Professional Overview
Ben Major is a member of The Lanier Law Firm’s appellate practice group, where he handles complex motion practice and appeals in product liability, mass tort, antitrust, ERISA, and general personal injury matters. A former editor-in-chief of his journal at the Texas Tech school of law, Mr. Major brings scholarly rigor to novel legal issues—developing creative strategies that fit challenging fact patterns within existing legal frameworks.
Mr. Major’s appellate work spans state and federal courts, including matters before the Supreme Court of Texas and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is recognized by his colleagues as a next-generation leader of the firm’s appellate practice, working alongside Kevin Parker, Harvey Brown, and Arthur Miller.
Personal Background
• Enjoys mentoring law students and young lawyers.
• Collects antique firearms primarily from World War II.
• Rides superbikes on backroads and race tracks.
• Loves to travel with his family to places near and far.
• Prior to joining The Lanier Law Firm, Ben was an associate at highly respected law firms in Beaumont and Lubbock. Before attending law school, Ben taught English and coached basketball and tennis in the public school system.
Representative Cases
- Ben defeated a constitutional challenge to Texas’s qui tam statutory scheme at the Supreme Court of Texas, allowing a state government whistleblower case to proceed. The appeal on the same issue remains ongoing.
- In cutting-edge ERISA litigation, Ben represented a Fortune 500 healthcare company in a fiduciary action against a major Blue Cross entity involving self-insured healthcare plan administration. After Ben defeated dispositive motions, the case reached a favorable resolution.
- In a medical malpractice appeal, Ben persuaded the First Court of Appeals in Houston to affirm a trial court ruling on expert report requirements under Chapter 74. The appellate court’s opinion incorporated Ben’s arguments and authority, and the matter ultimately reached a favorable resolution after the Supreme Court of Texas refused the case.
- In a recent pro bono case, Ben helped a nonprofit athletic booster club recover $90,000 in stolen funds.
- Ben helped preserve one of the largest tort judgments ever to survive an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, the firm represented twenty-two women (and their families) who developed ovarian cancer due to exposure to asbestos in the defendants’ talcum powders. Leading the briefing effort on multiple dispositive issues, Ben helped the firm’s clients preserve a multi-billion dollar judgment on appeal. Ben’s work on this case contributed to the firm’s appellate group gaining recognition by the National Law Journal as one of the nation’s elite appellate teams.
- Briefing efforts headed up by Ben prevented Johnson and Johnson from moving all state court actions involving its talcum powder products to the court where its talc provider’s bankruptcy was pending, which prevented a scenario where injured women and their families would have to wait years more before having access to the courts.
- Ben defeated dispositive motions in a false claims action that allowed a state government to recoup several million dollars paid in Medicaid claims due to the defendant’s misconduct.
- Ben defeated dispositive motions in antitrust litigation involving a client’s multi-seat drag racing experience that led to a favorable settlement for his client.
- In a case involving the death of an up-and-coming race car driver during a race in upstate New York caused by a hall of fame NASCAR driver, Ben successfully persuaded a federal judge that other courts had mistakenly held that similarly situated racing competitors could not invoke a New York statute that nullifies waivers signed by participants at recreational events. After Ben’s efforts defeated the defendant’s dispositive motions and application of the waivers, the firm’s clients obtained a very favorable settlement.
- In his pro bono work, Ben recently recovered over $110,000 for an estate from an heir who, before the decedent died, stole that money from the decedent after she suffered multiple strokes and became incapacitated.
Community and Professional Activities
• National Trial Lawyers
• Texas Trial Lawyers Association
• Northeast Harris County Bar Association
• Houston Trial Lawyers Association
• Ben sat on the board of directors for Blue Tide Aquatics swim club in Kingwood, Texas.
• Presents and lectures on legal writing and ethics in legal writing to lawyers and law students.
• Conducts “Lunch and Learn” training sessions for firm associates on recurring appellate issues, including personal jurisdiction, summary judgment standards, and sovereign immunity.
• Editor-in-Chief, Texas Tech University Estate Planning Journal