Joseph A. Garnett

Biography

Clients hire Mr. Garnett to solve difficult litigation problems.  He knows how to obtain the results clients want.  Whether a client wants to eliminate the potential risk of a bad outcome in a case or wants zealous representation in a trial or arbitration, Mr. Garnett will develop a creative solution and deliver what the client needs and wants.

Recognized by clients and peers as one of the top trial lawyers in Texas, Mr. Garnett is among a select group to be named a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Texas, and a Texas Super Lawyer for the sixth time.  In 2012, he was named a  Top Rated Lawyer in Business Litigation.  In 2010, he was named one of the top 3000 lawyers in America by LawDragon, appeared in Montclair Who’s Who Among Legal Professionals and was elected a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel.  In 2008, he was inducted into The Litigation Counsel of America, an exclusive trial lawyer honor society in which less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers are members.  He was listed in the 2007 LawDragon 500 Leading Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America with the comment, “[He] works both sides of the fence, most recently winning a large confidential settlement for an unfairly terminated airline pilot.”

Mr. Garnett first established his reputation as a trial lawyer when he won a landmark verdict in 1996 for a group of landowners who sued a natural gas storage facility for property damage caused by a gas explosion.  The jury in that case awarded $143 million to the landowners, one of the largest punitive damage awards that year.  Throughout his career he has represented a diverse set of clients ranging from a software company defrauded by a major investor in a failed business deal to the defense of a Japanese excavator manufacturer in a severe crushing injury case to the defense of a computer manufacturer sued for accounting fraud to the defense of a school district sued for causing the stress related death of a teacher.  He has even handled the appeal of a death row inmate’s capital murder conviction.

A native Texan from Brenham, Mr. Garnett attended Texas A&M University, graduating cum laude in 1982.  He received his law degree from South Texas College of Law in 1985.  After serving as a briefing attorney for Justice Sears McGee of the Supreme Court of Texas, he joined the law firm in 1986.  Mr. Garnett is board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Mr. Garnett is active in the State Bar of Texas and previously served on State Bar committees to develop jury submissions for civil trials and to coordinate legal aid to the homeless.  He served a two year term as National Alumni President for his law school and has been an active fundraiser for the College of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University.  He has published and lectured in the areas of e-discovery and trial strategy.

Mr. Garnett has been married 29 years to his high school sweetheart and they are the parents of four teenagers.  In his spare time, he likes to watch high school sports, go to the movies and socialize with friends.

Education

South Texas College of Law, (J.D., 1985)
Texas A&M University, (B.S., 1982, cum laude)

Legal and Professional Memberships

• Member, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel
• Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
• Fellow, Texas Bar Foundation
• Member, State Bar of Texas
• Associate Member, International Association of Drilling Contractors (2011-2012)

Honors and Awards

• Panelist, Texas Super Lawyers Blue Ribbon Panel, 2012, 2013
• Briefing Attorney to Justice Sears McGee, The Supreme Court of Texas 1985-86
• Montclair Who's Who Among Legal Professionals 2010-2011
• Texas' Top Rated Lawyers 2012, 2013
• Top Rated Lawyer in Business Litigation 2012
• Top 3000 Leading Lawyers in America, 2010
• Top 500 Plaintiffs Lawyers in America, 2007
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum
• Texas Super Lawyer 2003, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013
• AV Preeminent Rated, Martindale Hubbell
• Board Certified: Personal Injury Trial Law
• Phi Delta Phi
• National Order of Barristers
• Psi Chi - Psychology Honor Society

Admissions

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas

Practice Areas and Casework

Practice Areas

• Business Fraud
• Commercial Litigation
• Construction Defect
• First Party Insurance
• Premises Liability
• Products Liability
• Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
• Subrogation

Casework

Business Fraud/Commercial Litigation

• Multi-million dollar verdict for a company defrauded by an investor in a failed business deal.
• Favorable verdict for an insurance agency which allegedly failed to place flood insurance on several buildings flooded during a tropical storm.
• Dismissal of a computer manufacturer from fraud claims in a multi-million dollar accounting fraud case.
• Negotiated a confidential settlement in a significant amount for a terminated pilot from a major airline.

