Dean's Address

Advocates

Now, we will take a glimpse at less universal heroes, beginning with some heroic lawyers. Each lawyer whom I am going to briefly mention is exceptionally talented and successful in our profession. Yet, none are my heroes because of outlandish talent or shocking verdicts. Their heroism stems instead from each giving back to the legal profession and to society in a way that inspires and motivates others to do the same. “Bread cast upon the water.”

First, I must mention Forrest Bowers of Lubbock from whom I learned to practice law. Forrest Bowers, along with Bob Huff, are two of the finest, most powerful lawyers whom I have ever known, and Forrest Bowers did something that I thought at one time to be most unkind. He came to watch my cross-examination of a neurosurgeon, and when the defense attorney called his neurosurgeon to the stand, that doctor nearly destroyed my client’s case. I was prepared and cross-examined the neurosurgeon with an unquestionably brilliant cross-examination. When I sat down, I was so proud because Forrest had come to watch me. He started out, “Broadus you did a good job, you did a great job. That was a fine cross-examination, but you lost that jury.” I said, “Why do you say that?” He replied, “When you finished there at the chalkboard, you flipped up that chalk. You looked like a smart aleck to that jury.” The jury indeed gave me a mediocre verdict. His statements hurt me, and I was irritated with him for some time. Yet, that was just one of the many lessons I learned from Forest Bowers. His perception of reality and willingness to tell me what I was doing wrong molded me as a young lawyer and makes him a hero to me.

Next, there is Scotty Baldwin, every trial lawyer’s hero, but mine for a reason that is different from what you might expect. One day when I was out of law school for about three or four years, I had a problem. Scotty had tried a similar lawsuit, so Bob Huff suggested that I call him. I was intimidated, but I did. He spent 45 minutes with me on the phone giving me tips and advice. I’m sure that he does not even remember doing this, but I know that I was not the only young lawyer with whom he spent 45 minutes or an hour or two hours on the phone or in person. Scotty helped to mold me as a lawyer as he has helped mold so many others. If Texas has one intellectual leader, it must be Scotty.

Ronnie Krist is another hero to me. Ronnie first achieved fame when he represented the families of the three astronauts who died in the space capsule in the 1960’s. When I saw him at a bar convention, I said, “Ronnie what in the hell are you doing representing these three astronauts? You don’t know a thing about space travel!” And he said, “No, but I know how to hire an expert who does.”  However, I will not pay him greatest tribute for this case or not even Turner v. General Motors, the great products liability case in Texas. Instead, his greatest accomplishment lies in his family. He and his wife have raised three wonderful children. All three are lawyers, two boys and a girl. Karyn just finished a couple of years prosecuting in Austin and now does appellate work. Scott and Kevin are practicing law with Ronnie in Clear Lake City. They are not just fine lawyers, but three of the finest human beings you can imagine. You cannot have three fine children such as these without being a great person and setting a great example with a lifetime partner like Carole.

Joe Jamail is one of our greatest lawyers, but, to me, he will always be a hero because of his stamina as well as his brilliance.  He is 75 years old, but he’s not always out partying, vacationing, or relaxing somewhere.  Even today he is out there battling for his clients, trying cases, and carving our legal history.  Pennzoil could never find a mightier hero.

I would be guilty of omission if I did not talk about Bob Gibbins, another great lawyer who has tried so many cases. What separates him from the other great lawyers is his intensity for his clients’ causes mixed with his sense of humor. He has a saying for every occasion. One time when he was successful against a giant in the State Bar, I complimented him. He said, “Broadus, it is not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”  He had a saying for juries that I never understood, but somehow the jury always did. He would look at a jury and say, “I have no pride, no vain, or nothing else when it comes to representing my client.” I never knew what that meant. But it was effective. The juries loved it.

The most endearing story about Bob’s sayings involved a man charged with murder in Plainview, Texas. The District Attorney asked for the maximum penalty and offered Bob a deal. Bob conveyed the offer to his client and said, “Here is a chance to live. If you don’t take it, you have a better chance of ‘riding old Sparkie’ than winning.” Bob awaited his response. His client replied, “Mr. Gibbins, let the big dice roll.” As always, Bob let the big dice roll and he won the case.

