HOUSTON – The editors of Texas Lawyer are honoring Houston trial lawyer Mark Lanier among the “Texas Trailblazers” who have made significant marks on the state’s legal profession.
The founder of The Lanier Law Firm is being recognized in large part based on his innovative use of technology in the courtroom and his success in using that technology to advance the claims of his clients. The publication notes that Mr. Lanier annually holds a two-day seminar with a trial technology focus for other plaintiff’s attorneys. This year’s Lanier Trial Academy attracted more than 900 attendees.
Mr. Lanier and more than 40 other Trailblazers are featured in Texas Lawyer’s October/November issue.
“I’ve seen the positive impact the effective use of visual displays and high-tech presentations can have in communicating to a jury,” said Mr. Lanier. “I continue to explore ways to use other emerging tools that can take our justice system to the next level. I’m honored that this initiative is so well-recognized by the legal community.”
In 2018, Mr. Lanier led a trial team advocating for 22 women who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer after long-term use of Johnson & Johnson’s talcum products including Baby Powder and Shower to Shower. The jury awarded a record $4.69 billion verdict after finding that J&J had failed to warn consumers that cancer-causing asbestos had been detected in its talcum powder.
The J&J verdict was just the latest standout jury award for Mr. Lanier. In 2016 and 2017, the firm won two verdicts totaling nearly $2 billion against Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics for injuries caused by defective metal-on-metal hip implants.
Mr. Lanier was twice named the National Trial Lawyers Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year and further inducted into that group’s Hall of Fame. The American Association of Justice honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award, and he was selected one of the Most Influential Attorneys of the Decade as well as the 2018 Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year by The National Law Journal.
For more than 30 years, the men and women at the Lanier Law Firm have worked tirelessly, throughout the United States, to find unique and effective solutions for their clients. More than 60 skilled attorneys practice law in a broad array of areas, including business litigation, pharmaceutical litigation, asbestos exposure, oil and gas litigation, personal injury as well as defective and dangerous products, among others. Named an Elite Trial Law Firm by The National Law Journal, the Lanier Law Firm has offices in Houston, New York, Los Angeles and Oklahoma City.
