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Brad Howell is a trial lawyer with experience in the areas of wrongful death, personal injury, products liability, toxic and mass tort litigation, premises liability, subrogation, indemnity, deceptive trade practices, fraud, misrepresentation and commercial litigation. As first- and second-chair trial counsel, he has tried several complex multimillion-dollar cases to verdict in state and federal courts throughout Texas, Kansas and Colorado. His experience also entails all phases of pretrial litigation, including hundreds of depositions, mediations and hearings.

Products Liability Litigation Experience

• Won defense verdict as first-chair trial counsel in lawsuit involving catastrophic personal injury. Plaintiffs alleged against the defendants, a heavy equipment manufacturer and its dealer, theories of products liability and negligence. Mr. Howell was instrumental in drafting appellate brief and preparing for oral argument at Court of Appeals of Texas, Second District, Fort Worth. On appeal, the Second District Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the verdict. Shipley v. Holt Texas, Ltd., et al., No. 2-09-122-CV, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 3773 WL 1999016 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth May 20, 2010, no pet. h.). Contemporaneously with the state court appeal, plaintiffs filed against the heavy equipment manufacturer a derivative cause of action in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas. Citing several legal defenses, including the doctrines of res judicata and collateral estoppel, Mr. Howell secured a favorable ruling which ultimately disposed of the case.
• In a wrongful death, multiparty lawsuit, Mr. Howell won summary judgment for a heavy equipment manufacturer on multiple theories of liability, including design defect, failure to warn, failure to test and breach of implied warranty. Following final disposition of the underlying case, a component part manufacturer filed a companion case against the heavy equipment manufacturer seeking statutory indemnity pursuant to Section 82.002 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Mr. Howell won a second summary judgment for the manufacturer.

Toxic and Mass Tort Litigation Experience

• Mr. Howell had the primary responsibility for successfully defending a heavy equipment manufacturer and its dealer in dozens of toxic and mass tort cases brought by more than 1,000 plaintiffs in state courts throughout East Texas. He won summary judgments and secured nonsuits of more than 100 claims involving personal injuries allegedly caused by repetitive trauma during the operation of heavy duty mining equipment. He won summary judgments and secured nonsuits of hundreds of claims involving personal injuries allegedly caused by exposure to asbestos, solvents, silica, diesel fumes and welding fumes.

Commercial Litigation Experience

• As second-chair trial counsel, Mr. Howell won a $3 million verdict for an environmental consulting firm. The plaintiff's claims included misappropriation of trade secrets and tortious interference with contractual relations. The verdict included an award for exemplary damages. Mr. Howell was instrumental in drafting appellate briefs and preparing oral arguments at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a unanimous opinion decided by Chief Judge Edith Jones and Circuit Judges Rhesa Barksdale and Carl Stewart, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judgment. Nova Consulting Group, Inc. v. Engineering Consulting Services, Ltd., 290 Fed, Appx. 727 (5th Cir. 2008).
• Mr. Howell had primary responsibility for successfully defending a heavy equipment manufacturer in numerous state and federal cases involving fire damage to a wide variety of earthmoving equipment. The claims against the defendant included subrogation rights, breach of contract, breach of express and implied warranties, misrepresentation, fraud and the Texas Business and Commerce Code, particularly the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Consumer Protection Act.