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Experienced Texas trial attorney Brad Jackson of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson in Dallas has helped the family of an elderly murder victim win a $7.3 billion negligence and punitive damage verdict against telecommunications giant Charter Communications Inc. The verdict represents one of the five largest jury awards in U.S. history.

Mr. Jackson represented the three adult daughters and the estate of Betty Jo Thomas, 83, alongside trial attorneys Chris Hamilton and Ray Khirallah of Dallas’ Hamilton Wingo.

The jury awarded $375 million in compensatory damages against Charter, which does business as Spectrum, on June 23 in Dallas County Court at Law No. 5 after finding the company was 90 percent responsible Ms. Thomas’ death. Charter/Spectrum technician Roy Holden Jr., 45, was found 10 percent responsible.

Stabbing Death Leads to Historic Verdict

Mr. Holden visited Ms. Thomas’ home in Irving in December 2019 to repair a fax machine before he returned the next day in a Spectrum van under the pretense of performing additional repairs. He proceeded to brutally stab Ms. Thomas to death with a Charter/Spectrum-issued utility knife before leaving with her credit cards and going on a spending spree. Jurors heard how Mr. Holden had previously scammed other elderly women by stealing credit cards and checks while on service calls.

Evidence showed that Mr. Holden had been fired from previous jobs for forgery, falsifying documents, and harassing fellow employees, although Charter/Spectrum never attempted to confirm his prior employment. If it had, the company would have learned that Mr. Holden had fabricated the employment history on his job application.

One week before the murder, Mr. Holden told supervisors he was suffering severe personal problems and financial issues, even crying in a meeting and telling a supervisor that he was “not OK,” yet Charter/Spectrum continued to send him into customers’ homes. He was sentenced to life in prison last year after pleading guilty to murder.

Jury Says Charter/Spectrum Used Forged Documents

Trial testimony showed that Charter/Spectrum failed to properly screen employees and stopped its pre-screening requirements in 2016 after acquiring Time Warner Cable. The jury also heard about the company’s negligent hiring practices and failure to address known warning signs of violence among employees and to control the off-duty use of company vehicles.

The award of $7 billion in punitive damages on July 28 in phase two of the trial followed additional evidence and a finding by the jury that Charter/Spectrum tried to use forged documents to force Ms. Thomas’ family to present their case in a non-public arbitration proceeding rather than to a jury in a public courtroom.

Brad Jackson, Cheryl Mann earn Best Lawyers in America selections

The publishers of The Best Lawyers in America once again are recognizing experienced Dallas attorneys Brad Jackson and Cheryl Mann of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson as two of the country’s top lawyers based on their years of work in civil lawsuits.

Both Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann have earned multiple listings in Best Lawyers based on nominations from other attorneys who also handle complex civil claims. They are among less than 5 percent of all U.S. lawyers to be included in the annual guide.

Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann have represented individuals and companies in significant civil lawsuits for more than five decades combined. Their work includes helping clients in state and federal courts throughout Texas and other jurisdictions across the nation.

They are frequently called on by clients facing business disputes and commercial litigation, contract disputes, shareholder and partnership litigation, fiduciary litigation, denial of commercial insurance claims, probate and trust litigation, professional malpractice cases, serious personal injuries, wrongful death, and other areas.

Board Certified in Civil Trial Law

Mr. Jackson has been Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2005. Earlier this year, Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann were named among the Best Lawyers in Texas by the publishers of Best Lawyers.

Mr. Jackson additionally was named to the annual Texas Super Lawyers list of the state’s best lawyers and the Best Lawyers in Dallas by the publishers of D Magazine.

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles practically every type of business dispute, as well as cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death.

Brad Jackson, Cheryl Mann earn selections as two of Texas’ top attorneys

Experienced attorneys Brad Jackson and Cheryl Mann of The Law Offices of Brad Jackson in Dallas have been named in the 2021 Best Lawyers in Texas guide in recognition of their extensive work for clients in civil lawsuits.

Both lawyers are included in the exclusive guide following their previous selections in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Attorneys are chosen for the Best Lawyers publications based solely on nominations from other lawyers who practice in the same areas of law.

Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Mr. Jackson earned a spot on the 2021 roster of Texas’ top lawyers for his decades of work in commercial litigation on behalf of successful businesspeople and companies of all sizes.

In addition to their individual Best Lawyers selections, Mr. Jackson and Ms. Mann helped The Law Offices of Brad Jackson earn a spot on the 2021 Best Law Firms list from Best Lawyers. Mr. Jackson additionally was named to the annual Texas Super Lawyers list of the state’s best lawyers and the Best Lawyers in Dallas list from the publishers of D Magazine.

Best Lawyers in Texas Seek Justice for All Types of Clients

The team at The Law Offices of Brad Jackson is well-known throughout North Texas and the entire state based on the firm’s commitment to seeking equal justice for people from all walks of life. Our lawyers regularly represent people from a variety of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

In addition to business disputes and commercial litigation, the firm also handles contract disputes, shareholder and partnership litigation, fiduciary litigation, denial of commercial insurance claims, probate and trust litigation, professional malpractice cases, serious personal injuries, wrongful deaths, and many other legal claims.

