This video, which features the vocal stylings of Joseph D. Jamail, has been going around listservs and blogs today.  (Tip:  Fellow UT alum Bill Childs at TortsProf Blog).  Note that the man in the video is the witness, not Joe Jamail.  Unfortunately for those who have practiced in Texas at all, this video is unsurprising.  Although Mr. Jamail has been very generous to UT law school and has won some very big verdicts, including a whopper in the Texaco v. Pennzoil case, Mr. Jamail continues to be a little rough around the edges.  Depo excerpts showing his less than classy side are circulated with some frequency. 

If you teach the M&A case Paramount Communications, Inc. v. QVC Network, Inc., 637 A.2d 34 (1994), pull the unedited version and you'll notice that the Delaware Supreme Court even takes a few pages to criticize Mr. Jamail, who presented Hugh Liedtke, Paramount director and (more importantly to Mr. Jamail) founder of Pennzoil, for deposition in Texas in that case.  In the last section, entitled "Addendum," the court begins:  "Although this Addendum has no bearing on the outcome of the case, it relates to a serious issue of professionalism involving deposition practice in proceedings in Delaware trial courts."  After quoting Jamail extensively from a depo transcript, the court basically tells him that this conduct will not be tolerated in Delaware (implying that Texas may be uncivilized, but Delaware definitely is not), and that if he ever wants to be allowed to appear in Delaware pro hac vice, he has 30 days to appear and explain his behavior.  I wonder if he did?  More importantly, I wonder if there is video of that?

Law Schools/Lawyering | Bookmark

TrackBack URL for this entry:
https://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345157d569e200d8348133fb53ef

Links to weblogs that reference The Joe Jamail Video: