court’s final judgment confirming the final arbitral award, John O’Quinn died. His executor negotiated a settlement with Joe in which the class obtained 100 cents on the dollar for the class’s recovery under the arbitral award. The result was that every class member received a net payment that exceeded the amount of the expenses wrongfully withheld by the O’Quinn firm.
The case had high stakes, resulted in a substantial recovery, and will affect litigation nationally. The case required the integration of many rules and principles: The duties of lawyers to their clients, the strict and unyielding rules of class actions, the flexible rules of arbitration, and the progeny of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bazzle v. Greentree.
Joe’s work demonstrated that class arbitrations are a viable procedural device and that attorneys who handle mass tort actions can be held accountable. Joe handled this case as lead counsel, working with my firm, along with Ronald Krist and Associates, P.C., Hance Scarborough LLP, and Wilder & Wilder. On a personal note, I count my work with Joe among the true highlights of my professional life. My memories of his relentless, unyielding cross examinations of some of the toughest, most savvy lawyers in Houston in the arbitration proceedings in this case will be carried with me and treasured among the best examples of what lawyering done right looks and sounds like.
The following is a small sample of cases tried in recent years by Joe:
- Benjamin Chang v. Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and Rattehalli Sudesh, MD. Joe recovered on behalf of an up-and-coming-engineer whose life was forever altered by blindness caused because his insuror, Kaiser Permante, delayed authorization of a medical procedure on a tumor.
- Estate of Alfred Glassell, Deceased. Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts hired Joe as its lead counsel in this case, in which it defended its position as a designated beneficiary under a major donor’s will. The party challenging the will lost, and the Museum (represented by Joe) received its share as set forth under the will.
- Turpin v. USA Truck Inc. and David Wayne Elie. Joe obtained a verdict for $16,593,588.96 for his client – which, memorably, quantified “the smallest increment of money for the smallest increment of time” during which his client endured pain and suffering caused by the defendant, or one penny for every second of every day for which his client sought damages.
Understandably, many defendants resolved cases with Joe rather than going to trial. These are a few of his memorable settlements:
- Baylor College of Medicine v. American Guarantee and Liability Company. When its insurer denied its claim for the millions of dollars in technology, research, animals, and facilities it lost as a result of severe flooding during Tropical Storm Allison, Baylor College of Medicine hired Joe to recover tens of millions of dollars in losses. In addition to obtaining an extraordinary settlement for Baylor, Joe waived his eight figure fee to Baylor College of Medicine.
- BP Explosion cases. Joe obtained favorable settlements on behalf of workers and their families for the deaths and severe injuries caused by the March 23, 2005, explosion at BP’s Texas City refinery.
- Paul Cooke, Jr., et al v. Stephenson. Joe obtained a favorable settlement for a family whose son suffered catastrophic injuries when he was thrown from a recreational boat slammed by a jetski.
- Broussard v. KLLM, Inc. Joe obtained a favorable result for widows whose husbands burned to death when the truck in which they had been driving exploded and burned after being struck by an 18-wheeler truck.
- Golden v. IRISDT, Inc. Joe obtained a favorable result for a man who was irreparably injured by being exposed to too much radiation during cancer treatment.
- Mata v. Christus. Joe obtained a favorable result for a family whose infant son suffered permanent mental impairment as a result of oxygen deprivation during his delivery.
- Allsbrooks v. Zachry Construction. Joe obtained a favorable result for a widow whose husband was crushed by falling pipe as he worked on the Houston Ship Channel.
This level of activity, along with the extraordinary results, is particularly impressive when realizing this occurred during Joe’s late seventies and eighties. At a time when most lawyers have slowed down or retired, Joe continued to work relentlessly on behalf of clients, never wavering in providing his superlative services and ability.
Throughout his career, Joe amassed some of the most legendary results obtained in our profession. It is difficult to select a small list of cases and accomplishments to reflect his skill as a trial lawyer, but the following are illustrative. Simply put, Joe’s results speak for themselves:
- No list would be complete without mentioning the largest jury verdict in history—the case of Pennzoil v. Texaco. In that case, Joe was the lead counsel where the jury returned a verdict of $11,120,000,000.00.
- In the case of United States National Bank of Galveston v. Coopers & Lybrand, where Joe was the lead counsel, the verdict and judgment in this negligence and fraud case was $560,000,000.
- Cases tried by Joe as lead counsel have resulted in manufacturer product recalls, including the Remington 600, Honda All Terrain 3 Wheel Vehicle, and the prescription drug Parlodel.
- Joe was lead counsel in more than two hundred personal injury cases where the recovery (by verdict or settlement) exceeded $1,000,000.
- Joe has also argued cases before the United States Supreme Court (e.g., Gulf Offshore v. Mobil Oil, 453 U.S. 473, extending the jurisdiction of state courts to hear cases arising under the Outer Continental Shelf Act), the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the Texas Supreme Court, and numerous intermediate appellate courts throughout Texas.
Joe Jamail was recognized and included by many lawyer groups: Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers, Inner Circle of Advocates, Advocate, American Board of Trial Advocates, Fellow, International Society of Barristers, Fellow, International Academy of Law and Science, Fellow, Council of Law and Science, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, World Association of Lawyers.
In spite of Joe’s busy schedule, he still made time to serve the University of Texas Law School, where he funded numerous professorships and scholarships. He also served as the Chairman of the Texas Supreme Court Task Force on Civil Litigation Improvements. One specific donation is noteworthy: As a result of the Hopwood decision in 1995, UT could no longer consider race in admissions and scholarships. Joe stepped in and made a $2,000,000 donation to a scholarship fund set up by the UT Ex-Students Association to fill the gap and provide minority scholarships.
Perhaps more than anything other than his love of family, Joe loved and respected the law. He felt privileged to have a law license that allowed him to represent clients. Joe lived life fully and with courage. Our profession is better for having Joe as a part of it.