Premises Liability

• Regularly engaged by shopping malls and commercial property owners to defend serious cases involving breach of security.
• Defense verdict for a commercial landowner who allegedly diverted the natural flow of rainwater resulting in the flooding of plaintiffs' home.
• Defense verdict in favor of a health club and its trainer on a claim that the trainer seriously injured a club member on the facility equipment.

Products Liability

• Defense verdict for a major computer manufacturer on a claim that a computer monitor caused significant fire damage to a house.
• Successful defense of a Japanese heavy equipment manufacturer in a case where Plaintiff was crushed when an excavator pinned him against a barge bulkhead.
• Successful defense of a manufacturer on the claim that raw materials sold to make rubber end products caused respiratory injuries and memory loss.
• Successful defense of an electrical connector manufacturer on the claim that an electrical connector failed causing a crane to drop a load killing a worker.

Personal Injury/Wrongful Death

• Regularly retained by national and international manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors to defend a wide variety of claims for personal injuries and death.
• Defense verdict for an emergency room physician who allegedly failed to diagnose a female patient's condition that resulted in sterilization.
• Defense verdict for a school district sued for causing the stress related death of a teacher.
• Defense verdict for a steel erection company which allegedly caused serious injuries to a worker on a construction site.
• Successful defense of a College Station hospital on a claim that it released an ER patient without a chaperone, who subsequently sustained a severe head injury in a one-car accident.

Subrogation

• Favorable verdict for a business owner and a property insurance carrier for fire damage caused by a defective credit card reading machine.
• Multi-million dollar verdict for landowners damaged by a gas explosion occurring at a nearby natural gas liquids storage facility near Brenham, Texas.

Appellate

• In Re:  Choice Homes, Inc., No. 14-04-01008-CV, 2205 WL 2428324, 174 S.W.3d 408, Tex. App.--Houston (14th Dist., no writ), September 30, 2005.
• Penton v. American Bankers Ins. Co. of Fla., No. 04-20013, 2004 WL 2538372, 114 Fed. Appx. 622, C.A. 5th Cir. (Tex), November 10, 2004 (not designated for publication).
• Hoffman v. Kramer, No. H-01-MC-192918, 2002 WL 192918, 185 F.Supp. 2d 700, S.D. Tex., January 31, 2002.
• Seminole Pipeline Co. v. Broadleaf Partners, Inc., No. 14-96-00825-CV, 1998 WL 723898, 979 S.W.2d 730, 142 Oil & Gas Rep. 338, Tex. App.--Houston (14th Dist., no writ), October 15, 1998.
• Williams v. Scott, No. 94-20375, 1994 WL 529994, 35 F.3d 159, C.A. 5th Cir. (Tex.), September 30, 1994.
• Mroz v. U.S. Fire Ins. Co., No. B14-90-00833CV, 1992 WL 41403, 826 S.W.2d 719, Tex. App.--Houston (14th Dist., no writ), March 5, 1992.
• Klein Independent School Dist. v. Wilson, No. D-1701, 1992 WL 86366, 834 S.W.2d 3, Tex., April 29, 1992.

Publications and Seminar Presentations

• Property Insurance Case Law Update (RSUI Claims Seminar, June 2011)
• Ten Worst Jurisdictions in the United States (Presentation to Bermudian Insurers, March 2011).
• Taming the E Dragon: Controlling Costs, Avoiding Double Billing & Winning Fee Disputes for Duplicative E-Discovery in Litigation of All Sizes (Council on Litigation Management, March 2010 Conference).
• Trial Tactics (South Texas College of Law 1996).
• Garnett and Pletcher, "What You Need to Know to Evaluate a Nonsubscriber Workers' Compensation Case," 11 Texas Personal Injury Law Reporter No. 1 (1993).
• Insurance Contract Coverage Problems (State Bar of Texas:  Advanced Workers' Compensation Course 1991).
• The New Workers' Compensation Statute (State Bar of Texas:  Advanced Workers' Compensation Course 1990).

Community Activities

• Board of Directors, South Texas College of Law (1997-1999)
• National Alumni President, South Texas College of Law (1997-1999)
• Member, Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts Development Council (1997 - present)
• Advisory Board, Alzheimer's Association (2008 - present)
• Officer, Old Braeswood Homeowners Association (1997-2002)
• Member, St. Vincent DePaul School Long Range Planning Committee (2007 - 2010)