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Broadus A. Spivey: Practicing Law—Sure Beats Picking Cotton
BY MIKE THOMPSON JR.
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The Austin Bar lost a legal legend with the passing of Broadus A. Spivey on May 8, 2021. The obituary in the Austin American Statesman aptly illustrated a life well lived. Nothing was more extraordinary to me than the fact he tried over 500 jury trials and mentored over 200 law clerks during his career. As one of those former law clerks, a former client, and an opposing counsel, Broadus taught me a lot.
Anyone who knew Broadus could confirm his workday began early and would not be surprised to see a string of emails from him beginning at 4:30 a.m. This was no doubt a result of his agrarian upbringing picking cotton (with his love of simplicity, he would correct me for using “agrarian” rather than “farming”). He expected the same from clerks. Given that work ethic, Broadus also often worked through lunch “lawyering.” Because of his experience, he suggested I learn to eat a big breakfast (at Cisco’s, no doubt) to compensate for missed lunches I could expect while trying cases. He also recommended a big tip for waitstaff. (That, too, probably at Cisco’s.)
As a boss, Broadus could be demanding, but he also allowed his clerks a great deal of freedom to learn the trade. I worked with him as a law clerk on one case in El Paso against the El Paso Times in the mid-1980s. Broadus included me in many aspects of the case and had me babysit an expert witness who happened to be a Pulitzer prize-winning author and journalist. That was amazing for a student at my age. I remember the experience as if it were yesterday. I know from talking with other clerks that they had similar experiences.
Of course, I suspect “law clerking” at his shop was different than others. I doubt clerks at other offices learned such important things as always loading the toilet paper in the office bathroom like the five-star hotels do (with the paper pulled down from the front). Or where to stand for the TV camera or pictures so your girlfriend and folks could see you (on the right side facing the camera because people read from left to right.)
Or, how to not laugh or smile in those pictures because it must be an important moment in a big case if someone is filming it or taking pictures.
Broadus was a great attorney, as I saw through my eyes as a client. One morning before court while my case was in trial, he had an appointment with his oncologist to review some test results. In retrospect, I can only imagine the stress he was under waiting to get the report and then going to court to represent me. Yet he never shared or showed it. It was a meaningful experience for me: No matter your troubles, bear them with grace and remember there are no small cases for clients.
Broadus Spivey
Photo credit: State Bar of Texas Archive
Broadus Spivey in the Amazon forest, proving he could talk to anyone.
Dicky Grigg and Broadus Spivey.
He was also a tough adversary. He had some large verdicts, including one of the largest legal malpractice verdicts in Texas history. He was tenacious, to be sure, but willing to disagree without extreme hostility. He could be your best friend and your toughest adversary. And, he was able to do both with a smile. Some civil defense lawyers who defended cases with him would shake their heads saying he always overvalued his cases. What they did not recognize was his true, stubborn respect for underdogs and belief that a case can be a cause. Of course, members of the defense bar made a fair fee defending those cases.
Broadus was a law school classmate of my dad’s and they practiced together in Lubbock. My dad put it right about Broadus: “He made you feel like you were the only person in the room, as he gave you his full attention. He could see the good in anyone, even if they could not see it themselves.” Quite a high emotional intelligence—honed, no doubt, on the cotton fields he worked through high school.
His example is also shown in the commencement address he gave at the graduation of at least one law school. There, Broadus said what students need to add to their curriculum to succeed were the Four H’s: honesty, humility, humor, and the humanities. What great lessons for all of us. I imagine he would add, “Lawyering sure beats picking cotton.” AL
Mike Thompson Jr. is an Austin lawyer who clerked for Broadus before the wall came down. (The Berlin Wall.) He is currently Associate General Counsel at the Texas Association of Counties.
Reflections on Another Legal Legend Lost: Broadus Spivey
BY DICKY GRIGG
Broadus Spivey
Photo credit: State Bar of Texas Archive
On May 8, 2021, the world lost a truly great man, Broadus Spivey. Broadus was one of the most respected lawyers in America and a true legal legend. In his trial practice of 57 years, he tried more than 500 cases and handled more than 140 appeals. His remarkable career included trying a wide variety of cases— car wrecks, products liability, civil rights, divorce, paternity, libel and slander, business litigation, and criminal—including capital murder.
Broadus served as president of numerous trial lawyer organizations, including the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He was recognized more than 50 times by peer groups for his ethical and zealous representation of clients. Broadus was deeply loved and admired by both sides of the bar. Many of his cases over the years were referred to him by counsel from whom he once sat across the courtroom. Broadus was always there for people who needed help but could not afford an attorney. His standard fee: a chocolate milkshake.
As busy as he was, Broadus always took time to be a mentor. His 80th birthday party was attended by 78 lawyers who had clerked for him over the years—men and women who learned the practice of law from a true master. I had the good fortune to be one of those clerks and to practice with Broadus for 47 years.
Broadus Spivey may not be in a class by himself, but it doesn’t take long to check the roll. AL
Dicky Grigg received his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech in 1970, but could not get into Tech Law School. He swallowed his pride, took second best, and attended law school at the University of Texas, graduating in 1973. Grigg is board certified in Car Wrecks and Sore Backs and has dedicated his legal career to determining which car entered the intersection first.
