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LetMyPeopleVote

(182,160 posts)
3. Texas Monthly has a long article on Greg
Wed May 25, 2022, 08:14 PM
May 2022

It is written by a person who was a paralegal at the firm Greg started at. That firm had issues and fell apart in the early 1990s. There used to be a joke that Butler & Binion hired as many attorneys as Vinson & Elkins but few stayed with the firm.

There are some good details on the settlement Greg got due to a falling tree.



https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/who-is-greg-abbott/
One of the higher-ups at Butler & Binion was a canny litigator named Pearson Grimes. (Disclosure: I worked as a paralegal at Butler & Binion from 1976 to 1979, before Abbott arrived.) Grimes persuaded Don Riddle, who was then considered one of the best personal injury lawyers in Houston, to represent his young associate in a potential lawsuit. Abbott had been hurt during the heyday of the plaintiffs’ bar in Texas, with wily lawyers regularly winning jury awards and settlements in the seven figures for injured clients. Riddle knew, however, that a tree falling did not necessarily indicate negligence on someone’s part—and negligence had to be shown in order to recover damages. But Abbott made for a sympathetic plaintiff, struck down just as his professional life was beginning. And the owner of the property where the accident occurred was a wealthy divorce lawyer, Roy W. Moore. (He died in 2018.) According to one person who heard the story from Moore, he visited Abbott in the hospital and promised that he would insist that his insurance carrier pay Abbott the highest amount the policy would allow, negligence or no negligence.

Moore was covered for $1 million or so in his homeowners policy, Riddle recalled. “A million dollars didn’t stretch that far if you were damaged for life,” he said. But he discovered that Moore had paid a tree company that was part of a large national chain to do some work on the oak. Riddle could then assert that the repairs might have been done improperly—that more attention had been paid to caring for the tree’s canopy than to protecting and stabilizing the roots. Now Riddle had not one but two deep-pocketed defendants. Through what was then known as joint and several liability, a plaintiff could recover damages from multiple parties so long as some responsibility was established.

By 1986, Abbott had completed his rehab. He wasn’t walking, but he was moving forward in other ways. Riddle had negotiated an impressive settlement that would support his client for the rest of his life. The estimated total of $3 million (about $8 million today) began with an initial lump-sum payment of $300,000 (about $770,000 in today’s dollars), followed by another lump sum of $100,000 in 1989. Abbott would continue to get lump-sum payments every three years, with the last payment of $740,020 scheduled for November 1, 2022—a nice supplement to his $153,750 annual governor’s salary. Additionally, in 1986 Abbott started receiving $5,000 a month (almost $13,000 today) with a built-in annual increase of 4 percent for the remainder of his lifetime. It was all tax-free.

I have never been impressed with Greg's intelligence and I am hopeful that Greg will continue to push homophobic policies that will help Beto.

I hope that this helps

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He was listening to his Sony Walkman. Frasier Balzov May 2022 #1
Considered that, too. Then wasn't he at least somewhat as negligent as the tree owner? allegorical oracle May 2022 #4
Premises liability tort law can look like strict liability given the circumstances. Frasier Balzov May 2022 #11
And Abbott is an attorney, but maybe not at the time of his accident. nt allegorical oracle May 2022 #17
Didn't realize that sort of reward is tax free. nt DURHAM D May 2022 #2
The theory is that it isn't income. Frasier Balzov May 2022 #12
It depends unblock May 2022 #15
If someone totals your car..settlement money replaces.value of your car Demovictory9 May 2022 #23
Texas Monthly has a long article on Greg LetMyPeopleVote May 2022 #3
Fascinating! Thank you muchly. Now I don't feel sorry for the homeowner, either...lol allegorical oracle May 2022 #6
Are you actually suggesting someone would want a tree to fall on them? Treefrog May 2022 #5
No one would. Just pondering the timing odds of a large tree falling on someone jogging by it. allegorical oracle May 2022 #7
Take a read on this also Beachnutt May 2022 #8
Why am I not surprised that Abbott is the type to climb a few rungs crickets May 2022 #30
What makes you think getting out of the way of a falling tree is easy? unblock May 2022 #9
Good point. I have about 200 oaks on my property and they're fairly amiable, so far. But they allegorical oracle May 2022 #16
We have a ton of trees here too. Come time think of it, unblock May 2022 #19
See my post #24. I have not seen or heard of a branch giving warning. Hekate May 2022 #26
I understand that he later signed legislation to make sure Crunchy Frog May 2022 #10
That is what this explains Beachnutt May 2022 #13
Hearing that years ago was the first inkling I had that he was a piece of shit. Patterson May 2022 #20
How did I guess? Hassin Bin Sober May 2022 #21
he was proably drunk gopiscrap May 2022 #14
Bizarre question. Scrivener7 May 2022 #18
Years ago my ex and I were on a lunch time walk at work on a windy CentralMass May 2022 #22
The house next door has a California Live Oak that dropped a branch before we moved in... Hekate May 2022 #24
the article you quoted explains what happened Takket May 2022 #25
He was too stupid rownesheck May 2022 #27
People get hit by falling trees branches while walking or running onenote May 2022 #28
a progressive pushed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by Tom Harkin (D) Shellback Squid May 2022 #29
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