what type of lawyer is joe jamile

Is John Jamail the greatest trial lawyer in America?

J oe Jamail should not have as much going on as he does. The Houston attorney, renowned as one of the state’s most aggressive litigators, generous philanthropists, ready Scotch drinkers, and artful deployers of the word “motherfucker”—and quite possibly the greatest trial lawyer in American history—was born in 1925.

What was Joe Jamail famous for?

Joe Jamail, a celebrated Texas lawyer who had flunked civil negligence in law school and barely passed the bar exam but went on to dazzle his profession by winning gargantuan judgments — including Pennzoil’s $10.5 billion award against Texaco in 1985, then the largest in history — died on Wednesday in Houston.

Is Joe Jamail still alive today?

Joe Jamail, Flamboyant Texas Lawyer Who Won Billions for Clients, Dies at 90. Joe Jamail in his Houston office in 2002.

Where does Lee Jamail work?

In Houston, Jamail works at a long, uncluttered conference table in a sparsely furnished corner office roughly the size of a convenience store. The view through its windows is distinctly personal. When he looks to the west, he sees kids skateboarding at the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark, a project he gave $1.5 million to in 2007.

Who was Joe Jamail?

Joe Jamail, a celebrated Texas lawyer who had flunked civil negligence in law school and barely passed the bar exam but went on to dazzle his profession by winning gargantuan judgments — including Pennzoil’s $10.5 billion award against Texaco in 1985, then the largest in history — died on Wednesday in Houston. He was 90.

Where did Jamail live?

Jamail lived in Houston. In law school at the university, Mr. Jamail flunked his first course on torts, the field in which he would excel. Classmates recalled him as a gregarious, storytelling saloon companion and a brilliant but indifferent student. Months before receiving his law degree in 1953, he took the Texas bar exam on a $100 bet, ...

How old was Jamail when he died?

He was 90. The University of Texas, where he was a major benefactor, confirmed his death on its website. Mr. Jamail’s specialty was personal injury cases — people hurt in accidents or by commercial products — and over five decades he won more than 500 lawsuits and $13 billion in judgments and settlements for his clients.

How much did Jamail make in the Pennzoil case?

Long known as the King of Torts, Mr. Jamail worked on a contingency fee basis, usually one-third of the award, and earned $10 million to $25 million a year in the decade before the Pennzoil case.

What was the case between Joe Jamail and the largest corporation in the world?

The case was a highly complicated business dispute between two of the largest corporations in the world—a multibillion-dollar merger gone awry. Just as Jamail picked up his pen, he heard a car horn blowing outside.

How old is Jamail?

Despite having more money than he ever dreamed of and being 83 years old, Jamail says he plans to con­tinue trying cases for another decade or so, and then slow down a bit. He’s been hired by three Fortune 200 companies in the past six months that are involved in bet-the-farm lawsuits.

What was Jamail's passing score in the bar exam?

On a $100 bet from a classmate, he took the bar exam in 1952, a year before he graduated. The passing mark was 75. Jamail scored 76. “Shit, I’m overeducated,” he told his friends. “We used the $100 to buy a lot of beer and got drunk by the lake.”. Jamail remembers his first five trials.

How much is Jamail worth?

Forbes magazine estimates Jamail is worth $1.5 billion, making him the 321st-richest person in the U.S.

Why did Jamail remember his first trials?

Jamail remembers his first five trials. “Mainly because I lost all of them, ” he says. “They were what we call dogs.”

Who was the lawyer that was injured in the car accident?

In the early 1980s, Jamail represented his courtroom idol, Houston criminal defense attorney Percy Foreman, whose neck was injured when his car was rear-ended by a commercial truck. On direct examination, Foreman testified that he had not experienced any neck problems before the accident, and that he was entitled to $75,000 for lost income due to the injury.

Who was Jamail's friend?

Just as Jamail picked up his pen, he heard a car horn blowing outside. Jamail’s buddies—singer Willie Nelson and former University of Texas football coach Darrell Royal—were in a white limo, begging him to go out for a drink or two.

How old is Joe Jamail?

Or so says Joe Jamail. But at the age of 89 , the state’s most famous attorney—and one of the wealthiest—is still dropping f-bombs and crushing his opposing counsel. Can someone get this man another Scotch? Jamail, photographed in his downtown Houston office on November 24, 2014.

