BRS Obtains Defense Verdict for Houston Law Firm
July 29, 2008On July 25, 2008, Murray Fogler and Tim Cleveland obtained a defense verdict on behalf of firm client Andrews Kurth LLP in a lawsuit concerning the law firm's distribution of fees from its representation of the maternal heirs of Howard Hughes. The trial lasted 8 days before Judge Martha Hill Jamison in the 164th Judicial District of Harris County, Texas. The plaintiff was the administrator of the estate of a deceased Andrews Kurth partner, Raymond Cook, who died two years before the law firm began representing the maternal heirs of Howard Hughes. The plaintiff claimed that Andrews Kurth should have included the Cook Estate in the distribution of the Hughes fee, asserting claims for breach of contract, legal malpractice, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty. The plaintiff sought nearly $15 million in actual damages, plus attorney's fees and punitive damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Andrews Kurth on all liability claims.