There is a lawyer outside of Texas who has a profound knowledge of arcane facts and trivia, Jim Ackerman. But like all real heroes, Jim is human and can err.  I recall an experience I had with him at the Landalozi Game Camp in South Africa. As always, Jim brought up a topic I knew little about, weights. I had heard of the short ton and long ton. These are common terms of weight.  Jim brought up the third ton, the Navy ton, that threw off his wife, Lorrain and me. So, Lorrain and I conspired to beat him at his own game and asked him how many acres are in a hectare, a metric measure of geographic area used in South Africa.  To our surprise and pleasure, Jim missed the answer by several acres. (The answer is: 10,000 square meters, or 2.47 acres.) That is the only time in all of my chats with Jim Ackerman that I ever was able to beat him at his own game. Every hero needs at least a tiny flaw, and he finally exhibited his.

The hero that you would least expect me to list is Dicky Grigg, who is a wonderful attorney.  Dicky and Mary Gay have twins: Erica, who is in law school, and Lane, who is a coach at Westlake High School in Austin. Aside from his career and family success, what sets Dicky apart is his commitment to helping children. First, he has touched and influenced the lives of his two nephews, his sister’s son and the son of Mary Gay’s sister. Neither boy received adequate guidance from his own father, and both could have been destined for a very different future had it not been for Dicky, a constant father figure in their lives.  Dicky has used his legal background to help underprivileged children.  He started a scholarship program in the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and recruited Ruth Ann to help him raise money for the scholarships and to help in selecting the recipients. The scholarships go to needy students who probably would not be able to attend college without this financial help.

Dicky also goes to one of the most impoverished and roughest schools in Austin, Mendez Middle School, and teaches mediation skills to the students. The students at Mendez were once at each other’s throats, literally and physically, but Dicky has a way of communicating with them and has helped turn around many of these kids, teaching them how to solve their own problems. He has made a powerful impact on their lives. To me, he is a really great lawyer, but he is an even greater person.  He truly has achieved hero status.

Clients

Some of our clients are the biggest heroes in our lives.  We all have had clients who have helped us more than we have helped them. I have had three clients in the past ten years who were badly injured, yet who exhibited bravery, wisdom, and patience of heroic quality. One is Todd Reese, who is a paraplegic from an accident and was at the lowest ebb of his life before his trial. The jury favored him, and he prevailed in his suit. He overcame his depression after the trial and went to law school. He is now successfully practicing law in Austin, happily married, and the proud father of a handsome and healthy son.

The second is a Southwest Airlines pilot who was injured while parasailing. Unbeknownst to him, the parasail was attached to his body upside down. As a result, the parasail plummeted downward and pulled the pilot into a pile of rocks, causing him to become a quadriplegic. I have to admit that I was skeptical about taking his case at first. I was concerned that the jury would discredit him, thinking that, as a pilot, he should have known about the principles of flight and checked the parasail. Then, when he drove from Florida to Austin in a specially-equipped van before his first trial setting, I scolded him, thinking that the jury might not believe that anyone who could drive across country was so seriously injured. The jury, however, appreciated this young man who wouldn’t say “I can’t,” for they returned a very favorable verdict for him.  He now takes seriously disabled children flying in his specially- adapted airplane.  His program is called “Challenge Air.”

The third client hero is Carleton Ranney, a young boy who was 11 years old when he went to Camp Longhorn, a summer camp near Austin. A counselor driving the camp van on a field trip was swerving back and forth and allowing the boys in the van to “have fun” by not wearing seat belts and sliding across the seats. The van flipped over three times, and Carleton and three others were thrown from it. Carleton was paralyzed. He was taken by Star Flight to the hospital and could barely talk.  When he saw his mother, he said, “he (the driver) took my dream away.” Thankfully, we won a settlement for this young man which has helped him on his way to making an even greater recovery with a terrific attitude, grit, and bravery.

