EARL CAMPBELL vs. WINTHROP
In the early nineties, I was approached by a college friend and fraternity brother for help on a case that everyone else had abandoned or refused to get involved with. It was a case involving Earl Campbell and a group of Texas investors who were suing a Boston real estate development company named after John Winthrop, who founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Winthrop was represented by my old firm Baker Botts where I still had many friends. The property in question had been leased to First City Bancorporation, which by then was defunct and being liquidated in Chapter 11. At that point the case was almost ten years old and no one thought it had much of a chance. So here was an opportunity to represent one of the greatest and most
legendary figures in the history of Texas sports, who had repeatedly
laid everything on the line for his teams, in a case that was considered virtually impossible. There was really no choice. I couldn't say no, and despite the long odds, I jumped in with both feet.
For whatever reason, Earl
made it clear that he was willing to testify at trial so long as I was the
one who would put him on the witness stand. In January of 1995, on the way from the airport to the courthouse where he was to testify, Earl asked me what I did for fun, and I told him, "Nothing", that just thinking about Texas was enough fun for me. Then he asked me if I knew who the Official Heroes of the State of Texas were. I said, "Well, there's Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, and this fellow named Campbell." Earl said, "That's right." When we got to the old Harris County Civil Courthouse, Earl saw Sam Houston's picture on the wall and said, "When are they going to put my picture up there?"
Long story, short, Earl testified for the plaintiffs in open court in front of a jury of his peers in the finest tradition of American jurisprudence. I thought he did an outstanding job, and apparently the jury thought so too. The rest is history, and a transcript of Earl's testimony in the Winthrop case is available by hovering over and clicking on the hidden link below.
HGB
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