A $20 million jury award against a client in a breach-of-contract suit is enough to make any lawyer sweat bullets. But Marie Yeates of Vinson & Elkins got that award reversed and rendered, and literal perspiration by defense attorneys in the discovery phase of the case helped substantiate an award of $11 million in fees.
In its 2-1 opinion in Port of Houston of Harris County, Texas v. Zachry Construction Corp., Houston’s 14th Court of Appeals noted that during discovery “two Port attorneys went to an un-airconditioned, metal container facility crammed full of boxes not organized in any manner,” pulled boxes outside one at a time “and sat under a tree in May” to find responsive material. Those conditions helped the appellate court conclude that the port’s attorney fees were reasonable.
