Benjamin T. Major

• 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.
• 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.

Ben loves to help innocent people gain access to justice through pro bono work. In a recent pro bono case, he helped a nonprofit athletic booster club recover $90,000 in stolen funds. Ben also 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. Ben’s pro bono work has helped clients recover hundreds of thousands of dollars in total and has guided clients through legal challenges such as noncompete agreements, consumer transactions, mechanics liens, and much more.