Tommy Fibich, a senior partner in Houston’s Fibich, Hampton, Leebron, Briggs & Josephson, faced more than the usual professional pressures on the eve of a four-week trial. He faced family pressures, too. His stepson, Jarrett Ellzey, a partner in Houston’s Hughes Ellzey, had asked Fibich to take the lead in SSC Opportunity Partners LLC, et al. v. L.S. “Trey” Halberdier III, et al.
For Fibich, who had helped raise Ellzey since Ellzey was 8 years old, the notion of having his stepson so closely observe his trial performance “upped my game,” the veteran litigator says. Fibich recalls that Ellzey told him the night before the trial started, “All my life I wanted to try a case with you.” In response, Fibich remembers thinking, “Oh my gosh, what will happen if I don’t win?”