The Texas Lawbook has published a story about The Law Offices of Brad Jackson’s recent appeals court victory for Mr. Jackson‘s clients against the City of Dallas in an “illegal taking” real estate dispute.

The case stems from Mr. Jackson’s representation of Dallas-based real estate developer 6101 Mockingbird LLC in its claims that the City of Dallas wrongfully appropriated a 10-foot strip of land along Mockingbird Lane on property the company purchased in East Dallas.

The city argued that the lawsuit filed by Mr. Jackson in Dallas County Court at Law No. 5 was not valid because 6101 Mockingbird had not exhausted its administrative remedies.

Unanimous Opinion Favors Brad Jackson’s Clients

In a unanimous, 11-page opinion issued late last month, the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas found that 6101 Mockingbird will be allowed to go to trial in its pursuit of more than $300,000 to account for the value of the contested property.

“Our clients are very happy that the appeals court agreed with our position and we’re looking forward to presenting our case in the trial court,” Mr. Jackson told The Texas Lawbook. “We are confident that we will prove that this is just another attempt by the City of Dallas to perform a wrongful exaction of private property without paying just compensation.”

You can read more about Mr. Jackson’s appeals court win on The Texas Lawbook‘s website here (subscription only).

Based in Dallas, The Law Offices of Brad Jackson provides decades of experience representing clients in Texas and across the nation. Brad Jackson is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. The firm handles practically every type of business dispute, as well as cases involving serious personal injury and wrongful death.

Johnson & Johnson is one of the world’s most recognizable healthcare companies, with a history of producing and selling pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices since the late 1800s. Despite recent product recalls and lawsuits targeting several of the company’s medications, Johnson & Johnson remains one of the most powerful brands in the world based in large part on its Johnson’s brand of baby products.

Now, Johnson & Johnson is in the unusual situation of being accused of witness tampering in two different cases pending in Texas and Pennsylvania. The allegations are based on conversations the company’s sales representatives had with doctors who were scheduled to testify at trial.

While it is unclear whether any wrongdoing truly occurred, the fact is that witness tampering, particularly in federal court, is a very big deal regardless of whether you’re Johnson & Johnson or Mike Johnson.

Texas Case Opens Door

In the Texas case, Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit is accused of producing and selling a defective, metal-on-metal hip implant that is targeted in more than 9,000 pending cases filed by patients who blame the device for a variety of injuries.

The lawyer representing the hip implant plaintiffs dropped a bombshell in mid-October when he announced that he would not be questioning a doctor who was scheduled to testify because of alleged witness tampering by a DePuy sales rep. The claim was based on an affidavit from the doctor, who said the sales rep told him he was worried that “there could be ramifications” for the doctor’s medical practiced based on his upcoming testimony, which was only three days away.

The judge overseeing the case called in the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate the claims, with Johnson & Johnson noting that the doctor later said the conversation with the sales rep would not have impacted his testimony.

Apparently satisfied with what he heard after interviewing the sales rep and the company’s lawyer outside the presence of the jury, the judge found no evidence of criminal activity and has allowed the trial to proceed.

A Johnson & Johnson spokesman has said the judge’s ruling proves the company did nothing wrong. The lawyer for the plaintiffs told reporters that he hopes the episode “will inhibit DePuy from tampering in the future.”

Xarelto Case Brings New Claims

In Pennsylvania, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit is being sued over the company’s Xarelto anticoagulant medication. The popular blood-thinner is blamed for causing strokes, excessive blood loss, pulmonary embolisms, and a variety of other medical problems.

Following the news of the witness tampering claims in Texas, attorneys representing the plaintiff in the Xarelto case filed a similar court motion accusing a Johnson & Johnson sales rep of potentially trying to influence the testimony of a doctor who was set to testify only weeks later. According to the plaintiff’s lawyers, her doctor previously had said she suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding complicated by Xarelto, but changed his testimony to deny knowing that she ever had the bleeding.

Johnson & Johnson’s legal team say the lawyers representing the Xarelto plaintiff are making overbroad assumptions, and that the sales rep’s conversation with the doctor had nothing to do with his upcoming testimony. The court has ruled that the plaintiffs’ attorneys can question the sales rep in a deposition that will take place while the trial is proceeding.

Potential Fallout

With Johnson & Johnson being accused of witness tampering in back-to-back cases, it’s worth noting that the same law firm represents the company in both lawsuits. It’s also interesting that the same scenario of a sales rep trying to influence a testifying doctor is being alleged in both instances.

As noted earlier, federal witness tampering is serious business. Under 18. U.S. Code § 1512, anyone who “uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or engages in misleading conduct” to influence witness testimony could face a 20-year prison sentence and additional fines.

While doctors and sales reps talk with each regularly as part of their jobs, the more prudent practice would be to impose a communications blackout in the days and weeks prior to a doctor taking the stand in court. It certainly would have prevented the situation that Johnson & Johnson and the company’s sales reps are facing today.