Joseph Jamail Denies Feud With John O’Quinn
Houston plaintiffs lawyer Joseph Jamail says any talk of a feud between him and the lawyer he sued on behalf of breast implant plaintiffs is a lot of rubbish.
Jamail and Houston litigator Ronald Krist sued Houston lawyer John O’Quinn on behalf of former breast implant clients who claim he overcharged them. An arbitration panel hearing the case ruled in September that O’Quinn owes the group $41.4 million for overcharges plus interest stemming from a $2 billion settlement.
It isn’t the first time Jamail and Krist worked in opposition to O’Quinn, the American Lawyer reports. In 1998 Jamail and Krist contended the Texas attorney general sought kickbacks from plaintiffs lawyers for tobacco litigation, drawing O’Quinn into the scandal. And in 2001 Jamail and Krist represented a former O’Quinn associate in a fee dispute. In August, O’Quinn turned the tables on Krist and filed a malpractice suit against him on behalf of a former client injured in a refinery blast.
The legal magazine notes that O’Quinn has often said he wants to claim the “King of Torts” title, once bestowed on Jamail by Newsweek. But Jamail told the publication there is no rivalry.
“He’s no competition to me. Nobody is,” Jamail said. “I don’t have any animosity toward O’Quinn.”
