IN THE HEADLINES
Arnold & Itkin: Kurt B. Arnold (admiralty and maritime law, 2016), J. Kyle Findley, Kala F. Sellers, and Adam Lewis are representing Joseph Moore, a seaman who is suing vessel operators Alpine Ocean Seismic Survey, Inc., and Gardline Surveys, Inc., for neglecting to provide a safe work environment. Moore suffered serious injuries in the engine room of the R/V Shearwater owned by the defendants in October 2016 that allegedly resulted in persistent back pain, mental anguish, and other medical concerns. The suit states that the defendants failed to properly train and supervise employees, as well as provide adequate medical attention. Moore is seeking actual and consequential damages along with interest and court costs.
Cogdell Law Firm: Dan L. Cogdell (criminal defense: general practice; criminal defense: white-collar, 1995) is representing Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, a Houston doctor accused by the Texas Medical Board of numerous infractions in a 38-page list of charges, including luring terminally ill patients worldwide to his clinic for exclusive treatments that are not legally offered in regular facilities, and for administering proprietary drugs that cannot be obtained at any hospital in the U.S. Some of the drugs Burzynski offered, according to the Texas Medical Board, are legally available only through clinical trials run by the Food and Drug Administration. According to the medical board, Burzynski improperly charged seven patients nearly $400,000 altogether.
Greenberg Traurig: Mary-Olga Lovett (commercial litigation, 2012) was a sponsor and host committee member for the Center for Women in Law’s conference, Promoting Women as Lead Counsel: From the Courtroom to the Boardroom, in February. During the conference, judges, in-house counsel, and litigators discussed perspectives on advancing women to lead counsel roles in litigation while panelists and speakers provided ways for everyone to increase opportunities for women and lawyers of color. The Center for Women in Law devotes itself to the success of the full spectrum of women in law.
The Law Firm of Alton C. Todd: Alton C. Todd (personal injury litigation – plaintiffs, 2010) is representing the Nalepa family in a $1 million wrongful death suit against Erika Diebel, the driver whose Jeep Grand Cherokee rammed into the family’s 2009 Ford Expedition, which caused the death of eight-year-old Kelsey Nalepa. Diebel was arrested after her blood-alcohol content was determined to be .249 percent at the time of the accident. The Nalepa family is also suing Ford Motor Company, alleging negligence in the Expedition’s design and manufacturing after the driver’s seat collapsed and moved during impact, causing Kelsey’s head to collide with the back of the driver’s seat.
ON THE MOVE
Private Practice:
Baker Botts: Edward E. Rhyne Jr. (leveraged buyouts and private equity law, 2009), David S. Peterman (corporate law; mergers and acquisitions law; venture capital law, 2007), Efren A. Acosta (corporate law, 2016), and Robert W. Phillpott (tax law, 2013) join the firm from Norton Rose Fulbright as partners.
ITN FEATURE
In Memoriam: Richard “Racehorse” Haynes
Richard Haynes & Associates: Richard Haynes (bet-the-company litigation; criminal defense: general practice; criminal defense: white-collar, 1983) died April 28 at his home in Trinity, Texas, at the age of 90. Known as the “Racehorse” from his days playing football in high school, Haynes became a highly successful defense attorney with a penchant for theatrics; he shocked himself with a cattle prod in court to prove a point, and on a different occasion, cross-examined a vacant chair when the prosecution didn’t call a key witness.
Wearing pinstriped suits and ostrich-skin cowboy boots, Haynes was known for entering courtrooms without any papers or folders. He carried all the information he needed in his head and attributed his success to being prepared for any question the prosecutor or judge might ask, as well as his knack for changing the subject when it suited his case.
With one of the longest winning streaks in legal history, ranging from 1956 when he began practicing law to 1968, he won 163 cases for clients accused of drunk driving. Of nearly 40 capital punishment cases he was involved with, none of his clients received the death penalty. He had at least two movies revolving around cases he defended: “Bed of Lies,” where he was played by Fred Dalton Thompson, and “Texas Justice,” where he was played by Dennis Franz.
Haynes practiced law well into his 80s. While his wife of 63 years, Naomi Younger Haynes, died in 2013, Haynes is survived by his daughter, two sons, eight grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and the historical accounts of his life-changing courtroom antics and successes. Rest in peace, Racehorse.
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