When Houston mass tort lawyer Clayton Clark was sued over an advertising contract dispute, he went looking for the best trial counsel he could find and choose two from either side of the bar to represent him: plaintiffs lawyer Jim Perdue Jr. and defense attorney Alistair Dawson.

And that pair turned out to be a formidable combination because, when it came time to try the case on May 2 after three years of litigation, the plaintiff didn’t bother to show up at the Harris County courthouse, sending his attorneys in his stead to nonsuit the case.