Justin M. Campbell III - Houston, TX

Justin M. Campbell III Overview

Professional Background

A trial lawyer for more than 35 years, Mr. Campbell has dedicated his professional life to obtaining favorable results for his clients by trial and, where possible, through negotiation.  Mr. Campbell represents individuals and corporations, both as plaintiffs and as defendants.  He has extensive experience in a wide variety of legal matters, including cases involving allegations of business torts; breach of contract; fraud; breach of fiduciary duty; auditing malpractice; legal malpractice; violation of employment rights; improper trust and estate administration; securities fraud; infringement of intellectual property rights; personal injury; products liability; and negligence.  Mr. Campbell's background includes substantial experience in complex commercial lawsuits and in class action litigation.

Mr. Campbell was born on August 6, 1946, in Austin, Texas, and grew up on the Texas Gulf Coast.  He received a B.B.A. in Accounting, with honors, from the University of Texas at Austin in 1968 and entered the University of Texas School of Law, where he completed the first year of study before a two-year break for military service.  In 1973, Mr. Campbell received a J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Texas Law Review.  Mr. Campbell commenced his law practice with the Houston firm of Baker & Botts, where he became a partner in 1981.  In August, 1984, Mr. Campbell became a partner at the Houston trial specialty firm Miller, Keeton, Bristow, & Brown, where he practiced until founding the firm of Campbell Harrison & Dagley L.L.P. in 1991.  He was named a Texas Super Lawyer by Texas Monthly Magazine in 2003 and 2006 through 2010. 

Representative Cases and Results

Representing Plaintiffs: 

$6,000,000 recovery for minority shareholder of closely held corporation in shareholder oppression case. 

$16,000,000 recovery for trust beneficiary against the estate of the former trustee for fraud, conversion, and breach of fiduciary duty.

$9,200,000 arbitration award, including $2,900,000 in punitive damages, against a California based trust company for mismanagement of plaintiff's investment assets received in a divorce.

$17,300,000 judgment for a trust beneficiary against the Texas affiliate of a national bank holding company for breach of trust in connection with an agreement to sell the stock of a closely held corporation.

$2,600,000 recovery for a successor estate administrator against lawyers who had dissipated the estate with excessive fees during a predecessor's administration of the estate.

$2,500,000 recovery for an estate against a national law firm for malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty.

Recovery of the ownership of a closely held corporation worth $25,000,000 for the executor (a national bank) of the estates of the majority shareholders, who had agreed to sell the business to senior corporate officers for $165,000 upon their deaths.       

Favorable resolution of a suit against a privately owned, international plastics manufacturer to recover multi-million dollar retainage and early completion bonus rising out of the construction of a polyethylene plant. 

Resolution of a $100,000,000 breach of trust suit brought against a major national bank for nuisance value after extensive document, fact deposition, and expert discovery.

Successful defense of client in a $30,000,000 suit by the independent executor of an estate for tortious interference with the administration of the estate, breach of contract, and fraud and the successful prosecution of client's counterclaim, producing an agreement in which the executor paid $1,500,000 to the client, resigned, and supported the client's appointment as successor administrator of the Estate.  

Complete exoneration of the trustees of a $250,000,000 family trust in suit by beneficiaries for removal, an accounting, and damages.

Recent Speaking and Publications

2008 Advanced Estate Planning and Probate Course: "Presentation Skills that Capture, more, and Persuade." 

Texas Bankers Association 2008 Trust Conference: "The Prudent Investor Act Revisited." 

Texas Bar Association Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Cases--2005: "Fiduciary Litigation."

Texas Bar Association Advanced Estate Planning Strategies Course--2004: "Fiduciary Litigation."

South Texas College of Law, Mediation for Litigators--2002: "Mediation of a Commercial Case."

Bar Memberships and Professional Associations

Admitted to practice in all Texas state courts, the United States District Court for the Southern and Northern Districts of Texas, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Member, American Bar Association, Texas Bar Association and Houston Bar Association.