 B. Lee Ware, Jr., died fighting on Tuesday, October 18, 2005. Lee, who was the only son of B. Lee Ware and Roxanne Ware, was born on April 22, 1946 at Okmulgee, Oklahoma and grew up in Pasadena, Texas. He was a lawyer, husband, father, soldier, teacher, mentor, and friend. In each of these capacities, he was a bona fide character.
Lee leaves behind the family he cherished, his wife Kim and children, David R. Ware, Wendy Ware Bishop and her husband Paul Bishop, Katie Bolt Moore and her husband Matt Moore, Natalie Ware and Nicholas L. Ware. He was preceded in death by his father.
Lee was a partner in the trial firm he helped found, Ware, Jackson, Lee & Chambers. He enjoyed a long, successful career as a trial and appellate lawyer, culminating with his selection as the 2005 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates, Texas Chapter. He was respected for his brilliant mind and known for his exceptional trial skills. He was named a Texas Super Lawyer in 2004 and 2005.
After graduating, with honors, from the University of Texas law school in 1978, Lee joined the firm of Vinson & Elkins as a member of the Insurance Trial Section. He became a partner with the firm in 1985. In 1991, he left Vinson & Elkins to join what became Ware, Snow & Fogel. During his twenty-eight year career, Lee tried over sixty jury trials in cases from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. and Georgia to New York. He tried a wide range of matters involving personal injury, contracts, oil and gas, professional malpractice, probate, insurance coverage, product liability, toxic torts, fraud and partnership disputes. Lee's clients included chemical companies, pipeline companies, manufacturers, oil companies, insurance companies, construction companies, retail chains, banks, professional associations, trucking companies, and individuals. In 2000, he led a group of attorneys who successfully represented Mr. E. Pierce Marshall and his father's estate against the claims of Anna Nichole Smith. Just seven short months ago, Lee tried his last case, securing a $25 million verdict for his client in a partnership dispute involving two major gas companies.
As an appellate lawyer, Lee handled over twenty-five matters before the state and federal appeals courts, including six arguments before the Supreme Court of Texas, resulting in numerous published opinions on significant legal issues. Despite his busy practice, Lee also helped shape young, future trial lawyers and judges by helping them to hone their trial and appellate skills when he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Houston Law Center from 1979 through 1984.
Lee was certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas State Board of Legal Specialization. He was a Fellow of the Texas and Houston Bar Foundations, a Fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates and Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, a Member of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute. He was a Member of the American, Texas and Houston Bar Associations and was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, the Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, and District of Columbia Circuits, and the United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas, Eastern District of Texas, District of Wyoming, District of Nebraska, and Eastern District of Arkansas. He was also a Past Member of the State Bar of Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee and the State Bar of Texas Administration of Justice Committee. Over the course of his career, Lee authored more than 40 legal papers and presentations.
Before becoming an attorney, Lee was an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of TexasBArlington from 1973 to 1975. Fortunately for us, the pay was low and Lee decided to return to school and obtain his law degree. Lee, a renowned college debater, majored in Speech at the University of Houston where he obtained a B.A., magna cum laude, in 1968 and a M. A. in 1970. The culmination of his non-legal education was a PhD in Speech Communication from the University of Kansas in 1974. During that course of study, he co-authored and they Spoke in Defense of Themselves: On the Generic Criticism of Apologia, Quarterly Journal of Speech (1973), an article described by rhetoricians as both seminal and purposefully ambiguous. Echoing these comments, many of Lee=s friends characterized him as a wonderful and deliberately exasperating.
His proudest achievement was attaining the rank of Colonel in the United States Army Reserve. Lee, a Distinguished Military Graduate of ROTC, was commissioned in 1970 and served 27 years in the Medical Service Corps. Lee's assignments included inspector general, battalion executive officer, group commander, and brigade chief of staff. He was selected to attend the prestigious U.S. Army War College in 1997. At the time of his retirement in June 2000, Lee was the Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations HQ, 90th Regional Support Command, North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Lee transformed the lives of the family he loved, the soldiers he lead, the attorneys with and against whom he practiced, the students he taught, and the many friends and acquaintances he collected. His death leaves a space that will never be filled. We miss his keen mind, sharp wit, baffling eccentricities, and loyal heart. But we are able to smile in our sadness because we know that Lee has already found the corner table and befriended the maitre d's.
