Harold A. "Al" Odom

I have been a trial lawyer since 1989, after graduating from the University of Texas School of Law. I started my career with Vinson & Elkins L.L.P. in Houston, where I primarily defended companies and governmental entities against claims involving breach of contract, construction, business torts, personal injury and oil and gas. While at V&E I tried seven cases, six of which proceeded to verdict or final judgment.

After an 11 plus year stint as an associate and litigation partner at V&E, I joined Watts & Heard L.L.P. in April 2001, where I represented individual plaintiffs in lawsuits involving automotive defects, bad faith insurance settlement and deceptive trade practices, serious personal injury and death and business disputes. In thirteen months at Watts & Heard, I tried two cases to verdict.

After the break-up of Watts & Heard in May 2002, I formed the Odom Law Firm, where I focused on the trial and arbitration of commercial disputes on both sides of the docket. During that time, I tried three cases (two to final verdict or judgment and one that settled after three weeks of trial) and arbitrated two cases to final award.

In 2007, I received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest designation available. In 2006, I was inducted into the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization whose membership is limited to trial lawyers who have obtained individual verdicts or settlements of $1 million or more. I have also been recognized as a Texas Monthly Super Lawyers Rising Star and as Volunteer Lawyer of the Year by the Houston Volunteer Lawyers' Project.

Harold A. ("Al") Odom III

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Law School

• University of Texas at Austin, Doctor of Jurisprudence, 1989
• The Order of Barristers, inducted 1989
• National Mock Trial Team, National Semifinalist 1989

Undergraduate

• University of Texas at Austin, Bachelor of Business Administration -- Accounting, 1986

Bar Admissions

• State Bar of Texas
• U.S. District Court Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

PAST EMPLOYMENT

• Watts & Heard, L.L.P. - Partner (2001 - 2002)
  Represented plaintiffs in complex commercial disputes and catastrophic personal injury cases. Cases included wrongful death claims, insurance bad faith, products liability and business torts.
• Vinson & Elkins, L.L.P. - Partner (1998 - 2000), Associate (1989 - 1997)
  Represented corporate clients and governmental entities in cases involving construction claims, premises and professional liability, oilfield accidents, toxic torts and complex commercial disputes.

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS AND AFFILIATIONS

• "AV" Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell (2007)
• Who's Who in Black Houston -- Most Influential (inducted 2007)
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum (inducted 2006)
• Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star (inducted 2005)
• Volunteer of the Year -- Houston Volunteer Lawyers' Project (1990)
• Graduate, National Institute of Trial Advocacy (1994)
• Member, State Bar of Texas
• Member, Houston Bar Association
• Member, Houston Trial Lawyers Association
• Former Member, State Bar of Texas Long Range Planning Committee
• Former Member, Houston Bar Association CLE Committee

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

• Mentor, Earl Carl Institute for Legal and Social Policy, Inc.
• Mentor, Houston Bar Association Adopt-A-School Program
• Volunteer, Habitat for Humanity
• Volunteer, Houston Volunteer Lawyers Project
• Former Board Member, East Downtown (Houston) Management District
• Member, One Hundred Black Men of America, Greater Metropolitan Houston Chapter, Inc.
• Former Member, River Oaks Elementary School Shared Decision Making Council

Al Odom's Recent Trials/Arbitrations and Significant Settlements

2007

[Confidential Plaintiff]. v. [Confidential Defendant]

• Case Type: Breach of Joint Venture Agreement
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Derrick V. Carson, Locke Liddell & Sapp
• Dispute: Dispute between joint venture partners in the industrial tank cleaning business. Our client threatened to enjoin defendant's attempt to exercise a provision in the agreement that would have allowed defendant to "undo" a purchase and sale of defendant's tank cleaning business to our client without adequate compensation.
• Result: Pre-suit settlement reached that resulted in the cancellation/assumption by Defendant of more than $7.8 million in debt owed by our client. The settlement also included a release of a covenant not to compete, which permitted our client to remain in the tank cleaning business.

2006

C.A. No. H-99-1031, United States ex rel. Darryl Kaczmarczyk, et. al. v. SCCI Health Services Corp., et. al., in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division

• Case Type: False Claims Act/Medicare Fraud
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Defendant (one of several)
• Opposing Counsel: Jennifer Verkamp/Rick Morgan, Helmer Martins & Morgan, Patricia Hanower, Suzette Gordon, Michelle Zingaro, United States Attorneys Office
• Dispute: Qui Tam action in which Relators and United States government alleged violations of Medicare/Medicaid Fraud and Abuse laws and False Claims Act by national hospital chain and individual physicians who served as medical directors.
• Result: Relators’ claims against our client voluntarily dismissed with prejudice prior to settlement with hospital. United States elected not to intervene against our client.

Project Row Houses, Inc. v. [Confidential]

• Case Type: Accounting Malpractice
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Amy D. Benavides, Hermes Sargent Bates
• Dispute: Client asserted professional negligence claim against accountant for failure to detect embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars by high ranking employee.
• Result: Confidential, pre-suit settlement reached within three months of engagement

C.A. No. H-06-2873, James Bourgeois v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation, et. al., in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division

• Case Type: False Arrest/Malicious Prosecution
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: F. Lee Butler, Adams & Reese L.L.P.
• Dispute: Client sued Amtrak for wrongfully arresting and jailing him for a weekend for taking photographs of trains at Amtrak's New Orleans terminal.
• Result: Confidential, pretrial settlement while motion to remand case to state court was pending.