Where is Joe Jamail's office?

This past October Jamail changed the brass plaque outside his office atop One Allen Center, in downtown Houston. Since he’d moved into the building, in 1975, that sign had read “Jamail & Kolius,” even though his partner, Gus Kolius, had essentially retired to a yacht in the Caribbean in the eighties and died in 2006. But at the start of 2013, shortly after taking the Leggio case, Jamail downsized. He let go of the two attorneys who prepared his cases and assisted at trial, along with ten members of his support staff. He reduced his office space from 12,000 square feet to a more manageable 6,000. Then, finally, he changed the name by the door to read simply “Joe Jamail, Lawyer.”

What did Jamail do in the sixties?

As the victories and fees mounted through the sixties, he built enough influence to lobby the Legislature for plaintiff-friendly procedural changes, making him a tort reformer of a different stripe. Then a 1967 Texas Supreme Court decision opened the door to product liability cases, and Jamail put the precedent to good use. In 1969 he sued General Motors on behalf of a Houston schoolteacher paralyzed in an accident caused by a faulty steering wheel. The jury awarded her $1.5 million, Jamail’s first million-dollar personal injury verdict. In 1977 he sued Remington Arms on behalf of an Austin lawyer paralyzed when a rifle his young son was unloading misfired, shooting him in the back. The gun maker paid out $6.8 million, the largest pretrial settlement in history at the time, and then recalled the rifle.

How much is Jamail worth?

Forbes has repeatedly declared him the world’s richest practicing attorney and estimates his net worth at $1.7 billion, a particularly staggering figure when you realize that most of it came from contingency fees from settlements and jury awards. That record has created a mystique around Jamail.

Where was Jamail in the courtroom?

Yet there Jamail was, in a Beaumont courtroom in December 2013, sitting first chair at the plaintiff’s table in another wrongful death trial. In a blue suit and pink tie, he was leaning forward on folded arms, with a white legal pad, black felt-tip pen, and knobby cane laid out in front of him.

Who is J Oe Jamail?

J oe Jamail should not have as much going on as he does. The Houston attorney, renowned as one of the state’s most aggressive litigators, generous philanthropists, ready Scotch drinkers, and artful deployers of the word “motherfucker”—and quite possibly the greatest trial lawyer in American history—was born in 1925.

When was Jamail photographed?

Jamail, photographed in his downtown Houston office on November 24, 2014. Photograph by Joel Salcido. Legal disclaimer: “Salty language” doesn’t begin to describe the words Jamail uses in this piece. If you read on, which we recommend, and find yourself offended, you will have no appeal.

How long has Joe Jamail been a lawyer?

Love him or hate him, Joe Jamail still commands respect after 50 years as a lawyer. And he's as adamant as ever about the importance of juries.

Who is Joe Jamail?

Joe Jamail loves getting in the last word. After all, he is a lawyer, and at 77, he's as chatty as ever. Whether it's cross-examinations in a courtroom, discourse at a reception – interrupted only when a glass of scotch is reaching the depletion stage – or text in his new book, Lawyer, Mr. Jamail's got something to say.

How much was the Jamail case worth?

And it was a big shot. The largest legal shot in history, in fact. It was an $11 billion shot, and, of course, Jamail got a lawyer-sized cut of the award. (And even though the case was ultimately settled for $3 billion, that's still a lot more money than most attorneys will rack up in a lifetime of litigating.)

How old is Jamail in the movie?

In a pressed blue jacket, Jamail measures his every word like a man contemplating the virtues of a fine martini. He is 78 years old, and his blue eyes sometimes appear a bit clouded in the sunshine streaming through the windows.

What did Jamail do after he won a case?

After Jamail was through, the city paid the widow and cut down the tree.

What does Jamail say?

Jamail has loved every minute of it. "Hey, man, I'm a ham. I love this stuff," he says with a laugh. He relishes the spotlight and talks about his past battles as if they were playing out right in from of him. The smile that creases his face never wavers while he recalls the countless highlights of his legendary career, which has grown to near-mythic proportions.

When did Joe Jamail win the Pennzoil case?

When Joe Jamail won an $11.2 billion jury verdict against Texaco for his client, Pennzoil, in 1985 , the plaintiffs lawyer from Houston officially became larger than life.

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