Robert D. Brown

Mr. Brown is a shareholder with the firm and has tried over 50 cases, including death and serious injury cases, insurance bad faith, and insurance coverage. He has also handled multiple appeals in the Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit.

Education

• University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas, 1990 - J.D.
• Texas A & M University, College Station, TX, 1987 - B.S.

Admissions

• Texas, 1990
• U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit, 1991
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas, 1991

Honors and Awards

• AV Rated, Martindale Hubbell
• American Jurisprudence Award, Evidence and Contracts

Areas of Practice

• Trucking/Transportation
• Subrogation
• Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
• Premises Liability
• Maritime
• Insurance Coverage/Bad Faith
• Products Liability
• General Civil Litigation

Significant Trials

• Texas Utilities v. Fluor Daniels, 162nd District Court, Dallas County. $2,000,000 verdict on a subrogation property damage case arising out of damages to a turbine during a turn-a-round.
• INA v. Aberdeen et al, Federal District Court, Houston. $4,000,000 verdict on subrogation case arising out of damages to a brine disposal pipeline. Co first chair with Ken Woodard, of the firm.
• Bryant v. Entex, 270th District Court, Harris County. Defense verdict for gas company. Case arose out of a fire at a residence. Entex had been called out on several occasions prior to the fire. Fire Marshall found the fire to be gas related.
• Kittelson v. Flowers, 127th District Court Harris County. Defense verdict for 18 wheeler driver and company on a death case. Plaintiff was retired minister. Accident was lane swapping in nature.
• Moreno v. Transporte Gor, 197th District Court, Cameron County. Death case with serious injury to two minors. Defense verdict for Mexican trucking company operating in the United States.
• Thornhill v. Ronnie's I-45 Truck Stop, 221st District Court, Montgomery County. Fire at hotel resulted in death of two truckers. Represented the Woodlands Volunteer Fire Department. Dismissed after two weeks of trial, after cross-examination of plaintiff's expert. Trial ultimately resulted in largest plaintiff verdict in Montgomery County history against other defendants.
• Welker v. Lebus Oil, defense verdict for oil services company. Serious injuries to an elderly couple that struck oil service's truck trying to enter freeway.

Appellate Work

• Hernandez v. Acme Truck Lines Inc ., 1998 WL 105955, unpublished. Upheld defense verdict in favor of truck company on serious injury case. Underlying case successfully tried by Randy Donato.
• Southwell v. Planet Insurance Co., 1996 WL 155274, unpublished. Upheld defense verdict in worker's compensation case.
• Martinez v. H.B. Zachry Co ., 976 S.W.2d 746 (Tex. App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1998, pet. denied). Upheld granting of summary judgment in gross negligence death case.
• Insurance Company of North America v. Aberdeen Ins. Services, Inc., 253 F3d 878 (5th Cir [Tex. 2001]) reversal of JNOV awarded to the Defendant by the trial court in the subrogation case referenced above. Resulted in judgment with interest in excess of $6.2 million, which was paid in full by the Defendant.
• Coastal Conduit and Ditching, Inc. v. NorAm Energy Corp., 29 S.W.3d 382 (Tex. App Houston [14th District] 2000). Appellate Court upheld granting of summary judgment in favor of gas company for failure to properly locate lines at the request of a contractor. It involved over 4,000 separate incidents and nine causes of action.
• Ayala v. Bartolome, 940 S.W.2d 727 (Tex. Ap. Eastland 1997) appeal of summary judgment on death case arising out of consumption of oysters contaminated by vibrio vulnificus.

Representative Cases

• Hernandez v. Acme Truck Lines Inc., 1998 WL 105955 (Tex. App. 1998)
• Southwell v. Planet Insurance Co., 1996 WL 155274 (Tex. App. 1996)
• Martinez v. H.B. Zachry Co, 976 S.W.2d 746 (Tex. App. 1998)