Dallas Bar Association
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July 2020 Volume 45 Number 7
Focus | ADR/Solo & Small Firm
Windle Turley Honored as 2020 Trial Lawyer of the Year BY JOSHUA D. SMELTZER
In recognition of his incredible career advocating for injured clients, Windle Turley is the Dallas Bar Association’s 2020 Trial Lawyer of the Year. Dallas Bar Association (DBA) President Robert Tobey said that “Windle Turley is the perfect recipient of the Trial Lawyer of the Year award,” because “for 55 years, Windle has represented persons who have been injured. He has never been afraid to fight for the rights of his clients no matter what the odds are and who might be on the other side. He is a giant in the legal community, and he has been a role model and mentor to many of the best trial lawyers in Dallas. I could not be more excited to present this award to Windle Turley.” Turley was raised by a single mother in a small town in western Oklahoma. Prior to law school Turley studied physics, math, and philosophy and even considered a degree in theology. Always focused on finding a way to serve mankind, he spent some time as a young minister in rural churches in Texas. Eventually he decided that he could best serve mankind as a legal advocate and graduated from Southern Methodist University’s law school in 1965. Drawing from life experiences, Turley is known as a master story-teller, portraying the injustice suffered by his clients with both grace and skill. Board-Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Personal Injury Trial Law, he has handled many disputes involving governmental issues, medical malpractice, construction and workplace negligence, aviation accidents, auto accidents, and defective products. Turley’s distinguished career also includes more than 50 articles on trial preparation and litigation, as well as two books (Aviation Litigation and Firearms Litigation). He is also often asked to teach classes and seminars on litigation topics in Texas and other areas of the country. Turley is married to his high school sweetheart, who worked at his firm as a legal assistant for almost 23 years. He has a daughter and a son, as well as two grandchildren. His daughter and granddaughter also work as attorneys at his firm. His law firm is known for its innovative settlement and trial techniques, including pioneering the use of video and other unique demonstrative evidence in the courtroom. He has received record-breaking jury verdicts and has been involved in several cases establishing new legal precedent. For example, as a young lawyer, he argued for an unmarried mother’s right for child support before the United States Supreme Court. At the time, the law did not require unwed fathers to support their children. Turley’s advocacy not only won a good result for his client but helped usher in a change in the
Bryan Fears and Majed Nachawati
Fears Nachawati Law Firm Supports Justice Forever Fund BY MICHELLE M. ALDEN
Windle Turley
law for Texas and other states. Turley was also influential in developing the crashworthiness doctrine used to help increase the safety of vehicles and aircraft for consumers. This helped solidify his reputation as one of the nation’s experts in tort litigation. Turley has also represented hundreds of victims of child abuse, including eight of the 11 plaintiffs in the highly publicized sex abuse case involving the Dallas diocese. At the time, the $120 million jury verdict was the largest ever in a sexual-abuse case involving the Catholic Church. The result helped create new standards for preventing abuse within the Catholic Church. An active member in the legal community, he is a member of the Dallas Bar Association as well as the Texas and Dallas Trial Lawyers associations, a founding member of both the Patrick E. Higginbotham American Inn of Court and Institute for Injury Reductions, and a former chair of the American Association of Justice, Aviation Section. Outside of the law, Turley and his wife enjoy spending time at a 25,000-acre western Oklahoma ranch they have slowly built since the 1980s. Turley also enjoys photography and has published a wildlife photography book on the monarch butterfly entitled The Amazing Monarch: The Secret Wintering Grounds of an Endangered Butterfly. Congratulations to Windle Turley, recipient of the Dallas Bar Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year award. HN Joshua Smeltzer is a member of the Publications Committee and is a partner at Brown Fox PLLC and former U.S. DOJ Tax Division Honors Trial Attorney. He can be reached at joshua@brownfoxlaw.com.
Inside 10 Working with Contract Attorneys 14 Blending Partnerships - Working with Friends & a Means to an End 16 Why Small Law Firms Must be Ready to be Completely Online 20 Our Experiences with DBA WE LEAD
In these uncertain times, the Justice Forever Fund, which is the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s (DVAP) Endowment, becomes even more critical. The Fund supports “justice for all people, for all times,” said former DBA President Michael Hurst, who had the idea to create the Fund, which will ensure adequate long-term capital for DVAP’s annual operating costs, even if traditional funding methods shrink or cease to exist. Fortunately, Dallas-based Fears Nachawati Law Firm has stepped up to assist the vulnerable in our community with a generous pledge of $50,000 supporting the Justice Forever Fund. The firm represents individuals, businesses, and public entities in cases involving business interruption insurance disputes, medical device and pharmaceutical liability, environmental damage claims, and serious personal injury and wrongful death. The attorneys at Fears Nachawati come from diverse backgrounds and practices with a united goal of achieving the best results for their clients. “The American civil justice system provides critical protections for citizens by leveling the playing field against even the most powerful interests, and the most important thing we as attorneys can do is to support the efforts of legal aid programs. We are honored to be able to help provide vital funding for DVAP in its efforts to provide access to the justice system for more Dallas County residents,” said Majed Nachawait.
DVAP is a joint initiative of the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas. Since its founding in 1997, DVAP has become the largest and most comprehensive provider of free legal aid to low-income people in Dallas. The organization provides access to justice by recruiting, training, and supporting over 3,000 volunteer attorneys each year who take meaningful time from their “day jobs” to provide pro bono legal assistance. While all of Dallas County is suffering through the current pandemic, its growing poverty population bears the brunt of the impact. DVAP’s services are more important now than ever, particularly as members of the Dallas community struggle for access to scarce resources, navigating complex new benefits requirements and a now-virtual court system amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically in the areas of: Family Safety. There has been a significant uptick in domestic violence incidents as victims are trapped at home with their abusers, making violence in homes more frequent, more severe, and more dangerous. DVAP’s volunteer attorneys help victims seek and obtain protection and family stability when they need it most. Shelter. As economic conditions worsen, many DVAP clients are now— or soon will be—unable to make regularly-scheduled rent payments without some deferral or assistance. DVAP’s volunteer attorneys help prevent evictions and homelessness by assisting vulnerable continued on page 22
Need Help? You’re Not Alone. Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program…………...(800) 343-8527 Alcoholics Anonymous…………………………...(214) 887-6699 Narcotics Anonymous…………………………….(972) 699-9306 Al Anon…………………………………………..…..(214) 363-0461 Mental Health Assoc…………………………….…(214) 828-4192 Crisis Hotline………………………………………..1-800-SUICIDE Suicide Crisis Ctr SMU.…………………………...(214) 828-1000 Metrocare Services………………………………...(214) 743-1200 More resources available online at www.dallasbar.org/mentalhealthresources