A visitation will be held on Thursday, October 20 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the George H. Lewis Funeral Home, 1010 Bering Drive, Houston, Texas 77057, 713.789.3005, with a funeral service to be held on Friday, October 21 at 11:00 a.m. in the chapel. The committal service will follow at 2:30 p.m. at the Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, Texas, 77038, 281.447.8686.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 2425 Fountainview #280, Houston, Texas 77057.
Lee Ware was born in 1946 at Okmulgee, Oklahoma. He graduated in 1964 from Pasadena High School, Pasadena, Texas. Commissioned in 1970, he served on active duty for training with the United States Army Reserve in 1971. He was an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Texas - Arlington from 1973 to 1975. Ware was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1978.
Education:
University of Houston (B.A., magna cum laude, 1968; M.A. 1970)
University of Kansas (Ph.D., with honors, 1974)
University of Texas (J.D., with honors, 1978)
Practice Description:
Ware's twenty-five years of practice have been spent exclusively in tort, commercial, and probate litigation. He joined Vinson & Elkins in 1978 as a member of the Insurance Trial Section, in which he became a partner in 1985. In 1991, Ware became a name partner in the predecessor of Ware, Snow, Fogel & Jackson, L.L.P.
Ware's experience includes representing both plaintiffs and defendants in over sixty jury trials involving personal injury, contracts, oil and gas, professional malpractice, probate, insurance coverage, product liability, toxic torts, and fraud. As an appellate lawyer, Ware has handled over twenty-five matters before state and federal appeals courts, including six arguments before the Supreme Court of Texas. From 1991 to 1994, he served as national coordinating counsel for product liability litigation involving Remington Firearms Company, Inc. He has represented, among others, chemical companies, pipeline companies, manufacturers, oil companies, insurance companies, construction companies, retail chains, banks, professional associations, and trucking companies.
Ware is certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas State Board of Legal Specialization.
Representative Matters:
Successfully defended a six month jury trial on behalf of an estate against which $1.6 billion was claimed; obtained a jury verdict and judgment for $25 million on a counter-claim for the legatee's family.
Obtained defense jury verdicts and judgments for a product manufacturer in five personal injury trials averaging four weeks in length with demands ranging between $10 million and $25 million.
Obtained a take-nothing jury verdict and judgment on behalf of a natural gas utility after a month-long trial in which $250 million was sought for breach of a settlement agreement.
Obtained a multi-million dollar confidential settlement after a month-long jury trial in favor of a chemical company against an insurance carrier.
Retained to negotiate settlements exceeding $90 million with hundreds of personal injury and property damage plaintiffs with claims arising from a gas storage reservoir explosion.
Successfully represented interests of an insurance carrier in coverage cases involving claims in excess of $50 million arising from a chemical plant explosion.
Obtained a settlement valued over 15 million for natural gas utility after a five week trial to a federal court.
Represented and settled litigation on behalf of savings and loan company faced with in excess of $100 million claimed because of toxic torts involving hundreds of home owners.
Served as national counsel for a products manufacturer in cases throughout the United States involving coordination of numerous local counsel.
Represented an insurance company in multistate coverage litigation involving over $400 million in claims.
Activities and Associations:
Fellow, Texas and Houston Bar Foundations
Fellow, American Board of Trial Advocates
Fellow, Association of Defense Trial Attorneys
Member, Texas Association of Defense Counsel
Member, Defense Research Institute
Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Houston Law Center 1979-84
Past member, State Bar of Texas Pattern Jury Charge Committee
Past member, State Bar of Texas Administration of Justice Committee
Co-Author, Juror Misconduct: Law and Litigation (New York: Clark Boardman, 1988); "Defenses in Personal Injury Product Liability Cases - Assumption of Risk and Misuse with a View toward Comparative Fault," SOUTH TEXAS LAW JOURNAL (1979).
Author of more than 40 continuing legal education papers and presentations
Admitted:
Supreme Court of the United States
State Bar of Texas
United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Tenth, Eleventh, and District of Columbia Circuits
United States District Courts for the Southern District of Texas, Eastern District of Texas, District of Wyoming, District of Nebraska, and Eastern District of Arkansas
Military:
Colonel (Retired), United States Army Reserve. Assignments included inspector general, battalion executive officer, group commander, and brigade chief of staff.
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