I share these particular cases with you because none were clients whom we would typically label “heroic” at the outset. Ultimately, through superhuman determination, patience, and courage they were able to overcome their obstacles. They brought me some of my greatest satisfaction as an attorney.

My greatest client hero is Cassie Allbaugh. She is such a nice young lady.  Some would say naïve.  She grew up in Arkansas. Cassie was hired as a Youth Director at the First United Methodist Church Fort Worth, the fourth largest Methodist church in the world. It is a very influential church, among the most powerful in the world, with its large membership including some of the wealthiest and most influential people in Fort Worth.  Not long after being hired, Cassie faced an unbelievable trial of her own – the minister of the church began to “hit on” her. He was not just any minister but one of the most commanding ministers in all of Methodism.

I must interject by saying that I, too, am a Methodist, but not by immediate choice. I grew up in the Baptist church and knew that to be the “best church.” When Ruth Ann and I started romancing and I later proposed marriage, she wanted me to become a Methodist. I said, “Absolutely not – I am a Baptist and if you are going to marry me, you are going to be a Baptist.” She asked me to visit the Methodist church, and I said, “Sure.” After going over there and seeing how easy it was to be a Methodist, I became a convert on the spot.

A few years ago, I received a call from a lawyer in Fort Worth.  He would not even tell me over the phone why he was calling me. He invited me up to see the Fort Worth rodeo, and, while I had more pressing things to do than see the rodeo, I accepted his invitation. We talked, and he told me the situation briefly while we watched the rodeo. The topic was about a young woman’s claim that this very powerful minister had sexually harassed her. He asked if I would talk to her.  I knew that I had to be careful taking on an institution like that with a person of such prominence and who was afforded such respect, because I knew that his reputation could be destroyed by merely making the accusation.

I hired an ex-FBI man to do the investigation and he returned with confirmations of sexual harassment from three other women.  Then, I sought counsel from my former Sunday School teacher. He suggested that I call the Methodist Bishop.  When I called the Bishop, I knew that even his faith would be challenged, because he had to face the possibility that this eminent minister was the subject of the most serious accusations. He would not take action on my word alone, so I invited him to talk to my clients, of whom there were four at that point.  He talked to them and afterwards said that he would investigate.

Mere words cannot describe the ordeals that Cassie and the other women who stood up with her suffered after the case began.  Knowing that this was a town where social prominence and religion reigned supreme, I tried to prepare them as best I could, but even I did not expect the onslaught of cruelty, which, especially Cassie, was forced to endure. Her closest friends literally spat on her. One night she went home to her apartment to find an intruder with a gun, cocked and ready. She finally talked him out of using it and gave him her purse. His last words were “I was supposed to kill you.” She then called the police, but they were slow to respond. One member of the church who had the courage to stand up for her was run off the road by a “mysterious driver.”

To say the least, this was a very unstable situation. I was afraid that the case would never go to trial because it was such an extremely explosive fact situation. By the time we tried the case, there were seven clients willing to go through a trial, and the jury found for Cassie and the others. However, her trials and tribulations did not end with that verdict, nor did those of the other women who stood with her. Each woman was castigated and eventually run out of town. Only two of the seven remain in Fort Worth.

These women were unlikely heroes and certainly appeared to the parish as the anti-heroes of the Methodist Church. However, each had the courage to come forward with the truth. That courage is what so many clients have that deserves our homage and recognition. Clients like these make heroes of us.

I never promised that this would be an enriching experience for you, but just so you will not leave this room without feeling some gain, Ruth Ann has brought one of the new golden dollars for each of you.  (I think that Ruth Ann came up with this idea to try to lure people in here, and she wanted to promise all of you that you could have a golden dollar if you came, but I intervened.)  However, we both thought that it would be neat for you to have one of them as a memento.

If you remember nothing else, remember that the hero whom you see on this dollar is representative of all heroes, both famous and unknown.  We must acknowledge them, for it is through these wonderful people that we recognize our own potential as humans to effect change. We all have a little hero in us, and we all must contribute to enrich the lives of others.