Legendary Houston lawyer John O’quinn and an unidentified man were killed this morning when their SUV slammed into a tree off Allen Parkway. Police have not said who was driving.
O’Quinn, 68, won huge settlements in mass-tort cases dealing with deadly breast implants and Big Tobacco. Recently, he represented Anna Nicole Smith’s mother, where in a February 2007 hearing he managed to nab headlines not for the circus-act duel over what would become of Smith’s corpse, but by collapsing. (O’Quinn was diabetic).
But he also earned a larger-than-life reputation outside the courtroom — he became almost as well known for being the target of numerous failed State Bar disciplinary attempts, including “running cases,” where employees were dispatched to sign clients in the wake of airplane crashes and oil-rig explosions.
We’ll keep you updated as officials release more information.
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2009.