No. 2003-49008, Centerpointe Hotel Partners, L.L.C., et. al. v. Preston Phillips Partnership, et. al., in the District Court of Harris County, Texas, 164th Judicial District.

• Case Type: Defective Construction
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Gregg Weinberg, Lyman Twining Weinberg & Ferrell - John Cahill, Hays, McConn Rice & Pickering - Ken Stein, Matthews, Stein - Mark Young, Cokinos Boisen & Young - Lisa Powell, Jackson Walker - Richard Fulton, Coats Rose
• Dispute: Client sued construction manager, architect, engineer and others involved in construction of the Hampton Inn - Deer Park.
• Result: Confidential, pretrial settlements reached after four separate mediations.

2005

Cause No. 2003-41880, Span Enterprises, et. al. v. Triumph Healthcare L.L.P., et. al., in the 215th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas

• Case Type: Partnership Dispute
• Role: Co-lead counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Alistair B. Dawson, Beck Redden & Secrest - Richard Rothfelder/Mike Fallick, Rothfelder & Fallick
• Dispute: Client sued national hospital partnership and individual partners for wrongful redemption of his interest in partnership.
• Result: Confidential settlement after three weeks of trial.

American Arbitration Association Case No: 70 460 00421 04; Andrew C. Kyriakides v. Atlantia Offshore Limited

• Case Type: Injunction/Covenant Not to Compete
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: William Helfand, Chamberlain Hrdlicka
• Dispute: Defended offshore platform engineering firm against wrongful termination claim by executive and prosecuted counterclaim against executive for enforcement of covenant not to compete.
• Result: After a total of 5 arbitration days, arbitral panel: (1) awarded zero damages to executive on his $300,000 claim; (2) awarded $107,000 in attorneys' fees and expenses to our client, the entire sum we asked for; and (3) upheld a previously entered temporary injunction and enjoined the executive from accepting employment with our client's primary competitor for the remainder of the non-compete period.

American Arbitration Association Case No: 70 116 00408 04; Mitchell Provost v. Atlantia Corporation

• Case Type: Breach of Employment Agreement/Wrongful Termination
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Defendant
• Opposing Counsel: Tom Stone, Tom Stone & Associates
• Dispute: Defended offshore platform engineering firm against $200,000+ claim for termination pay and bonuses allegedly owed to terminated executive.
• Result: After one day arbitration, arbitral panel rejected executive's $230,800 damage claim and awarded zero damages.

C.A. No. 2:03 - CV - 382; Ronald R. Johnson v. Texas State Technical College Marshall, et. al., in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division

• Case Type: Employment Discrimination
• Role: Second Chair
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel:
• Dispute: Represented employee in racial discrimination suit against his former employer.
• Result: After three day trial, jury found for defendant.

2003

NO. 02-2-239668 SEA; Pamela Gates O'Quinn, as the personal representative of the Estate of Russell J. Gates. v. Ford Motor Company, et. al., in the Superior Court of the State of Washington for King County

• Case Type: Wrongful Death/Vehicle Defect
• Role: Co-Counsel to James Rogers, Rogers & Fleck
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Jeff Bridgeman
• Dispute: Wrongful death action against vehicle manufacturer and trucking company responsible for roof crush incident that killed Navy pilot.
• Result: Confidential mediated settlement.

No. 16621*JG01; Russell A. Speer, Individually and d/b/a Russell A. Speer and Associates v. Richard H. "Hank" Faulder, et al - In the 239th Judicial District Court in and for Brazoria County, Texas

• Case Type: Breach of Partnership Agreement
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Mark Lapidus, Burck Lapidus & Lanza -Sandra Phillips, Shook Hardy & Bacon - J. Wiley George, Strasburger & Price - John A. Graham, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Marmaro
• Dispute: Client sued business partners and product manufacturers for forcing him out of partnership with exclusive rights to distribute refrigeration products in Texas territories
• Result: Confidential, mediated settlement.

2002

No. 00-12-07660-CV; Karen Monroe, et. al. v. Mustang Athletic Corp., et. al., in the 221st Judicial District Court of Montgomery County, Texas.

• Case Type: Personal Injury/Defamation
• Role: Lead counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Christy Hext, Hext & Munnelly - Kari Webb, Geissel Stone Barker & Lyman
• Dispute: Represented minor child who suffered partial amputation of finger in skating rink accident. In addition to personal injury claims, asserted defamation claim against rink owner as a result of defamatory statements made by rink owner in newspaper account of incident.
• Result: Confidential, pretrial settlement with rink manufacturer. After a three day jury trial, jury returned $100,000 verdict in favor of our client, which was later reversed on appeal (137 S.W.3d 336). Case settled on confidential terms after appeal.

No. 2001-32874, Priscilla J. Brown v. Eddie Bernal, et. al., in the 133rd Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas.

• Case Type: Sexual Harassment
• Role: Co-lead counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Paul Hash, Jackson Lewis
• Dispute: Represented female department store employee who claimed sexual harassment by a co-worker.
• Result: Jury verdict for defendant

2000

No. 98 - 12198, Nabors Drilling U.S.A., Inc. v. Baroid Drilling Fluids, et. al., in the 234th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas

• Case Type: Oil field indemnity agreement dispute
• Role: Lead Counsel
• Party Represented: Plaintiff
• Opposing Counsel: Marc Notzon
• Dispute: Represented drilling contractor in suit against well operator for contractual indemnity following oil well blowout.
• Result: Obtained summary judgment on client's entitlement to indemnity. After a one day bench trial on damages, the court awarded our client in excess of $400,000 in damages, the entire sum we asked for.